Page 2 of A Convenient Ring to Claim Her

Conspicuously, she had run away with the best man, Remy Sylvain, which didn’t really surprise Quinn, either.

The part where Eden had inadvertently stolen Quinn’s car keys was a nuisance, but Quinn wouldn’t hold it against her. As rotten days went, Eden was winning first prize. Quinn would accept whatever collateral damage blew onto her.

She peeled off her bridesmaid dress and the shapewear beneath, then yanked on a drop-waist sundress. She spared a few minutes to wash off her makeup, hating the feel of cover-up more than she disliked her freckles. She liberally applied moisturizer and sunscreen and left her red-gold hair in its updo, but grabbed a hairbrush so she could pull the pins and brush it out in the rideshare car.

As she picked up the notification on her phone that her driver was minutes away, she added an apple to her bag along with a bottle of water and a protein bar. Eden had her own purse and phone, but might want her silk sleep bonnet and that pricy moisturizer she liked so much. Quinn threw those into her bag, drained a warm mimosa, double-checked for her own wallet and phone, then kicked into her sandals.

Outside, the parking lot was busy as a colony of ants on a barrel of syrup. Between astonished vineyard staff, shocked wedding guests and the sleazy paparazzi who had trespassed onto the grounds, word was out that the much-anticipated Bellamy-Waverly wedding had collapsed. The groom had left with the mother of his infant daughter. The bride had fled with the best man—not that that was common knowledge yet. Quinn was hoping to forestall that by meeting Eden in Niagara Falls.

“Where areyougoing?” Micah asked behind her shoulder.

Quinn jolted, not so much startled by his catching her as reacting the way she always did to Eden’s older half brother. It was an infuriating mixture of joy and apprehension. A flood of yearning and a reflexive tension and a need to self-protect. It was sexual desire and abject annoyance because Micah Gould was too much. Too tall, too confident, too masculine and too bossy andsosuperior. He was far too capable of tying her in knots without any effort. The sound of hisnametightened her abdomen. His breath on her neck made her skin feel hot.

She spun around to look at him and that was too much, too. He had changed from his morning suit. He had been tagged to stand in as father of the bride, but now had that European flair that elevated a pair of raw linen trousers with a short-sleeved camel-colored shirt into something out of an Italian designer’s summer catalog. His shirt was some kind of knit that hung lovingly off his muscled shoulders. How did he have the perfect number of fine dark hairs peeking from his unbuttoned collar?

“I’m ready for some peace and quiet,” Quinn said. It wasn’t untrue. The wedding planner would ensure the guests enjoyed dinner and dancing as scheduled, but Quinn was an introvert at the best of times. “I’ll get a room up the road.”

“I told you, if you pack her bag—” his voice was silky and lethal as he poked the overstuffed bag hanging off her shoulder “—I’lltake it to Eden.”

“No need. My rideshare is here.” She could see a driver craning his neck and waved.

“So you are meeting her.”

“Yes. Alone. Not because she was kidnapped—” Micah always assumed the worst where Remy Sylvain was concerned “—but because she doesn’t want to deal with you and your elevated testosterone right now.”

The car stopped. Quinn leaned down to the open window. “Dave?”

“Niagara Falls?” the driver asked.

“Yes, thanks.” She started to open the door, but Micah wrapped his arm around her, pinning her to his side. His size and heat enveloped her as he kept her bent.

She hated how much she loved the feel of his strength as he overpowered her. She could have screamed and elbowed him and made a terrific scene, but he made her weak simply by touching her. She wanted to close her eyes and curl into him and turn her face into his neck. She wanted to kiss his throat and make him groan.

This hold he had on her, both physical and metaphorical, was maddening. It always had been.

“Did you say you’re going to Niagara Falls?”

“Yes,” the oblivious driver replied. “Are you joining—”

“No. Don’t bill her for the trip.” Micah dropped a pair of hundred-dollar bills through the window and straightened, pulling her back so the driver could inch his way out of the lot.

“You don’t have the right to manhandle me simply because—”

“Are you coming with me?” He released her and walked toward a black BMW.

Quinn knew him too well to stand there and shout at his back. She hurried after him and threw herself into the passenger seat, letting out a huff of annoyance as she buckled.

“He left her at a hotel?” Micah neatly backed out of his spot.

“That’s what he said he would do,” Quinn said stiffly.

An hour ago, Quinn had realized Eden was no longer at the vineyard. She had called her and Eden had been in Remy’s car when she picked up. Quinn and Micah had played tug-of-war over Quinn’s phone, Micah performing his overprotective brother act, demanding Remy return Eden to the vineyard. Eden had hung up on them.

A short while ago, Quinn had picked up a text from Eden, telling her she would leave Quinn’s keys with the concierge at a five-star hotel in Niagara Falls. Whether Eden was staying there, with or without Remy, was a mystery to be solved when Quinn arrived.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to meet her?” Micah cut off an SUV and darted onto the main road. He accelerated hard enough she was pressed into her bucket seat.

“Because, in my perfect world, Eden and I will have a good old-fashioned slumber party complete with cheap wine and lots of complaining about men. She just got dumped at the altar, Micah. She doesn’t need you showing up to offer I-told-you-sos.”

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