the ladies’ room?”
“Don’t tempt me. Keep your phone ready to beep me.” He watched her go into the restroom. Quinn would have been amused if it hadn’t been so reassuring.
She used the much-needed facilities first, then washed her arm without removing the Band-Aids. The cut looked raw and fresh but didn’t bleed again. She took the time to brush her teeth, wash her face, and comb her hair, which didn’t look even close to perfect, no matter what Nick had said last night. With the travel and the sweat from running, not to mention sleeping on it twice, her hair had become lank and uncooperative. She twisted it on top of her head and anchored it with a clip. It didn’t help much. It was oh-god-thirty in the morning, and she looked like death, but she had no power to fix it, not even the mundane cosmetic kind. Her head throbbed in time with her arm, from the combined aftermath of the high-pitched scream and the emotions of fight-or-flight.
She braced her hands on the sink top and blew out a long breath. She was avoiding the important thing, which was that in all the years Nick had been her protector, this was the first time since her parents died that she felt like she needed one. She didn’t like it. Whoever had attacked them, whatever their goal, they’d made her a target. Worse, everyone around her was now in danger. All from asking a few questions. It could be the leech, but that didn’t make sense. No matter what he could have wanted from tonight’s attack, these methods wouldn’t have gotten him any power.
Maybe she wasn’t the target. It could have been someone hunting Nick because of the rogue thing, but that didn’t make much more sense. Which brought her back to the questions they were asking. They had to be getting too close to something. How far would this person go to stop them or get what they wanted from her? And who was it? The Society? They wouldn’t want the public to find out about the leech, increasing the danger to their goddesses. But it wasn’t like Quinn had threatened to go to the media. She was just trying to help.
No, the only thing that did make sense was family. Alana’s comments assured her of that much.
Quinn raised her head to face her reflection. Her mouth firmed and her eyes hardened. The vibrations inside her, generated now by tension, subsided under the pressure of resolve. She didn’t care what they wanted or who they were. They weren’t going to get it, and there would be no collateral damage. Sam’s face flashed into her mind, followed by her staff at the bar. Her clients.
Nick.
No, she wouldn’t allow the leech or the Society or anyone to harm the people she cared about.
She tossed her stuff back into her bag and strode onto the concourse. Nick stopped midpace, his glower fading as she neared. Okay, so maybe Nick would do the not-allowing. That was his job. But she wouldn’t play the helpless female. She was a goddess, for cripes sake.
They found a small table outside a coffee shop with no other customers and very sparse foot traffic. Nick allowed Quinn to sit a few feet away while he bought lattes at the counter. His movements smooth and easy, he pulled money out of his wallet and said something that made the barista laugh, but he never stopped surveying the area, shifting his weight to give him different views of the concourse and the sitting area.
Nick lifted his loose flannel shirt to tuck his wallet back in his pocket, and Quinn’s mouth went dry. His ass was as spectacular as Sam’s, in jeans loose enough to run in but tight enough not to snag on anything. Desire, sweet and pure and normal, eased through her. She licked her lips, savoring the burn, the pleasurable ache. The moon lust had ruled her for so long, she’d forgotten what it was like to want someone because he was hot, not because she had to.
Nick chose that moment to check on her. Quinn ducked her head, not wanting him to see, because the last time she’d shown him her feelings, it had been a disaster. She pulled the printout from her bag to examine and managed to refocus by the time Nick set the paperboard cups on the shiny laminate table. It was only about two feet square, so when he sat perpendicular to her,