“Oh, thank god.I just got your message.What happened?”
She mustered a deep breath and then gave McKenna the details.
“Holy crap,” McKenna murmured.“I can’t believe this happened.Where are you now?I wish I could come get you but Jaxon and I decided to spend a few days in the city.You know what?We can come home—”
“Don’t be silly.I’m totally fine.There’s nothing you can do anyway.”
“How did you get home?”
Josie rolled her lips together.Dang it.She massaged her forehead.“Um, a friend came and got me.”
Silence followed.McKenna’s ubersharp senses had surely picked up on something in her voice.“A friend?Like a guy?”The screechiness in McKenna’s voice assured her this conversation was going to take a different path if she didn’t correct it.
“No.Well, yes.A guy.But not that kind of guy.”
“Okay, now you’re acting weird.”
Josie huffed.“It’s Quin, okay?And if you tell anyone he’s here it could cause problems for everyone, including me.”
“Quin?” The screechy note turned downright shrill.“That asshat—”
“Trust me.It’s not like that.”
She heard McKenna take three breaths, likely trying to center herself before she let out another word.“Sorry.You know what you’re doing.Just be careful, please.”
Quin came out of the restaurant, two brown bags in hand, and her stomach rumbled.Perhaps he’d been right to grab food.Not that she’d admit it.
“I have to go.I’ll give you a call soon.Enjoy your weekend and say hi to Jaxon,” she said, disconnecting as Quin opened the door and leaped in, dropping the bags in her lap.“I got some ramen, too.Should help warm you up.”
She pressed her hands to the bag, letting the heat sink into her palms.“Thanks.”
He pulled onto the road and headed in the direction of her house.
Lightning lit the sky and thunder roared.“The police might not even come out in this weather just for a statement,” she said.
Quin grunted.“Yeah, probably not.Although attempted murder is a serious crime.Even tops my arson accusation.”
She wiggled in her seat.The memory of the bar fire and everything that had gone down after that put a sour taste in her mouth.
Quin shook his head.“It has to be the same person,” he muttered.
Josie knitted her brows together.“What do you mean?”
He rubbed his thumbnail over the leather steering wheel.Heat spread through her.Good lord.How could the movement of his thumb turn her on?She was still in shock, obviously.Or maybe she’d hit her head.
“All of it.Liam, the fire, someone now trying to hurt you.”
Josie let out a weak laugh.“That’s ridiculous.”Who on earth would be after Liam, Quin and her?It didn’t make sense.The incidents were too far apart.The assailant would have come after her when he’d torched the bar to frame Quin, not wait until months later.
“Is it?”he said, challenge biting his voice.
Her temples began to throb.The town fell away and the houses on the outskirts became more spaced out.In just a couple of minutes she’d get that hot bath.“I don’t know.Seems kind of far-fetched, Quin.Can we talk about it later?”She rested her head on the seat and turned her face toward him.
He glanced at her, the set line of his jaw softening.There was no sign of the glint in his eyes that she saw whenever he didn’t want to let something go.“’Course.Sorry.You’ve had a rough morning.”
He turned into her driveway and déjà vu struck her.Tears rushed to her eyes at the memory of pulling into the driveway, riding in the passenger’s seat while Liam drove.
Quin moved the gearshift into park.His gaze found hers and a familiar tingling seized her belly.A gush of shame quickly replaced it.His expression became sad, as if he sensed the direction of her thoughts.His hand slid from the handle between the seats and he tangled his fingers with hers.“I’m so sorry, Jos.”
