Page 12 of His Forgotten Colton Fiancee

Now her brother looked mighty angry. “Those rip-off artists are cons, Quinn. Don’t trust them. Extension today on the rent, double the price tomorrow.”

“I’m fine.” She waved him off. “Go investigate someone else.”

To her surprise, he gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “Thanks. See you.”

Inside the kitchen, she looked at the clean counter, the neatly stacked bowls. A kitchen shouldn’t be this tidy. It meant no business. The lunch for the RRPD would help with the smaller bills. But the rent still remained the huge question mark.

I’ll think about that later.

She picked up the envelope she’d received in the mail today and held it to the light. Nothing. Shook it. No telltalesound of something floating. She wished she’d remembered to show it to Shane. She’d have West check it out tonight.

The back door opened and Austin walked through.

“Where have you been?” she demanded. “I had to set up everything myself at the crime scene for the cops.”

“I went fishing for business. Great news. I found us a gig for tonight. Yoga studio is hosting an open house and theyneed gluten-free hors d’oeuvres and fruit smoothies for two hundred potential clients. We need to be in Sullivan Falls by nine tonight.”

Delight turned into dismay. “That’s forty miles away!”

“And they promised cash on delivery. So let’s hustle.” He pushed his glasses up his thin nose. “Plus some free lessons. You could use a little flexibility to loosen up.”

Quinn set down the envelopefor later, along with the pile of bills. They had work to do, and money was tight.

* * *

It had been a hell of a day and he was exhausted.

Shortly after midnight, West parked his truck in the usual spot, the parking garage one street over from Main, and ducked down a back alley leading to Quinn’s shop. He went through the service entrance, skirting the green Dumpster. Rex, who normallystopped to sniff around the garbage, loped eagerly alongside him and darted inside as he opened the door with his key.

“Yeah, you’re as beat as I am,” West murmured to his dog, bending down and scratching behind his ears after he locked the door. “How about some treats?”

Part of Rex’s training involved food. Rex never ate from a bowl because each time he found explosives while training,West fed him. But he also gave him treats after a long day.

Upstairs, he found the dog biscuits Quinn had hidden in her pantry just for Rex. Leaving Rex to happily munch, he headed into the bedroom.

Sitting at her antique dressing table, Quinn brushed her curls. West felt a tug inside as he watched. He adored the way her mouth softened as she gazed into the mirror, and how it sparked whenshe caught sight of him.

As if he were the only one in her world who could light her up inside.

Leaning against the doorjamb, he watched her, all the day’s tension sliding off him. “You didn’t have to wait up for me, sweetheart.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Grabbed a sandwich in town.”

Her gaze twinkled. “I like waiting up for you. I like watching you, too. Saw you on Main when I wassitting outside with my brother.”

“You were eyeballing my very fine ass,” he teased.

The ensuing blush assured him she did the very thing. “It’s quite nice to watch. Long day?”

“The worst. But it’s better now that I’m here with you.” His voice went husky. “You make all my troubles go away.”

Except the biggest trouble, and that was finding Demi Colton. Finding the truth about her.Today’s explosion deeply worried him, and not simply because he’d ignored the warning sign this morning.

Explosions like that from TATP bombs indicated professionals. Someone intended to do much, much worse. And there was no way to predict where, and when. If Demi Colton did have a hand in it, he needed to know ASAP if Quinn and her brothers were hiding intel on their runaway sister.

“Can you believe Devlin Harrington is offering a hundred thousand to capture my sister?” she asked.