Hearts & Diamonds (10 page)

She lifted one eyebrow. “Rios, are you trying to make me cry?”

“Could I?”

“Not today.”

Quin grinned. “There’s always tomorrow.” He glanced at his watch. “Actually, it
is
tomorrow. It’s officially Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas, Tan.” For the first time in a long time, he was looking forward to the holiday.

The female agent rolled her eyes. “Bah humbug.”

“I’ll see you guys on New Year’s Eve,” Nia said, forcing a laugh with her dad on the phone as she sat her tea kettle on the stove and turned it on.

“You’re sure, you’re all right? You sound exhausted.”

“I am, but it’s nothing a good night’s sleep won’t fix.”

“Okay, babygirl, get some rest. I love you.”

Her lips curved up into a genuine smile. “I will, Dad, and I love you too.”

“Nia?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m real happy you’ve met someone who finally makes
you
happy, too. Please invite him to share New Year’s with us.”

“Will, do.”

She said goodbye and hung up the phone feeling guilty.

Well, it wasn’t a total lie, Dad.

She
had
met someone who made her happy. He just didn’t feel the same way.

With a sad sigh, she stared out her kitchen window. Her feet ached from standing in heels for almost ten hours and tender spots all over her body kept reminding her of Quin’s exquisite lovemaking expertise. She closed her eyes in an effort to block the wave of desire cresting over her as she squeezed the bridge of her nose. Her senses taunted her with a subtle phantom whiff of his gorgeous olive skin.

The tea kettle began to whistle and she turned off the burner and poured the hot water into her oversized mug filled with gourmet hot chocolate. She took the mug to the couch and sat down, watching the flickering lights of her candles. Work had been a nightmare, her usual zest for the hectic holiday frenzy gone. The hours dragged by as she helped her staff and customers. By the time the store closed, she was exhausted from struggling to smile and be festive when all she wanted to do was crawl into bed.

She took a hesitant sip of the creamy decadent drink, finding it at the perfect temperature. The familiar treat warmed and comforted her as the clock on her bookshelf chimed. It was officially Christmas Eve. This would be the first time she’d ever spent the holiday alone and she didn’t care. If she couldn’t be with Quin, she’d rather spend the time in her own thoughts.

At thirty-one, she’d dated and been involved in two serious relationships. Break ups weren’t new to her, but this one hurt more than any of the others.

You haven’t been seeing him long enough to call this a break-up.

So why was her heart torn in two?

In the past, after a relationship ended, she would know it was for the best. Her mind would bombard her with hundreds of reasons why the guy wasn’t right for her. She’d question whether her ex had really loved her and vice versa, but this was the first time saying goodbye felt all wrong.

Because you’re in love with him.

The mug wobbled in her trembling hand as she faced what her heart already knew.

She had fallen in love with Quin.

Tears she had been holding onto all day filled her eyes and Nia welcomed the release. Placing her cocoa on the coffee table, she let out a sob as the salty wet tracks slipped down her cheeks. She cried for her heavy heart full of love and sadness and she cried for Quin.

He cared for her, she refused to believe otherwise which meant he’d chosen to walk away from her…from the possibility of what they could share together simply because it was easier to say goodbye than to trust the growing feelings between them.

Nia grabbed a throw pillow, laid down on the couch, emotionally spent. Her fingertips brushed against an article of clothing. She pulled Quin’s T-shirt, wedged between the seat cushion and armrest, up to her nose. His familiar sexy scent evoked another onslaught of tears as she pressed her face into the soft cotton.

How much harder it would be to get over falling in love with someone you never had a chance to truly love?

Nia woke up on Christmas morning exhausted. Christmas Eve at Fletcher’s had proved to be a very profitable, very exhausting day despite the store closing early. She’d come home, stripped out of her clothes and crashed on the couch for the second night in a row. The crick in her neck elicited a groan as she stifled a yawn. Her head ached, momentarily distracting her from the pain in her heart. She lifted up from the throw pillow covered with Quin’s shirt and snatched it up.

On impulse, she stood up, took off her own pyjama top to slip his over her wild hair. Just having his T-shirt on made her feel better.

“Why are you torturing yourself, Nia?”

I don’t have the man, but I do have his shirt.

She padded into the kitchen with a hollow laugh and noticed one of the chunky holiday candles she’d lit still burned. The steady flickering light drew her near, the sight of flame slowly filling her with newfound determination.

“It’s Christmas Day and I
will not
wallow in self-pity.”

Well, at least not all day.

Two cups of coffee gave her the strength to shower, dress and finally change the sheets still left on from her night with Quin. She blasted holiday music as she reorganised every purse she owned and threw out the brown bag Tess had stuffed with diamonds. It was after two when she decided to bake sugar cookies, the only festive thing she felt up to making.

Thoughts of Quin plagued her every move, but she pushed through until she had eight dozen frosted star cookies. When the last dozen were in the oven to bake, she finally decided enough was enough. A spectacular display of sugar cookies covered her dining room. Her kitchen was a complete mess and one look in the living room mirror confirmed she was a mess too.

“Martha Stewart would be proud.” She grabbed a cookie, sank down into the chair at the dining room table as her stomach growled. A reminder she hadn’t eaten since yesterday’s bowl of chicken noodle soup, her appetite disappearing almost as quickly as Quin had from her life.

The self-pitying thought filled her with anger and she attacked the delicate cookie with a vengeance. The first sweet buttery bite was pure nirvana, almost capable of making her forget her woes. She was on her third cookie when the doorbell rang.

Quin!

“It can’t be,” she said, sending cookie crumbs flying all over the table as she shot up from the chair. Her heart raced as she swallowed her last bite.

But, who else could it be on Christmas Day? All her friends thought she was with her family and her family believed she was spending the holiday with someone special.

The doorbell rang again and Nia cringed at her messy reflection in the hallway as she walked to the door. She stretched up on her tiptoes to look through the peephole and froze.

It
was
him.

She leaned her forehead on the cold door, debating whether to wrench it open and proclaim her undying love or tip toe back upstairs.

“Nia, it’s Quin. I know you’re in there, I had the place bugged.”

Indignant, she lifted her head with a curse to fumble with the lock. She yanked open the door and ignored the piercing joy flooding through her system simply by seeing him. “You did what? When?” Anger and embarrassment flooded her cheeks with heat as he stepped inside uninvited. She closed the door, whipping around to face him.

Had he heard her crying last night or the night before? Maybe listened in on her talking to herself like a crazed woman? It didn’t help she
looked
the part with no makeup, messed up hair and her icing-speckled clothes.

She lifted her chin to meet his eyes. “How could you do that and not tell me?” It was hard to focus on her fury when the sight of him made her so happy.

“Relax.” His gaze left her face to travel down her body. “I never bugged your home only your phone. You took so long to come to the door, I was afraid you’d decided not see me.”

She saw all of him, every maddeningly sexy inch of him. “I was in the middle of baking cookies.”

“I can see that.” He glanced at the rows of cookies on wax paper behind her. “That’s a lot of cookies.”

Nia shrugged, wishing she could tamp down the need to touch him rising within her. “I’m a sugar-cookie-kinda-gal. I love baking on Christmas.” She stared at him, not willing to look away before he did.

Why are you here, Quin?

“
Marathon
baking in my shirt no less.”

She had forgotten. Her eyes drifted downward at the liberal smudges of red, green and yellow icing on the white cotton. “Oh, right. I’m sorry.” He’d broken her heart and she was actually apologising for wearing his shirt? She was on a definite sugar high. “Did you come back for your shirt?”

“No.” His answer was fast and hard as his eyes flicked over her lips.

Nia crossed her arms over her bare breasts beneath the soft material of his T-shirt as her nipples began to peak.

“I came back for you.”

A bolt of euphoria and desire zigzagged throughout her body at his husky words, but she stepped back as he stepped forward determined to protect her heart.

“Because the sex is good?” she asked, needing to know if their red-hot sexual chemistry was the only reason he still wanted to see her. Moisture slicked her panties as his dark gaze sharpened. No matter how much she craved him, she knew in the long run she’d never be satisfied with a purely physical relationship.

“The sex is off the charts, but that’s not all I need.” He came to her, cupping the side of her face with one hand as he leant down to kiss her.

Nia melted the instant his lips claimed hers. She couldn’t keep her wall of self-preservation in place as she opened herself up to his questing tongue, savouring the familiar taste of him.

He tore his mouth away from hers, holding her face with both of his hands. “Sex with you is not all I want.”

“Then tell me exactly what you want.” She touched her heated lips as he released her.

“This isn’t easy for me, Nia.” He took off his coat, tossed it on the couch and faced her. “I’ve made a life for myself. I thought I was happy with until I met you. I’ve never pictured myself as the settling down kinda guy.”

The vulnerable uncertainty evident in his dark brown eyes made her want to reach out to him, but she remained still, giving him time to say what he needed.

“When I’m with you I feel like laughing. I can’t wait for the next moment to hear you laugh and smile. You’re funny and warm and so damn sexy. I can’t get enough of you.”

His words sparked a wildfire in her blood as she stepped forward to press her finger to his lips. “You still haven’t told me what you
want
.”

Quin grabbed her hand. “All I know is I want you…all of
you
. I want to spend more time with you in hopes you’ll lose your heart like I’ve lost mine.”

Nia blinked in surprise. “What did you say?” Her voice was a whisper as her eyes welled up with tears. She trembled as he pressed her hand to his chest where she could feel the rapid rhythm of his heart beneath her palm.

“What I’m trying to say in a piss poor way is…I’ve fallen in love you with you, Nia.” He took in a deep breath as he shook his head. “I have to warn you I have no idea where we go from here—”

“Shh!” She wrapped her arms around his neck and stretched up to kiss him.

He crushed her against his body, taking control of her gentle kiss with demanding strokes of his tongue. She let him push her towards the couch, falling back on the cushions as he covered her with his lean hard body. He locked her legs in between his own, dipping his head down to her chest.

“Quin—” She gasped as his mouth locked onto one taunt nipple through the icing covered fabric of the T-shirt.

He sucked on the tender peak, using his teeth to gently tug on the raised flesh. “Your frosting is good, but you…” He lifted his shirt up from her stomach to expose her breasts. With a sexy grin, he pushed both together to flick the nipples with his tongue. “You always taste delicious.”

Nia arched her back as he suckled her. “Quin!”

“Yes,
mi amor?
” he asked, lifting his face to hers.

She reached up to touch the stubble on his chin. “I love you too.” The raw emotion reflected in his eyes ignited passion in them both.

He shifted off of her, quickly stripping out of his clothes as she writhed on the couch and dispensed of her own. She opened her legs to receive him, whispering his name as he rubbed the head of cock against her silky wet folds.

“This pussy was made for me.”

“Yes! Quin, please,” Nia begged as the crown of his dick slipped into her.

“Damn!”

She groaned with frustration as he pulled out. “What are you doing?”

“We need protection.”

Nia shook her head. “Not this time.” She smiled at his surprised look. “I’m on the pill. I don’t want anything else between us.”