Love, Diamonds, and Spades (Cactus Creek #2)(41)

Regret flashed in his eyes. “I didn’t want to disrupt your life again.”

“I believe you. Still doesn’t make your man nuggets any bigger. You should’ve come to me.”

He nodded. “You’re right, I should’ve.”

Quinn leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms. “I hear you’re managing a few musicians now and doing well for yourself.” She tilted her head. “They’re in good hands.”

“High praise. Congrats on your MBA, by the way. I always knew you were too good for Brody. That’s precisely why I tried to get you to dump his ass at least a dozen times.”

Rylan’s estimation of the guy went up. He wasn’t getting a single hit off his bullshit meter.

Smiling, Quinn nodded. “This is true. I still maintain it would’ve been a lateral move to start dating you.”

Rylan growled. The * was back on his shit list.

When Quinn’s hand squeezed his knee reassuringly, his anger quickly dissipated. Mostly because he never thought he’d ever get to have Quinn’s hands on him again. And also because of the genuine affection he heard in her voice.

“Cam always looked out for me while I was dating Brody. Always.”

A hard look crossed Cameron’s features. “Not well enough at the end.”

“Don’t. It’s in the past.”

Silennce blanketed over them and Rylan broke the awkwardness with the only thing on his mind. “I’d really like to get to our conversation so should I kick this guy’s ass before he leaves or not?”

Quinn laughed. “Let’s go with not. Cooper may not have a biological father worth knowing but his uncle is a decent guy.” She looked at the man in question. “I want to give Cooper a few more years to grow up but I’ll tell him he has a pretty cool uncle in Europe. If he says he wants to meet you, and you’re in the states on a trip, I’ll be sure to make that happen.”

Cameron looked utterly humbled by that. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now, I want you to go get on that 1 p.m. flight you have scheduled and forget this whole thing happened.”

Cam shook his head. “I’m impressed. Your P.I. is good. I still don’t know how he was able to find this meeting location for you.”

“Jay’s the best.”

Rylan had to concur. Jay, the PI.. that worked for Connor Sullivan, the lawyer who did a lot of legal work for Cactus Creek, was pretty legendary.

Cam got up from his seat, tucking the ripped contract back into his suitcase. After a proud, affectionate look at Quinn, he glanced back at Rylan. “I never told my brother to fix things with Quinn because he was a dumbass who didn’t deserve her. You...you’re a good guy. So you do whatever it takes to get her back. Because if not, you’re officially dumber than my brother. And you’ll deserve the shitty regret you’ll feel for the rest of your life for losing out on a really great girl.”

And finally he was gone.

Quinn turned to him, her expression fierce even as her eyes softened when they met his.

“And now for you…”



*



QUINN STARED HARD at the man she loved.

“You once told me you’d never wager something you weren’t willing to lose,” she stated, watching his reaction carefully. “But you were willing to jeopardize my feelings for you, the trust I had in you, and with it, any possibility of us having a future.”

“No,” he nearly growled. “I was never willing to risk any of that. But I couldn’t let myself be selfish. If it was going to keep you and Cooper safe, keep him from hurting you two again and turning your lives into a circus…then that was a risk I was willing to take. I was willing to risk it for what was best for you two, but never, ever was I willing to lose what we had. What we can still have if you would just give us a chance.”

She nodded. “And that’s the only reason I’m standing here right now. And that’s the only reason why I’m going to torment you with my presence every day for the rest of your—“

His lips crashed onto hers. “God, I love you. I was so afraid I’d lost you forever. And every damn second since, I’ve done nothing but think about a million ways to beg you to take me back and forgive me.”

“No.” Quinn pulled back and shaped her hands to his face. “There’s nothing to forgive, Rylan. What you did, you did because you loved us, because you were trying to protect us. There’s absolutely no fault in that. And I meant what I said the other night. The man who wrote that song for Cooper is the one I’d want to be his father.”

“He’s also the man I love.”

He dragged her back to him for another soul-searing kiss. “Can we please go pick up Cooper and spend some time together as a family? I’ve missed the hell out of you two all weekend.”





CHAPTER EIGHTEEN


“MOMMY! COME hear the new song that Rylan and I wrote for you.” Cooper bopped up and down excitedly.

After six tough months with lots of ups and downs, it was amazing to see Cooper back to his old self. Better, even. The doctors told her children are more resilient but his speed of recovery had been astounding to her. Where once he could barely breathe after running around the yard, now, he was hopping around the place without a struggle in the world.