“No. I tried to never fight around them. Hell, Mia and I didn’t really fight much. She just couldn’t be bothered, and I held a lot in. When she finally graduated, she was offered a job with a designer. She was so excited and I was excited for her. Finally, I saw signs of things settling down. Instead they only got worse.”

  How much worse could they get? Quinn thought. “She started working more?”

  “She needed to travel for three months. She was the designer’s personal assistant and she had to be where he was, and he had fashion shows in Europe for a three-month period of time.”

  “I’ve got to imagine you weren’t thrilled with that.”

  “Damn right. I’d already lost four years of my marriage and now it seemed cruel. That I’d held out for so long hoping for it to be better, and now more would be taken away. I told her no way. She could find another job…that she didn’t even need to work.”

  “But she didn’t want to, did she?” Quinn couldn’t believe how selfish Mia was.

  “After fighting for a week, I stupidly agreed that she could do it as a trial period. Except if things didn’t work when she came back, we had to figure something out. I couldn’t continue on the way we were going, and neither could the kids at this point. Davey was in school and he was old enough to need her around more.”

  “So when she came back she wouldn’t quit, I’m assuming?”

  “She came back and said that she wouldn’t need to travel again for another year and that things would slow down now. It seemed to be working, so I tabled it and thought we could focus on our marriage at that point, and she agreed. I took my vows seriously and couldn’t in good conscience not at least try to make it work, whether we needed counseling or whatnot. Then she started staying out later, even when she said she wouldn’t need to.”

  “That doesn’t make sense.”

  “It didn’t to me, either. So I went with my gut and hired a private investigator to follow her. I found out she wasn’t this designer’s personal assistant at all, but just a gofer running errands.”

  “Why would she lie to you?”

  He paused, then held her stare. “Because she was having an affair with the designer’s personal assistant.”

  “Oh.” Now Quinn wished she’d never started this conversation.

  “She didn’t deny it when I confronted her. I didn’t give her a choice, just said I was filing for divorce and she said fine. Like I was saying she couldn’t buy something rather than throwing eight years of our lives away.”

  “You had to be devastated.” She couldn’t imagine anyone doing that. Just walking away from Max so easily. A good man who put up with everything for so long, on top of trying to hold his family together.

  “I was. There were lots of fights after that. I won’t go into details. At this point I wasn’t the nicest person to her or anyone around us. All our mutual friends were walking away from us on top of it.”

  “Surely no one sided with her,” Quinn asked, appalled.

  “No, not really. Only those that were cheaters themselves. I was miserable to be around so everyone kept their distance. I didn’t have anyone to really talk or vent to other than family, so Mia got the brunt of it. I said some mean things to her during that time. Even if they were true, it wasn’t right of me. It’s not like I wanted our marriage to be fixed at that point, but I was just spewing hatred at times.”

  Quinn bet that when Mia crossed that line of infidelity there was no going back in Max’s eyes. “I would think it was obvious why you were miserable. It was like your marriage was a farce.”

  He laughed, not a happy sound. “Do you know, you are the first person to get it. Everyone else was saying things like ‘good riddance to her’ or ‘you could do so much better.’ But that wasn’t what I wanted to hear. It wasn’t cheering me up or making me feel better about what happened at all.”

  “It was a nasty divorce, wasn’t it?”

  “Not at all. She walked in with her lawyer, and mine had what I thought was a rough settlement drawn up. I was so mad at that point, that I said I wanted full custody since she wasn’t around much. She didn’t dispute it. My only clause was she wasn’t getting any money from me, and that she had to give me one week’s notice to take the kids for any lengthy stay. She could visit or see them whenever she wanted, though. I was willing to work on that for the kids, but that was it.”

  “Did she want alimony?”

  “She wanted nothing more than a fast divorce so she could be with her new boyfriend and not feel guilty about it. Those were her words exactly. She signed the papers and walked out the door. The meeting lasted all of ten minutes. We were like the leftover dessert at a restaurant. When she was done, she reached for the bill, signed and got up, then walked away without a backward glance. Me, I couldn’t care less. But how do you walk away from your kids—your own flesh and blood—like that?”

  He looked so sad sitting there telling her all of this. Walking over to him, she held her arms out and he didn’t hesitate to walk into them.

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Max. I shouldn’t have pried.”

  “It’s not a secret what happened. We’re all getting on with our lives.”

  “Wake up now, Quinn,” Sally said to her, bringing her back to the present. She couldn’t believe she’d actually fallen asleep on the massage table.

  Later on, as she walked into the house after her trip to the store for food, she didn’t even get her jacket off before Lara hit her full-on with a hug, wrapping her arms around her waist.

  “What a welcome,” Quinn said, laughing, hugging Lara back as best she could with one arm, the other trying to not drop her bags.

  “How was your massage?” Max asked, grinning at her.

  “Wonderful,” she said, giggling. “I actually fell asleep during it. Which is too bad because I don’t remember much other than I feel refreshed.”

  “Darn,” he said, snickering.

  She fought back her blush, knowing what he was complaining about and couldn’t believe he’d said it in front of the kids.

  “We’ve got a surprise for you,” Davey said.

  She loved seeing Max standing there next to him, his hand on Davey’s shoulder, the two of them looking so comfortable. They really were coming along.

  “What’s that?” she asked, stepping away from Lara so she could remove her coat and put the food away.

  “We’re going to make you dinner,” Lara said, dancing around her in circles. “And we’ll clean up, we promise.”

  “You are?” Quinn was trying not to look confused, but she was. She’d thought she told Max she planned on cooking.

  “Daddy said you didn’t sleep much last night and that since you’ve taken such good care of us lately, we should do something nice for you,” Lara explained.

  And there went the blush she’d been fighting back.

  “We’re making breakfast for dinner,” Davey said.

  “Cinnamon buns,” Lara said, all excited.

  “You’re making me homemade cinnamon buns?” Wow, guess the kids had more tricks up their sleeves than she thought.

  “No, silly,” Lara said, giggling. “Those ones from the can. Daddy just slaps it on the counter and then puts them in the oven.”

  “Hmm,” Quinn said, trying not to wince now.

  “And omelets,” Max added. “The kids, with my help, are going to make omelets with all the trimmings.”

  “The cinnamon buns are for dessert,” Lara said.

  She looked at all three of their faces, goofy grins and excitement bursting in the room, and thought, how the hell could someone not want these three? How could someone just walk away without a backward glance? She knew what it was like to be discarded so easily and it hurt more than anyone could say.

  Hearing that story earlier had given her a better insight to the Hamiltons’ lives. To Lara, Davey, and even Max. All it did was make her fall for Max even more than she already had.

  “What a weekend for me! I’m one lucky girl.”

  More Often

  Friday, less than a week before Christmas, Max found himself rushing home around ten. The kids were at their last day of school before the break and there was no other time than now to see Quinn alone.

  Since their one night together, they hadn’t been able to do much more than steal a few kisses here and there. Mostly when the kids were in bed at night and he’d sneak downstairs in the guise of thirst.

  He was thirsty all right, only he was never able to quench it the way he wanted.

  Neither one of them was willing to risk anything else at the moment. It even made it hard for them to talk one-on-one.

  He hoped he was doing a good job letting her know he was still interested in her. That he liked her as a person, not just someone he’d had sex with that happened to live in his house.

  Since she was treating him in the same respect, always smiling, laughing, and even blushing around him, he figured he was on the right track.

  Pulling up in his driveway, he decided to just park the car out front, no use going around to the back and pulling into the garage. It wasn’t like anyone could see his house to know he was home.

  And why he even worried was beyond him.

  Unlocking the front door, he shut it behind him and tried to listen to the sounds of the house to figure out where Quinn was. He hoped to hell she was home. He didn’t even consider that she could be in town running errands before the weekend. Crap.

  With that thought in mind, he rushed into the kitchen hoping to find her there. Nothing, completely empty. Popping his head into her suite proved the same—she wasn’t around.

  He turned to walk upstairs when he caught sight of a movement out of the corner of his eye in front of the fireplace in the family room.

  There she was in black yoga pants, her hands on the floor, her butt in the air, her baggy shirt falling toward her head exposing her flat belly and white bra. She had earbuds in place explaining why she didn’t hear him walking around the house.

  He wanted to go tap her on the shoulder, but was afraid to scare her. Instead he stood there and watched her hold the pose, bring her body down and curve up like a snake, then stretch back up, her butt in the air. Down dog something or other. Whatever it was looked like an invitation to him. Too bad she didn’t know he was watching her.

  Stepping around, he came into her view. She screeched and then fell to the floor. Exactly what he was hoping to prevent.

  “Sorry about that,” he said, squatting down in front of her. “So this is what you do when no one is home?” He would have never guessed, but it explained why she was so toned but not muscular.

  “What are you doing home? Geez, give me a second to get my heart rate back down.”

  She was clutching her chest now and he was fighting hard not to laugh at her.

  “I had a meeting at the hospital at eight and then surgery scheduled for ten. When the patient showed up at eight for pre-op, she was running a fever. They continued to prep her for surgery, then came to get me. She had flu-like symptoms on top of the fever and since it’s elective surgery, I canceled.”

  “I didn’t think you could cancel a surgery like that.”

  “I can and do. She had to be intubated and her chest was congested. It’s too risky for an elective surgery. We’ll reschedule after the holidays.”

  He was on borrowed time and he knew how he wanted to spend it…not talking about this, that’s for sure.

  “So you came home? Are you done for the day?” she asked, her eyes lighting up.

  Just what he wanted to see. “I wish. No, I’ve got patients to see after lunch. I took a chance that I could convince you to spend a few hours with me.”

  She sat back on her knees. “A few hours talking? Or doing something else?” she asked, running her hand down his arm in a suggestive caress.

  “What did you have in mind?” he asked.

  She didn’t answer him though. Instead she grabbed him by his tie and yanked him forward. If he hadn’t caught himself on his hands, he would have fallen right on top of her on the throw rug. On second thought, maybe that would be better.

  He covered her body with his as she attacked his mouth. This sneaking home thing was turning out to be a pretty sweet deal.

  Her hands started moving over his shoulders. “You have way too many clothes on again. What is it with you and clothes?”

  He wanted to laugh but couldn’t. “I just walked in from outside. I wasn’t sure you were home.”

  Sliding her hands under his open jacket, she pushed it off his shoulders, and he pulled one arm out then the other.

  “Seriously, you have another jacket on too. This is going to take way too much time.”

  It would be his luck to have this opportunity on a day he was wearing a suit. Since he was also the Chief of Surgery at the hospital, he had to look the part during meetings with the Board.

  He didn’t have a chance to say anything else though, because she started to go straight for the button of his pants. Guess he wasn’t the only one that was feeling extremely needy at the moment.

  “Slow down, Quinn,” he said, laughing and kissing her at the same time. God, to feel so carefree like this, it was a long time coming.

  “Nope. We’re on borrowed time. I’m taking advantage of it.”

  Her hands moved faster, then dipped inside his boxers and gripped him tight. Shit, that felt good. He didn’t want to stop her again, but he needed to.

  “I have to go upstairs first.”

  He was darn well going to start carrying condoms in his wallet now. He bought his first box in years less than a month ago after he decided to take Jennifer’s advice and see where things led with Quinn.

  “No need to go upstairs.” She moved away from him. “You get undressed. I’ve got some in my room.”

  She jumped up and ran to the other side of the house by her suite. It wasn’t giving him as much time as he would need to get everything off, he knew that, but he tried his hardest.

  By time she came back—naked of course—it gave him an incentive to shed his remaining clothes faster. “How the heck did you manage to get undressed that quick?”

  She laughed and stepped toward him. “A shirt and yoga pants. Nothing compared to you. You take care of your shirt and tie. I’ve got your pants. Man, you’re slow.”

  “Last time you told me I moved fast.”

  “I did, didn’t I?”

  She started to run her hands up his thighs after she’d pulled his pants off. His tie was gone, but the buttons on his shirt were taking too long. Especially with her gripping him tight right at that moment. All he wanted to do was sit there and let her play. Let her run those hands of hers all over his body like she did the other night.

  “You know what? Keep the shirt, for now. You can take it off for the next time.”

  “Next time?” he asked as she opened the condom.

  “You don’t think it’s only going to be once, do you? I know you’ve got a lot of stamina. We need to take advantage of the time while we can.”

  He couldn’t remember having a woman say that to him before. Ever. Call it sexist, but it fed his ego immensely.

  Just like he loved how efficiently she slid the condom on him, then pulled him down on top of her.

  With no time to waste, he slid right inside of her. Soft, wet and smooth. Just like coming home.

  There was nothing slow about it, nothing romantic or sensual. It was fast, hurried, and hard to keep up with her. She was a little ball of energy.

  Her hips were pumping faster than he could manage. Not that he was complaining, because he wasn’t. What man didn’t love a woman that eager underneath him?

  Next thing he knew her hands were gripping his back, the bite of her nails cutting through his shirt.

  He reached under her hips and pulled her close to him, holding her in place. He wanted to stop her movements. He wanted to hold her still and just keeping slamming into her again and again. She must have liked it, because her legs wrapped around his hips and her arms around his neck.

  “That’s it, Max. Just like that. Don’t stop!”

  He wasn’t about to. Not yet.

  She was holding on for dear life and so was he. Not by his fingertips this time, but by his heartstrings.

  Then one by one, as he moved closer to the end, those strings started to break and fall away.

  All at once she was calling out his name, and he was right there with her. Every pulse of her body…and every beat of his heart.

  ***

  “Wow,” Quinn said. “You need to come home and do that more often.”

  She watched him laugh as he rolled over onto his back. “I’m not sure I’d survive if I did that too often. You’re like a power keg of emotion and energy. It’s hard to keep up.”

  She poked him in the side. “You love it, admit it.”

  “You know what? I kind of do. But it takes some getting used to.”

  What did he mean by that? “In a good or bad way?”

  “Good. Definitely good. Why would you think otherwise?”

  He sat up and finished unbuttoning his shirt and pulled it off, leaving them both there naked.

  “Aren’t we supposed to get dressed now?”

  “Hell no. You said I could take it off for the next time.” He stood up and scooped her into his arms, then started to move toward her room.

  She guessed they were done talking about why she might think things could be taken in a bad light.

  He pushed her door open and laid her on the bed. No dropping, but delicately laying her there, then coming down next to her.

  Making no moves toward anything else, he propped himself on his elbow and looked down at her. She wasn’t sure what to make of the look in his eyes. Soft and sensual for sure. Relaxed even, but there was something more.

  “Have I given you the impression that this was casual between us?” he asked.

  She wasn’t sure how to answer him back since she didn’t know what to think about what they had. No, he hadn’t given that impression, but she didn’t know how to explain it either. What if it was the wrong answer…would things become awkward? Deep down, she was still thinking short term and assumed he was too.