Quinn paid the cashier for two caramel vanilla lattes and found an empty table in a secluded area of the hospital cafeteria. She slid into the chair and wrapped her hands around one of the steaming hot paper cups. A group of women in white jackets and colorful scrubs sat a couple of tables away.
Work had kept her preoccupied for the past two days. But not busy enough to prevent her from obsessively reflecting on her conversation with Max at the cabin. In quiet moments, his words echoed in her head. She could recall nearly every word, every gesture, every expression he’d used. She remembered that he’d smelled of her soap. His mouth had tasted like rich caramel-pecan bourbon coffee and there was a hint of the peach cobbler syrup she’d brought from Georgia by the case on his sensuous lips.
I’m in love with you, Quinn.
I want to be with you and only you.
I want everyone to know I’m yours and that you belong to me.
Those phrases had replayed in her head again and again for the past two days as she’d sorted through her jumble of emotions, confronted her immobilizing fears, and contemplated the realities of a future with Max Abbott—the man she’d first fallen in love with in that misty haze of being a wide-eyed college freshman.
“Quinn, hey.” Max looked handsome but tired as he approached the table. He wore a button-down shirt and a pair of broken-in jeans.
“How’s Grandpa Joe doing?” She resisted the urge to bound out of the chair and wrap her arms and legs around him. It’d only been two days since she’d seen him. Yet she’d missed him desperately, and she had been counting the hours until she would see him again.
“Gramps is good, all things considered. Full of fire and ready to blow this joint. He’ll probably outlive us all.” Max seemed to debate whether he should hug her. But he sat down in the chair opposite her and folded his hands on the table instead. “Thanks for meeting me here. They’re running a battery of tests on Gramps, and I wanted to be here for them.”
“I thought maybe you could use some coffee.” She slid the paper cup toward him.
“Thanks.” He gripped it but didn’t take a sip. His attention was focused on her. “You wanted to talk?”
“I do.” Quinn widened her nervous smile and tucked her hair behind one ear. She extended her hands across the table, palms open.
Max relaxed his cautious smile. His dark eyes seemed hopeful as he took her hands.
After all of the nights they’d spent together over the past few months, his touch still made her skin tingle and sent chills up and down her spine.
“The other day, when you said that...” Quinn stumbled over the word. She’d repeated Max’s declaration in her head again and again, but this was the first time she was saying the words aloud.
“That I’m in love with you?” he offered, a smirk curving one side of his mouth. He was barely able to contain his amusement and seemed to get a kick out of being the one on the offensive this time around.
“Yes.” She took a deep breath before meeting his gaze again. “It was a really beautiful moment. But when you compared what you wanted with me to what Blake and Savannah have... I’ll admit it freaked me out a little.”
“It kind of freaked me out to realize it.” He brushed his lips over the back of her hand. “But it’s the truth. We’ve already missed so much time together, Quinn, and I know that’s my fault,” he added quickly. “But I don’t want to miss another minute with you. I want you in my life, in my bed. I want you to be my plus-one. And I want you beside me at those Sunday night family dinners. To quote Roger Troutman, I want to be your man. Plain and simple.”
Quinn laughed at his mention of yet another song he’d played for her that summer. Her vision blurred with tears. “Good. Because I love you, too, Max. And I want all of those things with you, too.”
“God, I’m glad to hear you say that.” He stood, rounding the table and pulling her into a tight hug. Max breathed a sigh of relief that gently rustled her hair. “When I didn’t hear anything from you the past couple of days... I’ll admit I was a little worried.” He chuckled. “But I would’ve waited for as long as it took to hear those words.” He gave her a quick kiss, his gaze lingering on her lips.
“We should get out of here before we’re thrown out for making out in the hospital cafeteria.” Quinn’s cheeks warmed as she glanced around at the people staring at them.
“Good idea. Besides, Gramps is really looking forward to seeing you,” Max said. “Walk back with me?”
She nodded and they grabbed their lukewarm coffees and linked hands as he led her toward a bank of elevators. Max pushed the button.
“In case it wasn’t already obvious, you’re invited back to my place for part two of our sleepover. We have some unfinished business, and I’ve been thinking of creative uses for that peach cobbler syrup.” Quinn smirked.
“Ooh...not fair.” He tugged her onto the elevator once the door opened and pushed the button for the fifth floor. “You’re not the one who’ll have to hide a raging hard-on from his entire family.”
He backed her up against the elevator wall and kissed her, both of them trying not to spill their coffee. They got off on the fifth floor and he pulled her aside before they entered a set of secure doors. “Before we walk through those doors, you need to understand what you’re getting yourself into,” he said ominously.
“Okay,” she said apprehensively. “Let’s hear it.”
He drank most of his cooled coffee then discarded the cup.
“My brothers will tease us mercilessly. My sister will try to push us down the aisle. And my mother will start dropping hints about grandchildren in a month or two, tops.”
“You’re exaggerating, Max.” Quinn laughed, relieved. “Besides, I adore your family, and I’m prepared for whatever they dish out, as long as we’re in this together.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Max kissed her, then pulled away. He stared at her for a moment, a blissful smile animating his face. “By the way, not a proposal, but if I haven’t already made it clear, I have every intention of marrying you, Quinn Bazemore.”
“You’d better.” She grinned. “Otherwise, good luck explaining to some woman why my initials are inked on your chest. Awkward.”
“Good point, and that reminds me, we need to talk about which of my favorite poems you should incorporate in your tattoo,” he teased, barely able to restrain his grin.
The two of them broke into laughter as they walked through the doors and into a private family waiting room, hand in hand.
Iris’s brows furrowed with confusion and she whispered loudly to Duke, “I thought Quinn was Cole’s girlfriend.”
His father responded, “I think Cole did, too.”
Cole shot them both a death stare and shook his head. “No one in this family ever listens to me.”
He stood and hugged Quinn, then he shook his brother’s hand. They’d been making more of an effort to get along since Quinn had been spending time with both of them. “About time you two knuckleheads figured this out. And absolutely no pressure, but it would be nice to have someone else in this family besides Zora who actually gets me.”
“I thought you said Zora would be the one pushing us down the aisle,” Quinn whispered to Max loudly.
Zora bounded out of her chair and launched herself at Max, hugging him and then Quinn. “We can tag team the whole wedding thing,” she said to Cole.
Max and Quinn settled into chairs next to each other amid the questions and excitement of his family. They were all inquisitive and teasing, but also warm and welcoming, making her feel like she was already one of their own.
Maybe she and Max had taken the long route to get here, but she was exactly where she’d always wanted to be.
One by one,
the Abbots are falling
for that special someone.
Now it’s Zora’s turn...
Don’t miss the next
installment in
The Bourbon Brothers saga
by Reese Ryan!
Available February 2021
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Harlequin Desire.
Keep reading for an excerpt from One Last Kiss by Jessica Lemmon.