A Perfect Ten (Forbidden Men #5)(109)

Quinn just shrugged. “It came out good, so I didn’t have a problem with it.”

I turned to Caroline and shook my head.

After a second of staring back, a slow grin spread across her face. “I think this is the best trip I’ve ever been on.”





Once we returned to Illinois and I had to give Caroline back to her brother, I think I went through a f*cking mini-depression or something. I still drove over most every night to pick her up at our spot and got to see her damn near every day, and talked to her constantly via text, but it just wasn’t the same.

At Lake Tahoe, I hadn’t had to hide her, hadn’t needed to sneak. I’d been able to keep her all night long and wake up the next morning beside her. Fuck, according to Ham, I’d been able to claim my feelings for her loud enough in public that people three states away could hear.

But here...f*ck, here it was still a secret. And I hated that. Caroline Gamble was not my secret. She was my heart and soul, and I just couldn’t do this shit much longer.

I’d been trying to wait until she broached the subject and made it her idea, so she didn’t feel anxious or scared when we finally told him, but I just...I couldn’t hold out much longer.

Besides, other things were forcing me to make decisions sooner than I expected.

So about a week after Lake Tahoe, I walked her to my room after picking her up at our spot, sat her on the bed facing her, and I said, “There’s something I have to tell you.”

She blinked and pulled back in surprise. “O....okay,” she said slowly. “This sounds serious.”

I nodded. There were actually about three serious things we needed to discuss, so I took both her hands and looked into her eyes. But when I opened my mouth, something rattled the wall of the hallway just outside my room.

“What the hell?” Caroline and I exchanged worried glances and simultaneously rushed to the door. “Blondie?” I called.

Ham was gone to work, so it had to be—

“Oh, shit.” She lay on the floor, half slumped against the wall and unconscious. Heart lurching in my chest, I leapt at her. “Blondie!”

“Oh my God. Zoey?” Caroline was right beside me, falling to her knees with me, as I reached out with shaking hands, afraid of what they might find. When a pulse fluttered against my fingertips as I touched her throat and her breath fell on my arm, I sat back on my haunches with a relieved pant.

“What’s wrong with her?” Crouching on Blondie’s other side, Caroline gently brushed Blondie’s hair out of her face.

“The f*ck if I know. I think she just passed out.”

“But why? Do you think it’s something from her kidney transplant?”

I glanced at her, and we shared similar expressions of worry. “Let’s get her to a hospital.” I leaned forward to scoop my arms under the limp figure on the floor. “Call—”

“Already on it.” I looked up just as Caroline finished dialing and was pressing her cell phone to her ear.

“God, you’re a damn fine woman.”

She winked at me but then began to chew on her lip as she waited. “Come on, Quinn. Pick up. Pick up.”

“No way is he going to be able to hear his own phone in that place. It’s a miracle when we hear the landline ring.”

“Then I’ll call Noel and have him personally drive over and get Quinn.”

“Good idea.” I grunted when I straightened with all of Blondie’s dead weight in my arms.

“Damn fine woman, remember,” Caroline said, redialing the phone. She hurried ahead of me to open the front door. I thanked her with a quick kiss on the cheek before passing through.

“Noel?” she started, then frowned. “Hello? Noel? Damn it.” She shook the phone and scowled at it. “Crappy connection. I wonder where the hell he is.”

“Did you tell him you were hanging out with Blondie tonight?”

“Yes. Thank goodness.” As I paused to rest a shoulder against the wall and try to redistribute Blondie’s weight, Caroline glanced back and stopped. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Just...okay, let’s go.” I finally had a firmer grip.

Caroline once again surprised me with her forethought when she led us to Blondie’s car and unlocked it with a set of keys she’d snagged off the hook by the wall before we’d left the apartment.

Blondie woke up on the ride to the hospital where we had her stretched out in the backseat with her head nestled in Caroline’s lap.

“What’s going on?” She sounded disoriented and sleepy. “Where are we?”

“You passed out, sweetie.” Caroline pressed her hand to Blondie’s forehead after she helped her sit up. “We’re taking you to get checked out.”

“I did?” It was Blondie’s turn to press her own hand to her forehead. “That’s so strange. I’ve never passed out before in my life. I remember feeling woozy, so I headed to the kitchen to get a drink when the hall just kind of tipped sideways and everything faded to black.”

“Do you think it has anything to do with your kidney transplant?”

Blondie stared at Caroline for a moment before slowly shaking her head. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t think so. After the initial recovery, I haven’t had any side effects at all. And honestly, I feel fine now. We don’t have to go to the hospital.”