Faintly he heard the fire crackling in the distance, the sound of their bodies moving against each other, and the feeling of flying filled his head.

  It was time now, she was there, and he was there. The grip of death he had with his fingertips released with the need to take that leap and soar.

  Escape

  Quinn ended up being right. They needed to get the first time over and done with. Because after that, they had all night to play.

  Whether he was making up for lost time, or she was, he didn’t know and frankly didn’t care. It was probably one of the best nights of his life.

  The two of them couldn’t get enough of each other. There were no words spoken, not that any needed to be. They played each other’s bodies as if they were their own, knowing what the other wanted and just giving it without asking for permission.

  He should be exhausted and sleeping soundly like she was, but he couldn’t, almost too wound up from the night.

  Where did they go from here? He had no clue and wasn’t even going to think or worry about it. They’d figure it out as they went along.

  For once, though, he was going to get up before her and make the coffee. He’d even bring it to her in bed.

  Grabbing the first article of clothing he could find, he slipped his discarded jeans on and tiptoed out of the room, leaving the door wide open.

  When he returned ten minutes later, she was still sound asleep, so he felt free to just look at her.

  He didn’t know why she was so insecure about being with him. Well, that was wrong. It was a common misconception that because he spent his career providing women with the benefits of plastic surgery enhancements, that it was what he looked for in a mate.

  Hell, it was what his own wife had wanted and he’d refused. Mia just didn’t get it. It wasn’t what he wanted for his wife. He wanted something completely different than what he spent so many hours doing each week.

  He just wanted to come home and escape from the everyday hustle and bustle of someone trying to get an edge up on someone else, looking in the mirror and trying to find something to make them happy. What made most people happy wasn’t looking back at them in the mirror, it was something buried so deep inside.

  He escaped, all right, just not the way he envisioned it all those years ago.

  Sitting on the side of the bed, he ran his hand over Quinn’s bare shoulder peeking out of the covers. She was naked underneath; neither one of them bothering with pajamas. Why should they have? They wouldn’t have stayed on long anyway.

  She rolled over and blinked her eyes open, looked confused for a moment, and then smiled. “Good morning. For a second I thought I dreamed last night.”

  “No dreaming. Of course after last night I’ll be dreaming about it every night until I can get you here again.” Her smile faded and he wished he hadn’t voiced those words. “What is it?”

  “Nothing,” she said, sitting up and pulling the sheet up with her. She saw the coffee he’d set on the bedside table and she reached for it, taking a sip. “This is nice.”

  He didn’t want to change the subject, though. “I thought I would serve you coffee for once.” He sipped his own, gathered his thoughts and then asked, “Are you having second thoughts?”

  She laughed. “If I was going to have second thoughts, I would have had them after the first time. I kind of lost count so I guess it’d be pretty stupid to have second thoughts now.”

  That was something at least.

  He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips, looked deeply into her eyes, and whispered, “We’ll get there. Don’t stress or try to figure it out.”

  She nodded, her eyes downcast. It was a little scary that he knew her so well that he figured out what her problem was. Then again, he was thinking the same thing.

  “What time are the kids due home?” she asked.

  He looked at the clock and noticed it wasn’t even seven yet. “I’ve got to get Lara around ten and then Davey shortly after. We have time to ourselves if you want.”

  She poked him in the bare chest. He hadn’t bothered with anything more than his jeans. “Boy, you’re going to be hard to satisfy, aren’t you?”

  He’d never thought he was before. Of course, he’d never had a night like that either and found himself wondering when it could happen again.

  “I’m like a camel with water; I can go longer than I care to admit.” He was trying to joke, but unfortunately it was the truth.

  “I guess I could say the same thing. I’ve never lived with anyone I was sleeping with before though, so that might make it a bit harder to resist the urge.”

  That surprised him. “You’ve never lived with a boyfriend before? I probably should ask if you’ve ever been married.”

  It never occurred to him before if she had been, and suddenly a bit of jealousy came over him, though he had no idea why.

  “No marriage and no live-in boyfriends. Not like you’re thinking. I’ve been in some relationships where we had extended stays with each other, but not much more than that. I normally had roommates, or just rented a bedroom in a house. It’s hard to have boyfriends move in, too.”

  He didn’t know what to say to that. He wished he knew more about her and her past, but didn’t think she was ready to say too much at this point.

  She’d talked about her siblings in bits and pieces. He got the feeling she’d like to keep her past buried deep. He could relate to that, since there were things he’d buried and hoped no one found.

  Taking one more sip of her coffee, she set it down and then reached for his and set it next to hers. “Since we’ve got so much time, I guess we could make use of it.”

  She didn’t have to ask him twice.

  ***

  An hour later, after a lot of rolling around, then an extremely thorough joint shower, Max and Quinn were down in the kitchen while she foraged around trying to figure out breakfast.

  “Don’t cook this morning. We can just have toast or cereal or something,” he said.

  “Really?” she asked. It’d be nice to make something just for him, but she was rather tired.

  “Sure. Take a break until the kids get back. Matter of fact, you’re technically off duty right now anyway. The kids aren’t here, and I’m home all weekend. Is there anything you want to do for yourself?”

  Was he trying to get rid of her already? “You want me to leave?”

  “No,” he rushed out, running his hands through his hair. “This is your house. You can do what you want. You don’t have to wait on me or the kids this whole weekend. Christmas is coming and I didn’t know if you had errands to run or anything like that.”

  “Oh. Well, there are a few things I need to get in town, but I can do that when I drop the kids off to school on Monday.”

  “Or you can take an entire day and go pamper yourself. You look a little worn out. Maybe go get a massage or something.”

  She snorted. She’d never had a massage in her life, never even considered it. “That’s not going to happen.”

  “Why?”

  “I wouldn’t even know where to go for one. No, I don’t need one.”

  “Let me set one up for you,” he said, looking excited over the possibility. “Think of it as homework. Try to learn what is being done to you, then you can come back and show me.”

  Now she had to laugh. “Oh, so that’s what this is about. Send me to learn something and come back to work.”

  “If it works, why not? I can return the favor back to you. Just think of all the fun we can have.”

  It did sound nice. Still, she didn’t know the first thing about massages, where to go, what they cost, do you tip? Anything. And she was too embarrassed to ask him.

  As if sensing her thoughts, he said, “I’m going to call Amber in my office. Her sister is a licensed masseuse and I’ll see if she can fit you in today. My treat. Just go and relax, she’ll explain it all to you. You outdid yourself with Davey and his friends last week. It’ll make me feel better if you accepted this. You work more than you need to and never take a break.”

  She hesitated, not feeling right about it, even if she did always wonder what one would feel like. “Only if you let me cook dinner tonight for everyone. I’ve got a new recipe I want to try.”

  She knew she had him there when she saw him smiling. “Fine. Only if you want. Otherwise we can order out, or I can cook.”

  “No, you aren’t cooking. I’ve seen the mess you make and heard the kids complain. If you want me to get a massage, then I’m cooking.”

  “Deal.”

  Walk Away

  “Thank you for fitting me in,” Quinn said to Sally, the massage therapist who she found out had opened her office specifically for this visit.

  “No problem. This time of year is slow. Not too many people are getting any spa treatments done. They’re too busy shopping, decorating, or going to parties.”

  That didn’t make Quinn feel any better about it though.

  “I have to confess, this is my first massage and I’m not quite sure what to expect.”

  “Amber told me all about it. All you need to do is relax. You can undress completely if you want, or leave your bra and underwear on. You’ll be under a sheet the entire time.”

  She hadn’t even thought about that, but obviously she couldn’t be completely dressed for a massage.

  “Okay,” she said, looking around and trying to figure out where to change.

  “I’ll leave the room for a few minutes and then I’ll be back. Just let me finish setting up for you.”

  Quinn was trying not to feel like a complete and utter fool as Sally walked around and lit candles, then turned some relaxing music on, finally finishing by dimming the lights.

  Once she was alone, Quinn quickly undressed and then slid under the sheets as Sally had instructed. She elected to take her bra off, but kept her simple cotton panties on.

  Sally popped her head around the corner after she knocked. “All set?”

  “Yeah,” Quinn said and forced her body to relax.

  “Why don’t you lie down on your stomach first and I’ll start with your back and shoulders. We’ve got ninety minutes but it will fly by. Just tell me if there is a spot you don’t like, want more of, or it’s too much pressure. Even if it’s not enough pressure. I’m here to please.”

  So Quinn did what Sally said, flipped over on her stomach, and settled her face in an open doughnut-shaped thingy and willed her body to let go.

  Somewhere in the first five minutes she didn’t have to will her body to do anything, because it was almost sighing in pleasure as Sally gripped her shoulders and started to knead them.

  Wow, who would have thought it would feel this good.

  Soon she found herself drifting off in her thoughts—about what happened between her and Max last night and then their conversation after breakfast this morning.

  “Does Lara look like Mia?” she’d asked.

  It wasn’t hard to miss seeing Max stiffen, but he answered her. “She does. Almost the spitting image.”

  “Mia must be beautiful then, because Lara is stunning.”

  “Mia is beautiful. Lara most likely will be too.”

  He just answered her quickly and didn’t say anymore.

  “I don’t mean to be nosy,” she said, hoping to find a way out of this conversation and wishing she’d never started it.

  “It’s fine. I’m sure you’re curious about what happened with my marriage.”

  She was, but that wasn’t where she was going with her comment.

  “Actually, I was wondering if Mia had any work done. I mean I know that’s kind of crass to ask, but what you said about why you left New York just sort of had me guessing…”

  He sat back on the chair at the island and crossed his arms, then uncrossed them and tried to get comfortable, she could see.

  “No, she didn’t have any work done. She wanted to and I wouldn’t do it.”

  “A conflict?” she asked, wondering why she was pushing so much. It was obviously a sore topic.

  “No. What I said to you before was the truth. I like a woman to be natural. Sure, she had some facial procedures done. Mild treatments to minimize early wrinkles and the like. Some sunspots removed. Little things, and that was fine. But she wanted more invasive procedures even though she didn’t need them.”

  Didn’t need them, or Max didn’t want her to have them because then he wouldn’t be attracted to her? But Quinn didn’t ask that, she wasn’t that bold. “What did she want done?”

  “Mia was thin, just like Lara. After the kids, she wanted a tummy tuck. There was no reason for it. She was a bit of a health freak. Before the kids were born she was a vegetarian, more like a vegan, refusing to eat anything that wasn’t organic or home grown. She exercised all the time. I was fine with it really, especially since she didn’t push it on me. When she got pregnant though, she ate more meat, a nice healthy diet, but still stayed fit.”

  “So she didn’t need a tummy tuck then?”

  “No, not at all. She bounced back after both kids. Except to her, she had some stretch marks and a bit of loose skin and didn’t like it. Actually she hated it. I didn’t have a problem with it though. No one was seeing that part of her but me and it was a reminder that she carried my kids. There’s nothing unattractive about that.”

  She’d never heard a man say that before, but looking at Max right now and listening to him talk about his preferences the last few days made her realize he spoke the truth.

  “Did she say why she wanted it done then?” Quinn assumed Max had told Mia he fancied his women more natural since he’d told her that last night.

  “She said that a plastic surgeon’s wife had to keep up appearances. That if I could do it to all her friends, why couldn’t she have the work done? It was one of our biggest arguments.”

  “Is that what caused your marriage to fall apart?”

  He snorted. “You’d think, but no. She’d push me on it from time to time and then let it drop. There was no way she could go elsewhere for it. It’s not covered by insurance and she didn’t work at that point, so I’d have to foot the bill for something that big and I refused to.”

  Quinn was dying to know more, to know what caused their marriage to end, but didn’t feel right asking at this point.

  “Do you want to know what happened?” he asked her.

  “Only if you want to tell me.”

  He took a deep breath. “Mia was younger than me and never went to college. We met at the hospital when I was doing my residency and she worked in patient services. I’d walk by her at the front desk on my way into the hospital all the time and one thing led to another.”

  Nothing sounded so strange at this point. “How long did you date?”

  “A year or so. Once I started working, we got married. She got pregnant right away. I was making plenty of money. I started at my father’s practice and there was no reason for her to continue to work and pay daycare. She could stay home with Davey.”

  “Did she resent doing that?”

  Quinn couldn’t understand that, but didn’t know what else it could be. She was really hoping this wasn’t going to lead into Max cheating on Mia. If that was the case, she was going to kick herself for being such a bad judge of character.

  Then she remembered Max hadn’t been with a woman since before his divorce and realized that couldn’t be it at all. Otherwise he would have been dating all along.

  “I didn’t think so. Then Lara came along. By then, Mia was restless and I noticed. I wasn’t home as much, building a patient base, working all sorts of hours and learning everything I could. She expressed an interest in fashion and wanted to go back to school. I thought, sure, why not go back part time. She’d been there for me, so it would only be fair to be there for her.”

  “How did she manage that? Did she go at night when you were home?”

  “Nope. She said she wanted to go full time because part time would take too long and she was already twenty-five at that point. Lara was less than a year old, so I hired Jennifer as their nanny and then ended up getting a housekeeper and cook, because when Mia wasn’t in school she was studying and nothing was getting done.”

  Some of the pieces started to fall into place.

  “So you resented her for not doing anything?”

  “Not really. I don’t know, I guess. I resented the fact that she just ignored us. Me and the kids. I couldn’t care less about the house or cooking, but it bothered me that she couldn’t even put the kids to bed at night. She wouldn’t even take the time to have a family dinner with us. Little by little, she was focusing on school and forgetting she had a family.”

  If there was one thing Quinn realized, it was that Max valued his family life.

  “That had to be hard.”

  “It was. We fought. A lot. But she was closing in on graduation and I figured once she started working, things would settle down and then we could get back to our lives. Back to our marriage and being a family again. My job was already stressful, everything else was just adding to it and things were breaking down fast around me.”

  “That didn’t happen, I’m guessing. Things going back to the way they were?”

  “Not even close. She got an internship that pulled her away from home nights and weekends, but it was only temporary so I tried to make it work. Davey was upset and felt the brunt of it, as Mia had doted on him so much before Lara was born. When Lara came and I hired Jennifer, Mia did even less. Then suddenly, it was like Mia couldn’t be bothered to parent or even spend time with either of them. Jennifer pretty much became their mother.”

  Now she understood Davey more. It seemed like Mia decided everything was more important than him, even when she was still living with them.

  “You said you had regrets and handled things wrong,” she said. “Did the kids see you fighting?”

  She remembered all the foster homes she’d been in; the fights, the screaming, and yelling. That at least was better than what went on when she lived with her mother.