Under the Moon (Goddesses Rising) - By Natalie J. Damschroder Page 0,16
chest and broad shoulders only inches away. The burn faded slowly after he sank into his seat.
“So.” He turned his attention back to her. “Who are we seeing in Boston?”
Quinn had spent the day shopping, packing, and leaving instructions for her staff. “I thought Sam would have told you.”
Nick snorted. “Sam doesn’t tell me squat. What?” He shrugged at her disbelief. “I’m competition. Guys don’t help the competition.”
“You’re not,” Quinn said without thinking. Nick’s mouth quirked in his familiar half smile, but before he could say anything more on the topic, she changed it. “I need to see Alana in person. Something’s up, and she won’t tell me online or over the phone.”
“Aren’t you going to see her next week for the meeting?”
“We can’t wait until next week.” She didn’t tell him about her growing uneasiness. He’d think it was fear of the leech, and it wasn’t, really. The leech was frightening on the level of hurricanes and car crashes—he may never come after her. But Jennifer’s e-mail and Alana’s IM blow-off were more personal, the reasons more unknown, and that was scarier. Quinn was afraid waiting a week would allow the chasm the Society was building around her and Nick to be too deep to overcome.
The attendant began her demonstration while the plane backed from the gate and taxied to the runway. A few minutes later they were taking off. Quinn watched the world zip by, conscious of Nick’s tension. Sure, he wasn’t afraid. But teasing him about his reasons for hating flying didn’t seem fair at the moment.
As soon as they were airborne, Nick opened his book. “Nighty-night.”
Annoying as he was, he was right. She hated the boredom of travel and always fell asleep, no matter how hard she tried not to. The drone of the engine and general white noise of the cabin helped her doze until they approached Logan Airport two hours later. Her dreams were vague and jumbled, but all of them incorporated an awareness of Nick’s proximity. She knew when he stood to remove and stow his coat overhead, when he ordered orange juice from the attendant. She sensed when he watched her sleep, and she tightened her arms around herself when he got up to go to the restroom or do another walk-through.
She kept her eyes closed when she reached full awareness, not wanting to leave the state of comfort being near Nick gave her. A simple state that would disappear as soon as he knew she was awake, old barriers going up automatically.
He touched her arm. “Quinn. We’re about to land.”
She lifted her head and yawned. “You sleep at all?”
“Yeah, right.” He drew the blanket off her to fold it. “You drooled on my shirt, you know.”
“I did…not.” There was a wet spot on his shoulder. Her cheeks flamed with embarrassment. “Sorry.”
The captain announced preparation for landing, and they lapsed into silence. They didn’t say much until they were in the rental car, a Taurus Nick wrinkled his nose at.
“Where to?” he asked, starting the engine.
Quinn rolled down her window an inch to let in the crisp evening breeze. “Sam booked us rooms at—”
“Rooms? Plural? No.” He shook his head. “We’ll have to change that.”
“Fine.” She wasn’t going to argue with him, plus it would be cheaper. “We’ll get a suite. Turn up here.” Half an hour later, Nick left the car with the hotel valet and followed Quinn inside. She signed for the new room and handed Nick his key card.
Once they were alone in the elevator, she said, “I want to freshen up and then head over to the Society to see if I can catch Alana.”
Nick glanced at his watch. “It’s after seven.”
“She might still be there. If not, we can try her at home.”
“You could call first.”
“I don’t want to alert her.” The way she’d acted, she was likely to run and hide if she knew Quinn was coming.
When they arrived at the brick building housing the Society office, Quinn used her officer ID card to activate the elevator. When they got upstairs and emerged in the main reception area, she turned off the alarm with the code given to all board members and staff. The light flashed green.
“They haven’t locked you out yet.”
She shrugged to hide her relief. “I guess they didn’t expect me to fly here.” She surveyed the dark reception area and looked down the hall. With the exception of a small lamp behind the front desk, no lights were visible, not even cracks under