Page 15 of Dangerous Affair (The Phoenix Three #2)

I f not Liam’s girlfriend—and funny how happy that made her—who was this beautiful woman smiling at her as if they were besties? Quinn wished she had on something besides an oversize T-shirt and Liam’s underwear.

“I’m Harlow Pressley, Grayson’s fiancée. I understand you’ve had a lousy few days.”

“Quinn Sullivan. Nice to meet you, and you could say that.”

“Well, I have a few things here that might help you feel better.” She set several bags bearing a popular department store’s logo on the bed.

Quinn peeked in one of them. “You brought me clothes? You’re an angel.”

“Thank Liam. He sent me shopping with a list of things to get you.”

“I’ll thank him, but still, thank you for going shopping.

” She dumped out the items in the bag, revealing two pairs of shorts, two jeans, several T-shirts, and two nice tops.

In the next bag were panties and two bras, a nude one and a black one.

From the third bag came a brush, hair ties, toothbrush, toothpaste, lip gloss, deodorant, a lady’s razor, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and body lotion.

In the last one, she found flip-flops, a pair of white canvas tennis shoes, and a package of socklets.

“All this was on his list?”

“Yep.”

“The sizes are right. How did you know?”

“When Liam called me last night and said your clothes were a lost cause and asked me to shop for you, I had him look at the sizes in your clothes to give me some sort of direction.” She grinned. “He actually measured your feet since you didn’t have any shoes.”

“He thought of everything.” Not that she needed this much, since she was going home today, but she couldn’t imagine another man doing this for her. She was going to miss him, that was for sure.

“Why don’t I let you get dressed. Liam’s making breakfast, so come on out as soon as you’re ready.”

“Okay. And, Harlow, I truly appreciate you shopping for me.”

Harlow smiled. “Who doesn’t love shopping? Found a few things for myself while I was at it.”

When she was alone, Quinn gathered up the toiletries and took them to the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, she had her hair tamed in a ponytail and was wearing a pair of the shorts and a T-shirt.

She decided on the flip-flops as they seemed the best choice for her feet.

She then followed the aromas of bacon and coffee to the kitchen.

“Oh, everyone’s here. Morning, y’all.” She waved her fingers at the guys, getting smiles from Grayson and Cooper. Harlow was pouring coffee into cups.

Liam, standing at the stove, glanced over his shoulder and smiled. “Breakfast is almost ready.”

A man who sent someone shopping for her and cooked? Sign her up. Grayson stood from the bar stool where he was sitting next to Cooper. “Have a seat.”

“Thanks.” She’d only been on her feet for a few minutes, and already they were hurting from walking on them.

“Coffee?” Harlow asked.

“Lord, yes. About a gallon, please.” After adding cream and sugar to the cup Harlow set in front of her, she took a sip. “Ah, perfect.” She hadn’t had any coffee since the morning of the day Jasper kidnapped her. Another reason to wish him to the devil.

“Breakfast is up,” Liam said. “Eat here or on the balcony?”

“I’m good with eating here if the ladies are,” Cooper said as he stood. “Harlow, you can have my seat.”

“I’m fine here,” Quinn said.

“Me, too.” Harlow brought her cup of coffee around the island and slid onto the stool Cooper had vacated. She handed Grayson her plate. “Load me up, babe.”

“I’ll load you up all right.” Grayson gave her a wicked grin.

“Hey, no talking dirty in my kitchen,” Liam said. His gaze fell on Quinn.

When he winked, she glanced down at her plate, hiding her smile…and the heat that she knew was in her eyes. This man was dangerous to her in all the right ways. As much as he fascinated her, she didn’t have time to mess around. She had to find that thumb drive and figure out what Jasper was up to.

“I need to rent a car.” She’d considered flying home, but it would actually be easier to drive than deal with airports and flights.

She could be home just about as fast. “Oh, crap. I just realized my purse is back at the cabin.” That was a problem.

She didn’t have any money or her credit cards.

She’d have to borrow money from him until she got her purse back.

“Let’s finish breakfast, and then we’ll talk,” Liam said.

“Okay.”

As she ate, she tuned their conversation out while she tried to think of how to get her purse back. The things in her suitcase, also left behind, could be replaced, but her IDs, credit cards, and cash not so easily. She had about a thousand dollars in her wallet, not a small amount for her.

Few people carried that much money around with them, but it was one of her dad’s rules.

Call home every Wednesday and Sunday, have enough money in her wallet to get out of a foreign country on the spur of the moment if things went south—which she’d actually had to do once and she’d only accomplished it because she had the cash to bribe a man who could get her on the last plane out—and never drink anything that she hadn’t poured herself or watched poured.

None of those things were too much to ask of her for her father to not have to worry about her… well, not too much.

“Why don’t y’all go talk,” Harlow said. “I’ll clean up the kitchen, then I need to go home. I have a conference call with a baseball player and his PR person this morning.”

“That sounds cool. What do you do?” Quinn asked.

“I design websites, handle social media for celebrities, things like that.”

“Girl, we need to talk. My website could use some work. I just never seem to have the time to get to it.”

“You have a card?” Harlow said. “I’ll take a look at it.”

“Not on me.” They were in her purse. Oh, wait. She had some in her camera bag. “I’ll be right back.” From now on, she was going to keep her wallet in her camera bag because that was the one thing she’d never leave behind.

When she returned, she and Harlow traded cards, promising to talk soon. After Harlow left, Quinn said, “I like her.”

Grayson grinned. “I kind of like her, too.”

She laughed. “Yeah, you’d be a fool not to, and I don’t take you as a fool.”

“He’s a fool in love,” Cooper sang.

“That I am,” Grayson cheerfully said. “Ready to get down to business?”

“I guess. I could use another cup of coffee, though.” When she got up to make it, Liam took her cup from her. While he was refilling it, she glanced out the sliding door. “Can we sit outside?” She loved the beach, but rarely had time to go.

“Sure,” Liam said.

Once they were settled around the table for four on his balcony, the guys also with coffee refills, she said, “I’m not sure what there is to talk about except how I’m going to get home.

I realized I left my purse at the cabin, which I need to figure out how to get back.

” Would Liam go back to Hope Corner with her? “Maybe—”

“If you’re thinking of going back to get your purse, think again.” Liam set down his cup, an unhappy expression on his face.

Men! Why couldn’t they discuss things without getting bossy? She had no intention of returning to the cabin by herself, but she didn’t like being told what she could and couldn’t do. “You’re not the boss of me.”

“Ruh-roh,” Cooper muttered. He poked Liam’s arm. “Didn’t your mama teach you better than to say things like that?”

Grayson snorted.

“Apparently not.” Liam sighed. “I’m not trying to boss you around, Quinn. But—”

“If you’d give me a chance to finish, I was going to ask if you could come with me to get my purse.”

“I thought you wanted to go home and look for that thumb drive, see if you have it. That’s not your priority?”

“Well, yes.” Why did he have to make sense? And as much as she wanted her purse back, it was ridiculous to even think of going back to the cabin.

“Liam filled us in before you came down,” Grayson said. “You don’t have any idea what’s on the thumb drive?”

“All I know is that I overheard his end of a phone conversation where he said children were getting sick because of someone dumping something into the lake, and it sounds like he’s blackmailing that person.

Apparently, there’s a thumb drive with photos on it that I might have accidentally taken when I left.

” Her gaze scanned each of their faces. “I can’t turn my back on that if children are getting sick and it’s something I can stop. ”

“I have a question,” Cooper said. “Why don’t you just turn all this over to the police? Report the kidnapping?”

“Not yet. I need to find that thumb drive if I do have it, see what’s on it. If children are getting sick because of illegal dumping, it’s bigger than me being kidnapped.”

“I agree with Quinn,” Liam said. “The police might not be the best people to bring in on this, depending on what is on the thumb drive. If it’s something making children sick, then we’re probably talking about the EPA or the Feds.”

Grayson nodded. “We need to find that thumb drive.”

“Then I have a solution,” Cooper said. “Why don’t you and Liam go look for the thumb drive, and I’ll go to the cabin and get your purse.”

“Not a bad idea,” Liam said. “You’d be able to nose around, see if you can pick up anything of interest. You can also check on my car, see if it can be fixed there, or if I need to have it towed to Grayson’s dealership.”

“You have a dealership?” Quinn asked.

Cooper was the one to snort this time. “The boy has what? Eleven of them? All luxury car dealerships. Need a new car, he’s the man to see.”

Grayson shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal, but jeez, if he had eleven of them, he must be loaded. She was impressed that he was so down-to-earth, that he came across as just another one of the guys.

“Good to know if I’m ever car shopping.” She was relieved that they weren’t fighting her and insisting she go to the police. “Thank you for understanding that I can’t turn my back on the children.”

“Neither can we,” Liam said. “Which means you have a team of skilled investigators on your side.”

“What he said.” That from Grayson. “While you and Liam are looking for the thumb drive and Coop’s nosing around Hope Corner, I’ll start looking into Jasper. I’d like you to write down everything you know about him before you head home.”

Cooper grinned. “We got a plan, folks.”

Honestly, she was a bit overwhelmed by these guys who weren’t hesitating to help her find out what Jasper was up to. Jasper had no clue who was gunning for him. If he did, he’d make like a rabbit and haul ass.