Unless they found out he helped me to escape.
The thought sent the familiar guilt burning through my gut.
“Do you need anything else, Mr. King?” Cheryl asked.
I sighed. “No, thank you. Remember, keep this call between us. I’ll call again soon.”
I slammed the phone down on the mattress. “Shit.” I groaned. Great escape plan this turned out to be.
I was stuck here causing problems for Quinn for who knew how much longer, and she didn’t deserve that. She was an incredible woman with enough on her plate as it was, and on top of it all, she was taking care of me and letting me stay here despite how risky it was. She hadn’t even considered turning me in for the reward money. Anyone else would have. I owed everything to her, but I couldn’t give her anything except the little cash I left with. All I did was mooch off her kindness, take up space in her home, and add to her long list of responsibilities.
On top of all that, I didn’t have my medication, which wasn’t good. What if I had another incident like last time, or worse? What if I lost the ability to talk or moveanyof my limbs, and what if it was permanent this time?
Before I had the time to work myself into a panic, there was a knock on the door and Quinn came in a few moments later, carrying a tray of food. The aroma of spiced meat and onions filled my nose as she brought it over to me.
“Hey. I grabbed you some dinner, and I thought I’d run you a bath while you eat… It’s Jambalaya!”
“Mm, Jambalaya. I was hoping I’d get to taste this again!” Our fingers brushed as I grabbed the plate, and my smile widened at her slight gasp. The quiet noise drew my eyes toward her lips, plump and soft-looking. It took me a few seconds longer than I would have liked to pull my eyes away. “Thank you.”
Quinn stared into my eyes for a moment, then dropped her gaze to the food. “The perks of living in a restaurant. Well, under it.” She chuckled nervously before clearing her throat. “So… Did you speak to Nigel?”
The first forkful of food instantly lost its flavor. I didn’t want to admit yet another failure to her, but there was no way around it.
“Jasper?” Quinn shifted closer, her brown eyes shadowed with concern. “What happened?”
I sighed and put my fork down. “I couldn’t get hold of him. Turns out, he’s been fired…” and it was all my fault. “I spoke to Eddie, but nothing came out of it. He just tried to persuade me to come home. I told him to contact the police, have them drop the investigation.”
As expected, Quinn’s smile evaporated. I felt even worse for disappointing her.
“No medication, nowhere to go, and worst of all, I managed to get my caregiver fired.” I dropped my head into my hands. “I don’t know why I thought this would ever work.”
“What are you going to do?” Quinn asked quietly.
“I’ll figure it out,” I sighed.
“Well… Let’s not dwell on it too much right now,” she said. “You just eat your food and I’m going to start running you that bath, then I’ll come back, and we’ll go through those bags of clothes I got you!”
We did exactly what she said.
While I finished eating, she showed me the clothes she’d gotten for me, and when I was finished, she helped me into the bathroom and I settled inside the bathtub, the ache in my muscles slightly relieved by the hot water, which she had put some clary sage and essential oils in. According to her, they were great for de-stressing.
I spent the entirety of my bath thinking about her, and when the water got to be lukewarm, she came back to help me out of the tub.
I wrapped my arms around her and tried to lift myself as much as I could, but the next thing I knew, she was letting out a surprised scream as she lost her balance, slipped, and ended up lying on top of me.
Her wide eyes stared into my own, her clothes completely soaked through. I wished I could shape-shift and transform into a piece of fabric… Her shirt was practically see through, and her tight jeans were glued to her. The material hugged her round behind and gripped her thighs the way I craved to…
She looked so stunned, her mouth hanging open as she tried to come up with something to say, and after getting over the initial shock, I couldn’t help but chuckle as I wrapped my arms around her waist.
To my surprise, Quinn let out a few giggles of her own. “I can’t believe I—I'm sorry,” she murmured shyly.
For the life of me, I couldn’t look away from her gorgeous eyes and her pretty lips. I tried to will myself to let go of her, but my arm wouldn’t move.
She was beautiful.
I watched as her eyes darkened, heard the hitch in her breath, which elicited a low groan from me.
Slowly, as if afraid that any sudden movement might cause her to flee, I reached up, brushing my lips against hers. Her mouth moved against my own easily at first, her lips parting slightly as she leaned into the kiss. But only a second later, she sucked in a breath, jerking back slightly.
