Page 62 of Never Again

“If we started with my questions first,” Bailey said, nodding solemnly as Quinn was forced to stop thinking about just how fucking good she’d felt, how much he liked kissing and touching her.

“You know what would be even more fun than that?” Tristan countered.

“What’s that?” Bailey asked, leaning forward with a heartfelt sigh so that she could use the table to prop her chin on her fist while she waited for an answer.

“If you tell me that secret that you’ve been keeping from your brother first.”

CHAPTER37

Haven Technologies

“About fucking time,” Nathan said, dropping back in his chair with a sigh as he took in the fucking mess that they’d been forced to fix. Thirty hours of nonstop attacks on their systems, one right after the other, until finally, they were able to stop them.

He’d never seen anything like it before.

Whatever it was, it was definitely coordinated, Nathan thought as he glanced at Jess to find the woman who’d saved their asses looking really fucking relieved as she closed her laptop with a mumbled, “Finally.”

“All set?” Nathan asked, taking in the incredibly beautiful woman who’d always been there for them, only to once again find himself wondering why he was hesitating.

For the past year, he’d noticed the way that she looked at him, the way that she smiled when she saw him, the lingering touches when he was close to her, and-

There was something seriously fucking wrong with him.

“Everything’s back the way that it should be,” Jess assured him with another one of those smiles that should have him doing whatever it took to get her to go home with him, but instead, Nathan nodded as he shoved his chair back and stood up, biting back a groan as he glanced at the clock.

“How long will Bailey have to stay in Massachusetts?” Jess asked as she grabbed her bag and joined him.

“Until this is over,” Nathan said, watching as she opened her mouth to say something only to close it with a sigh while he stood there, struggling against the urge to call the asshole that better be taking care of his sister to make sure that she was okay and-

God, he fucking missed her.

He hated this.

All he wanted to do was pull the little brat that he adored into his arms and keep her safe, but he couldn’t take the risk. He loved her, more than anything in this world. She was his little sister and best friend and he honestly couldn’t imagine his life without her. She-

“She’ll be fine,” Jess said with a teasing smile as she grabbed his bag and tossed it to him.

“She better be,” Nathan said, making her chuckle as they headed towards the elevator while he tried to stop thinking about what he would do if he lost Bailey.

When this was over, he was definitely going to spank her ass, Nathan thought as they stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor. “Let me make you dinner,” Jess said with a hopeful smile that had him chuckling as she reached over and took his hand in hers.

“You don’t know how to cook,” Nathan reminded her with a teasing smile as he moved to pull his hand away when the elevator doors slid open, only to have Jess entwine their fingers together as she moved closer to him. “I don’t like the idea of you being alone right now,” she said as she gave his hand a gentle tug that had him following her off the elevator and heading towards the security doors.

“I’ll be fine,” Nathan said, looking into her incredibly beautiful baby-blue eyes as he found himself more than a little fucking tempted to say yes.

He could think of worse ways to spend the night than between the legs of an incredibly beautiful woman, Nathan thought as he opened his mouth to take her up on her offer, only to close it when movement on the security monitor caught his attention and-

He should have fucking known it was her.

* * *

Emerald Bay, Florida

“I can honestly saythat I have no idea what he’s talking about,” Bailey mumbled against Quinn’s back as she hung there, trying to figure out what Tristan was talking about.

When Quinn didn’t say anything, Bailey found herself sighing as he continued carrying her upstairs and resigned herself to the glaring match ahead. Maybe she should go back downstairs and try to interrogate the large man who didn’t seem to trust her. She never should have accepted that cup of coffee. She definitely shouldn’t have accepted the can of Coke that he offered her when she refused to tell him about what was going on between her and Quinn. Then again, since she didn’t exactly know what was going on between them, she really didn’t think that she had anything to lose.

She’d been wrong.

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