“It doesn’t have to be like that. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not going to turn my back on you and—”
“It’s not about you, Baby. This is about me. About the way I self-sabotage and do things detrimental to myself.”
Did she consider what had happened last night between them to be a detriment? Is that why she’d been so quiet? Here he’d been calling it the most amazing thing that had ever happened to him physically, and she was throwing around terms like self-sabotage.
He eased his hand from hers, leaned back against the seat, and hiked his arm along the edge of the booth. “I see.”
“When I let myself go, bad things start to happen,” she whispered.
“Like last night?”
She rubbed her finger and thumb along her forehead and closed her eyes. “Yes. No. Last night wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t smart either.”
“Because you let yourself go,” he said again.
“The last time I let myself go, I ended up being escorted off campus by security. I know it’s not the same, but both are examples of me losing control.”
She rubbed her face again. “I’m not explaining this well. Let’s take last night out of the equation because that’s not what I’m really talking about. I loved that. I’m talking about other choices I’ve made. Mistakes I’ve made, that when I start to look at them holistically, I’m concerned that maybe Peter was right.”
“I know I’ve never met the man, but I can almost guarantee you that anything he said about you was wrong.”
She gave him a ghost of a smile. “You two would hate each other, that’s for sure. Even as charming and personable as you are, Peter’s elitist attitude would have you wanting to punch him in the face within the first ten minutes of talking to him.”
Baby didn’t bother to deny it. He already wanted to punch the man in the face for what he had done to Quinn.
“Peter is an ass,” she continued, “but he’s astute. He suggested that I had issues with self-sabotage. That it was the reason I’d misplaced the grades and damaged my office and stole the money from the petty funds can.”
“Just a reminder, you didn’t do most of those things.”
She nodded. “I didn’t vandalize my office or steal the money, but I did lose all those grades and the research for that project. Then, I get out here and still kept making stupid mistakes like wrecking my car, and—”
“You wrecked your car because your brake line failed.”
She continued as though he hadn’t spoken, “—and I keep messing up my bank accounts somehow. Then earlier this week, I had issues with grades again. If I hadn’t kept a paper copy of everything after what had happened to me last year, I would have been right back in the same situation.”
He wanted to drag her around the table and sit her in his lap. “Cupcake...I can see how some bad luck has made you feel—”
She shook her head. “It’s more than bad luck. And Peter was right; I am the common denominator in all my choices. It’s like I’m my own worst enemy. Constantly jeopardizing my own future.”
“Peter also had ulterior motives when he said that to you, don’t forget that.”
She closed her eyes. “I know. And I’d be more likely to accept that as fact if it wasn’t all happening out here, too.”
“Quinn...”
“I almost burnt my house down Wednesday night,” she whispered.
“What?”
“Grizzly saved me. If he hadn’t been inside barking his head off, I don’t know that I would’ve woken up and realized what was going on.”
“Your house caught on fire?” What the hell? “Why am I just now hearing about this?”
“I got it under control. I didn’t even call the fire department. I had left my new candle burning too close to the drapes.”
He gritted his teeth. The thought that she could’ve died or been seriously hurt was all he could think about. This self-sabotaging talk was bullshit and completely secondary to her physical safety.
“You need to move in with me.”
As soon as he’d said the words, he knew they were right. Whether she wanted to call it self-sabotaging or bad luck, he was going to call his chance to move their relationship forward.
“What?” Her eyes were wide. “Did you not hear anything I’ve been saying?”
“I’m serious. Whatever is going on with your bad luck, I’m going to be there to—”
“Excuse me.”
Baby looked over in irritation, smoothing out his features when he saw the state trooper standing a few feet from