Page 81 of Whatever It Takes

Once they changed topics and started talking about the upcoming holiday, my shoulders rose in relief. I pushed myself away from the table and wandered down the hall, needing a minute to myself.

Heavy footsteps sounded behind me. Quinn wrapped a hand around my bicep and pulled me into the tiny bathroom.

He shut the door and looked me over with concern. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”

I’d been so emotional lately. It was taking every ounce of self-control not to burst into tears. How was it I could feel so many conflicting emotions at once? I was pissed at him for leaving me and upset that he’s been avoiding me. Yet, here I was, happy and relieved that I was even here to begin with.

I squeezed my eyes shut and looked away. “I’m sorry. I’m just emotional lately. It’s been a long week.”

His dark eyes peered down at me like he didn’t believe me. “Are you sure that’s all?” He lifted my chin up, seeing right through my lie. Because, of course, it was so much more than that, but I didn’t have the emotional strength to get into it with him, especially with his family right down the hall.

I ran my hands up his chest and around the base of his neck. “I wasn’t sure if you still wanted me here today.”

His hand skimmed along my sides until his palm was resting along my back. “I’ll always want you. Even when I’m pissed at you.” I tried to look away again, but he wasn’t having it. “What happened in that dining room? What made you so upset?”

There was no use trying to tiptoe around the truth. Not when he could read me so easily. “Sitting in that dining room made me want something I was afraid I’ll never have. It feels like all the work we’ve put into rebuilding our relationship is slowly slipping away.”

He brushed the hair off my shoulder. “What is it you want, that you think you’ll never have?”

“I want to someday be able to sit around that dining room table as a Walker and not as an Anderson. I want the wedding that you promised me and the future that we planned on.”

“I want those things too. You already know this.” He pressed a tender kiss to my forehead. “I hate seeing you like this. What can I say to make you feel better, because even though things are strained between us, you should never doubt my feelings for you?”

“Don’t leave me.”

He drew back and looked me. “Why would you think I would leave you?”

“Because this is so unfair to you, and I’m afraid that you’ll get sick of all this back and forth and decide that it’s not worth it.” A knot formed in my throat, wondering how much further he could go without reaching his limit. “I don’t know what’s going to happen with this divorce or if Grant will drag it out. I don’t know how Emery will adjust to a life without her father. But I do know that I need you, Quinn, more than I ever have.”

I laid my head into the crook of his arm and tried to fight the tears that were threatening to fall. I was sick of pretending that everything was okay. Tired of putting up a brave front for everyone.

He used his free hand and wiped the tears off my cheeks. “You are ridiculous, you know that. You are the love of my life, Charlotte. I could never get sick of you.” His voice was strong and unwavering. “As for your divorce, I will wait forever if that’s what it takes.”

He pulled me against his chest, and I looped my arms around his waist and held on tight. My life had been so weighed down lately, that the tears that spilled from my eyes felt freeing.

I dropped my head to his shoulder and rested it there. “Will you come home with me tonight?”

His fingers flexed along my back. “I think it’s best for now that I stay at my place. Emery needs you, and if I’m being completely honest, I hate fucking sleeping in his house.”

“So where does that leave us?”

He sighed and tilted his head toward the ceiling. “I’m not breaking up with you if that’s what you’re asking me. I’m just giving you the time you need.” He pressed a kiss to my lips, letting his mouth linger a bit. “I want you to come to me when you’re ready to give me one hundred percent. Until then, I’m just going to steal little moments like this whenever I can.”

I gripped his strong shoulders and forced him to look into my eyes. “You don’t need to steal something that already belongs to you.”

Before I could even blink, his mouth was on mine. I wanted to keep it light and gentle, a promise of what was to come, because hello, we were in his parents’ bathroom. But Quinn had other plans. He pushed me up against the bathroom sink, our tongues grew urgent with need.

I pressed myself against him, and he wrapped his arms along my ass. He hitched me up and set me down on the bathroom vanity. His hands were strong and demanding as they ravished my swollen breasts. My head fell back when he skated his fingers over the peaks of my nipples. I sank further into the kiss, my need for him was unbearable. The ache between my thighs had me rubbing up against him like a dog in heat.

I slid the zipper to his dress pants open and pulled him out. Time was ticking away and I didn’t know how much longer we would have. I gripped him hard, carefully flicking my hands over his swollen crown.

I closed my eyes and was ready to drop down to my knees when I heard the knock on the door. “Mom, how long are you going to be in there for? I have to go potty.”

We both paused. I pulled away and rested my hands on his arms. For a split second, I wasn’t sure what to do first. Fix my appearance, zip him back up, or get to the door.

“Fuck,” he muttered, and shifted on his feet, trying to tuck himself back in his pants.Cross one item off my list, I thought and tried not to laugh. It was a good thing he was quick even though he looked uncomfortable and downright miserable. I managed to pry myself away from him and address the little interloper.

“I’m going to be a couple more minutes, honey. Why don’t you use the other bathroom?” I said, running my fingers through my hair and smoothing the wrinkles from my shirt. It was a miracle I could even talk.

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