Indefinite (Salvation #6)(48)

“No?” I ask with a bit of curiosity.

I would’ve sworn this was his big plan.

“Nope.”

Okay, now he really does have me intrigued.

We keep going, but both of our eyes dart around the space as the thirty-second ads move onto the next. Catherine once told me what her client spent on one of those ads, and I almost passed out. The cost to be seen by that many people is astronomical. Since then, I’ve done my best to pay attention because if they ever figure out it doesn’t work, then what would I look at?

We keep walking and then make a right onto 51st Street. Broadway? No way is Quinn Miller going to take me to a show. There must be some other thing he has planned.

“Are your feet okay?” he asks as I stumble a bit.

“I’m fine,” I say with a smile. I love that he’s being so concerned, but I’ve walked miles in heels and have lived to tell about it. Sure, I’m a little uncomfortable, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. His legs are so damn long that I have to take two steps to each of his one to keep up.

“Here,” he says and then swoops low, lifting me into his arms. My arms wrap around his neck, more from surprise and instinct than anything.

“What are you doing?” I ask with a gasp.

“Taking care of you.”

“Put me down.” Trying to wiggle out of his arms is useless. He holds me with the ease and security he would use to hold a bouquet of flowers.

“You’re walking slow, which means your feet hurt. And you’re having my baby, so just hold on to me. I won’t let you fall.”

So many things ping around in my head.

I’ve already fallen.

Please don’t ever put me down.

God, it feels good to be in your arms.

But, mostly, I wonder how I’ll get through tonight without being right back where we started. Me in love with him, hoping for a life he says he’ll give me but can’t.

I know he’s saying all the right things, and I’d be lying to myself if I said I didn’t wish they were all true. Because, God, do I ever. I struggle to believe him because he’s said similar things in the past.

He hasn’t ever turned in his discharge papers before, though.

Or told me he loves me.

Or bought me jewelry.

Quinn walks with the same pace he was without having an extra buck thirty in his arms. We get in front of the Gershwin Theater, and he stops. “Here we are.”

“You’re kidding me,” I say with a wide grin. “You’re taking me to a show?”

“I am.”

“And which of my lovely friends do I have to thank for this?” I ask.

He shakes his head, nose brushing my hair. “None, fragolina. No one helped me with tonight. This is me, proving to you that I know you.”

My eyes meet his. “And how is that?”

Quinn doesn’t move his gaze as the words fall from his lips. “Italian food is your favorite, which is why we went there. Your favorite movie is The Wizard of Oz, and you can basically recite the entire movie.”

I don’t know how he remembers that.

As if seeming to read my thoughts, he speaks again. “Do you not remember the first night we spent together? I do. I remember everything about it.”

Suddenly, his arms feel too tight. I forgot about it. I was so broken, sad, and ashamed at myself. “Quinn . . .”

“We sat in my room and watched it with you in my arms. You cried off and on and talked about how great it would be to close your eyes and follow the yellow brick road. I remember not understanding a damn thing because I was trying so hard not to want to kiss you. You said that having something laid out in front of you would make things easier.”

“I lied. Nothing worth having is that easy,” I tell him.

It’s true. No path is ever easy. Nothing in life is freaking easy. I thought I could find that stupid brick road by having my own baby without a man. I would give up the idea of a family that clearly didn’t exist. My life would be the path I paved.

But Quinn came back, I got pregnant, and now I’m in his arms on a busy street because he didn’t want my feet to hurt.

“No, nothing is, but when you found me, I was the Tin Man. I was hollow on the inside.”

He says it as though it’s no longer true. “And now?”

“Now, I found out I had a heart. You’ve had it this whole time.”

The heart that beats in my chest races. I release my hold from around his neck, and Quinn takes the hint. He sets me back on the ground, his eyes are unreadable, and I know he must take that as a rejection.

Slowly, my hands run up his chest and return back to their place around his neck. I lean forward, kissing him slowly as the world moves around us. It’s a short kiss, but I hope it conveys how much all of this means to me.

When I move back, breaking our connection, I give him a soft smile. “I see you also found your courage.”

Quinn chuckles. “I’d say my brain has also been located.”

Not wanting to give him too much confidence, I shrug. “I guess we’ll find out.”





The show is amazing. Beyond amazing. I cried, of course. I’m a girl and my heart was never lost. I’m pretty sure he did as well, but then again, he’s a master at disguising emotion when he needs to.