Page 20 of Stolen Hearts (WaterColor Romance #7)

Autumn had spent more time than she cared to admit curating her look for the evening.

If there was even the possibility of running into Quinn’s ex, she wanted to be looking her best. Perhaps she was being silly.

It wasn’t as if Quinn seemed fond of her ex.

But the idea of running into Rory awoke a long-buried sense of being territorial.

When she’d finally picked her outfit, a stark white jumpsuit with a gold-colored belt and golden jewelry for highlights she knew she looked stunning. Piper had always said that knowing what you look best in was a woman’s best weapon.

Autumn appraised herself one more time. She did look good. Those long hours in the gym were starting to pay off. Her doorbell rang and she opened the door to reveal both Madison and Jordan. They each looked stunning as well. If there had ever been a wing woman dream team these two, were it.

“We all look amazing,” Madison laughed.

“Of course we do. We all know what we’re going out for tonight,” Jordan responded matter of factly.

When Autumn and Madison made no response, only offering sheepish smiles Jordan sighed.

“We’re going to show this Rory woman who’s boss. And to show Quinn how much of a catch Autumn is. Lest she forget.”

It was official, Jordan was next level. Autumn had an inkling that she could learn a great deal from the woman.

Autumn couldn’t help but admire Jordan and Madison’s outfit choices as well.

Jordan wore a golden top with just enough of a plunge in her neckline to give a peek but not enough to give away all her secrets.

She had coupled the top with a pair of black slacks and heels.

Madison had gone in the other direction.

She wore a white top that hugged her curves and a navy skirt that showed off her well-toned legs. The three of them were knockouts.

Autumn was sure that everything with Quinn and Rory would be over quickly.

Quinn hadn’t seemed eager to even have an in-person conversation, much less spend extra time with Rory.

With any luck, Rory would be gone before they even got to the bar.

Then Autumn could focus on getting to know her two new friends and hanging out with her girlfriend.

“How are you feeling about this evening?” Jordan asked. There was concern in her deep brown eyes. Autumn couldn’t help but find the woman equal parts fierce and comforting.

“I feel better about it. Quinn doesn’t seem like she even wants to reconnect with Rory. So hopefully she’ll be able to get the woman in and out of the bar quickly. We might not even see Rory at all.”

“For what it’s worth I agree with that assessment. Quinn seems more eager to get the whole thing over and done with than she does actually interacting with Rory,” Madison offered.

“Do you think this Rory person will be easy enough to get rid of?” Jordan asked.

“I don’t know about that. Rory likes to have things go her way. I doubt she’ll allow herself to be purposefully rushed. But I do think Quinn will move her out of there as quickly as she can.”

A strange kind of peace settled over Autumn.

She’d initially been wary of Rory demanding to see Quinn.

But while Rory’s trustworthiness was clearly questionable, Quinn had shown her nothing to indicate that she was.

Autumn trusted Quinn. Autumn held herself to impossibly high standards, but she hadn’t found many people who did the same.

Quinn might differ in the way she went through life, but she had a kind of unshakable character that made Autumn trust her.

They arrived at the bar a short time later. The place was packed, which was a good sign. Autumn was pleased that the bar was doing so well. She knew she couldn’t take credit for Quinn’s success, but whatever part her design work had played she was grateful to have been part of the project.

Jordan took the place in, a hint of a smile tugged at the edges of her mouth.

“What are your thoughts?” Autumn asked genuinely curious.

“This place is amazing. I really like the way your design comes together. I’m going to have to bring my friends here. And my partner, Reese, of course. I think this would make for a fantastic girls’ night for all of us.”

When Jordan complimented her design choices for some reason it held more weight than with other people. Probably because Jordan seemed well put together from head to toe.

“Shall we go inside?” Madison laughed.

“Let’s,” Autumn answered.

It took Autumn’s eyes a moment to adjust to the low lighting in the bar.

As soon as she could see she scanned the space searching for Quinn.

Her eyes found Quinn on the dance floor; she was dancing with a woman.

The woman with Quinn had long purple hair and was wearing loose fitting jeans with a black t-shirt.

She knew instantly that this had to be Rory.

Autumn bumped Madison with her shoulder and nodded towards Quinn.

“Is that Quinn with Rory?” Autumn asked.

Madison followed her line of sight until her eyes landed on Quinn. Autumn didn’t miss the way Madison’s eyes widened at the sight of Quinn dancing with the woman.

“That’s definitely Rory,” Madison answered sheepishly.

“Why are they dancing? I thought the two of them didn’t get along.” Leave it to Jordan to cut right through the bullshit.

“That’s what she’s been telling me,” Autumn answered. She wanted to give Quinn the benefit of the doubt. But the sight of Quinn and Rory that close rubbed her the wrong way. The growing tension wasn’t lost on Madison who tried to interject, as a good friend would.

“I’m sure they both just want to say goodbye on friendly terms. Maybe they buried enough of the hatchet to wish one another well.”

“Maybe,” Autumn answered. Doubt was already starting to creep in.

The song ended and Autumn watched as Rory slid what looked like a necklace around Quinn’s neck.

Did she have to be so close? Autumn almost felt a growl escape her, but she held everything back.

She could and would be asking Quinn about this later.

As Rory fastened the necklace Autumn watched as the woman went in for a kiss on Quinn’s cheek, her hand rested on Quinn’s chest. Autumn had seen enough; she would be asking Quinn about this right now.

Before her brain had time to interject, her feet were moving, propelling her towards Quinn and Rory. Liquid fire burned beneath her surface.

When she reached Quinn, Autumn not so subtly bumped Rory out of the way. She wrapped her arms around Quinn’s waist pulling her tight. Quinn practically melted into her touch. She watched as Rory’s eyes widened then narrowed, clearly accepting her challenge.

“Hey, babe,” Autumn said.

“Hey.” Quinn met Autumn’s eyes. She leaned in and gave Autumn a kiss on the lips. Autumn was pretty sure she watched Rory’s brain explode in front of her. She turned, meeting Rory’s eyes. They sized one another up for a moment.

“I’m Autumn, Quinn’s girlfriend. You must be Rory.” Autumn watched Rory process the word girlfriend.

“I must be,” Rory stiffened, her gaze fixed on Autumn.

“Thanks for hand delivering Quinn’s necklace. It was nice of you to come all this way.”

Autumn could hear the sarcasm dripping from her own words. If Rory noticed she played it cool.

“I knew it was important to Quinn. I wanted to make sure it got here safely,” Rory announced with a clearly faked smile.

If Autumn could have hauled Rory out of the bar herself, she would have. But Autumn wasn’t the type to cause a scene, especially not in her girlfriend’s bar.

“It’s a shame you didn’t bring your girlfriend along. We could have all gone on a double date,” Autumn said pointedly.

She watched as the insult landed. Rory smiled but Autumn knew the woman was done with the conversation.

“Maybe next time. I should get going. Quinn, it was nice to see you again. I’m glad you’re doing so well.”

Rory turned her eyes back to Autumn.

“It was nice meeting you.” This time Rory didn’t attempt to smile.

They watched as Rory disappeared into the crowd.

“I can’t believe you stood up to her that way,” Quinn announced excitedly. She wrapped an arm around Autumn’s shoulder. Autumn shrugged the arm off her shoulders.

“And I can’t believe that you didn’t stand up to her.” Autumn’s words were a clear condemnation.

Quinn faltered, taking a step back from Autumn.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean based on what you’ve been telling me I didn’t expect to come here and see you dancing with Rory. I expected to see some clear space between you two. Not whatever it was I just walked in on,” Autumn condemned.

“Okay, you didn’t walk in on anything other than a goodbye dance,” Quinn retorted.

“After everything she put you through, I don’t know why you would need a goodbye dance. Why not just demand your necklace and tell her to get out of your bar?”

Autumn’s words were coming too fast for her to gatekeep them. She was angry at Rory for coming here and disrupting their lives, but she was also angry at Quinn for not standing her ground with Rory. For not putting more space between them.

“I don’t know what the big deal is. Why does it matter if we said goodbye over a dance?” Quinn asked.

“Because you have a girlfriend. Me. I’m your girlfriend. The last thing I wanted to see tonight was you getting cozy with another woman, especially when that woman is your ex-girlfriend.” Autumn punctuated each of her words, giving them a little more bite than usual.

Quinn stood clearly stunned by her words. Autumn watched Quinn’s face crumple. She didn’t want to hurt her, she wanted to pull back before she said anything she’d regret. Instead, she turned and left. She walked out the bar doors and into the evening air.

The warm salty air hit her face. In the distance she could hear the crash of waves, and she walked towards the sound. Autumn took off her heels when she reached the sand, continuing towards the ocean. Her mind raced, seeking to process everything she’d just seen.

Jordan caught up and fell into step beside her.

They walked in silence. Autumn was grateful to have someone with her.

She was also grateful that Jordan didn’t seem to have a need to fill in the silence.

There was nothing to say. Quinn had said she wanted to make this meetup with Rory go as quickly as possible, yet she’d been dancing with her.

And then there was the strangely intimate moment between the two of them.

Rory fastening the necklace around Quinn’s neck, then giving her a kiss on the cheek.

It could have been a goodbye kiss. There were a hundred ways she could try and explain the gesture away.

Autumn was always in control. But she couldn’t help it she was so upset about the moment between Rory and Quinn Autumn couldn’t help but be angry.

There was something about watching Quinn allow another woman to get so into her space that made Autumn furious.

Autumn sat down in the sand, the waves were just out of reach. She listened to the sound of the waves crashing along the shoreline. The ocean sounded as angry as she felt. Jordan sat down beside her and stared out at the horizon.

“Did that really just happen?” Autumn asked finally.

“It did,” Jordan answered simply.

“Should I be as angry as I’m feeling right now?”

“I’m not qualified to tell you how angry you should be.”

Autumn gave a soft laugh.

“If you were me, would you be angry?”

Jordan paused, obviously considering the question.

“I think I would be. The question is what do you want to do about it?”

It was Autumn’s turn to give a long pause.

“I don’t know yet. I need clarification for what I just saw. But right now, I don’t even want to talk to Quinn.”

“Then don’t,” Jordan advised.

“Shouldn’t you be telling me to work out my problems as quickly as possible?”

“Sure. But you’re allowed to take a day or two to process things before talking it out.

I mean up to this point Quinn has been insisting that she doesn’t want anything to do with her ex.

But you walked in on them having a semi-intimate moment.

It’s okay to take a beat to process that and then talk to her.

Maybe it was all innocent. I’m sure that’s the case.

But if you have feelings about it, take some time to experience them. ”

Autumn nodded her head in agreement. She stood from the sand and wiped off her jumpsuit. Jordan stood and walked with Autumn back to her car.

“You want me to drive you home?” Jordan asked.

“Thanks, that would be great.”

They rode in relative silence, Autumn gazed out the window. It was dark now, so she stared at nothing.

“What are you going to do? For the rest of the night I mean,” Jordan asked.

“Have some junk food delivered to my place. Then eat it.”

Jordan gave a soft laugh.

“I’ll stay if you want. But it kind of seems like you’d enjoy some time to yourself.”

It was more of a statement than a question. Autumn could appreciate that Jordan seemed to be good at reading people.

“I do kind of want a quiet evening alone.”

“I hope you have a restful night,” Jordan offered with a smile. She pulled up to Autumn’s home. Autumn leaned in and gave her a small half hug before getting out.

“Thanks again for everything tonight,” Autumn said.

“You’re very welcome. Feel free to text me anytime,” Jordan smiled as Autumn closed the door.

Autumn wasn’t sure she’d ever felt this tired before.

She needed snacks and her bed. Before walking into her home Autumn checked her phone.

Her screen lit up with unread text messages from Quinn.

She turned the notifications for her cell phone to silent.

Tomorrow she’d handle Quinn. Tonight, she didn’t want any interruptions.