Page 21 of Stolen Hearts (WaterColor Romance #7)

Quinn couldn’t do much other than watch Rory go.

There had been a hint of sadness in Rory’s eyes the entire evening.

Quinn knew that Rory had figured out she wasn’t interested in picking things back up early in the night.

The realization was likely a blow to Rory’s ego.

Where Quinn was concerned Rory had always been able to get exactly what she wanted.

Would things be different if Autumn wasn’t in her life?

Quinn couldn’t help but to ask herself the question.

She wanted to believe that even if she wasn’t dating Autumn, she’d have had enough self-respect to tell Rory no.

She was pretty sure that would have been the case.

Quinn was still standing and looking at the spot where Rory had just been when someone grabbed her shoulders and spun her around.

The motion was so sudden that it took Quinn a moment to register that it was Madison standing in front of her.

“What were you thinking?” Madison demanded.

Quinn shook her head, unable to process the words.

“I’m sorry. What do you mean?”

“You were dancing with Rory. And you let her kiss you,” Madison demanded again.

Quinn could only stare at her friend.

“Rory wanted one last dance. I only wanted my necklace back. The kiss was unexpected, but I pushed her away immediately,” Quinn explained.

Madison ran a hand through her hair and sighed.

“It doesn’t matter what you were intending. Autumn was here. She saw the whole thing. She’s furious.”

Quinn felt a mounting sense of panic. Autumn had seen her dancing with Rory. Had she seen Rory lean in for that kiss?

“Where is she?” Quinn asked. She knew that she needed to get this sorted out with Autumn before it grew into something larger.

“I’m not sure. She and Jordan were walking towards the beach,” Madison said, her voice tight.

Her friend folded her arms over her chest. Quinn had clearly fucked up more than she even realized if Madison was angry with her.

Madison always took her side. But one look at her friend’s face told Quinn that Madison was disappointed.

“Listen, I know from your perspective I really messed up. But I promise that everything that happened between Rory and I was innocent. At least on my part.”

“I’m not the one you’re going to have to explain yourself to. Autumn is.”

Madison’s attitude hurt more than it should have, but Quinn knew it was fair.

As disappointed as Madison was, Autumn was likely feeling worse.

The guilt Quinn felt sat deep in the pits of her heart.

She had hurt Autumn, no matter how unintentionally.

Now she had to find her and do whatever she could to make things right.

Quinn searched but she couldn’t find Autumn or Jordan on the beach. Eventually she just felt silly running in a line up and down the beach. There weren’t more than a handful of people walking along the beach, all of whom eyed her antics with suspicion.

When it was clear that Jordan and Autumn weren’t on the beach, Quinn made her way back to the bar. She found Madison sitting on the outdoor patio. Madison’s arms were folded across her chest, a clear sign that she was upset. Quinn’s heart sank but she took the open seat next to Madison.

Madison barely waited for Quinn’s butt to hit her seat before she began her lecture.

“What on Earth were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that I was one dance away from finally getting my necklace back,” Quinn admitted.

Madison sighed so loudly that a table of women next to them turned to look at her. Quinn felt a hot blush spread up her neck.

“Keep it down,” Quinn shushed.

“Oh, don’t you tell me how to behave. I’m not the one who was dancing with my ex tonight. Of all the bad decisions. And with Rory of all people. You know you didn’t owe her anything? You could have literally just demanded your necklace back. She would have had to give it to you.”

“I know. I was trying to be cordial.”

“Trust me, what we all saw tonight was a little too far on the friendly side of cordial,” Madison bit the words out. She clearly wasn’t going to let Quinn off the hook for this one.

“I get why Autumn’s angry. But why are you so mad at me?” Quinn asked.

“Because I’m tired of watching you make the same mistake with the same woman.

Rory isn’t good for you. She’s never been good for you.

She’s never going to be good for you. She cheated on you and held something you love hostage until you agreed to meet with her.

Which is deeply manipulative. And you still played right into her hand. ”

Madison sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“You’re a good person, Quinn. I hate to watch you being manipulated by someone who clearly doesn’t have your best interests at heart.

Rory saw you moving on, saw you buying this bar and dating this new woman and probably just wanted a piece of the action.

I’m upset that you let her into your personal space. ”

“What did you want me to do? I didn’t want to fight with her in the middle of my bar. So I made the decision to give her one final dance.”

“I wanted you to tell her no. I wanted you to tell her to give you back your necklace and get out of your bar.”

“I think we both know that’s not something I would ever do.”

“Fine. You don’t have to be so vocal. But you don’t invite your current girlfriend to meet you and then be dancing with your ex when she shows up.”

Quinn’s mouth snapped shut. There was no argument she could make to that. Any way she looked at it, what happened tonight would be rough in Autumn’s shoes. Quinn stood abruptly, the move was sudden enough to startle Madison.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to find Autumn and apologize,” Quinn stated. She opened the patio gate and began walking towards her car.

“Wait just a minute,” Madison said, jogging up beside her.

“For what?”

“At least text her to let her know you’re coming.”

Quinn groaned but complied with Madison’s suggestion.

“I hate this,” Quinn grumbled.

“I hate it for you. But you did this to yourself.”

“That’s the part I hate the most,” Quinn admitted.

Her car was quiet and Quinn turned on her music. She couldn’t sit with her own thoughts, they would eat her alive. That was if her crippling guilt didn’t swallow her whole first. She pulled into Autumn’s home, it was so quiet that every time she took a breath the sound was somehow amplified.

Quinn took a moment to compose herself before knocking on Autumn’s door.

She heard movement behind the door then the squeak of the lock.

Quinn wasn’t sure how she would feel when Autumn was finally standing in front of her.

The door opened and Quinn was surprised to see Autumn in a fuzzy bathrobe and slippers.

They had become comfortable with one another over the last few weeks, but Quinn didn’t think she’d ever seen Autumn look quite this adorable before bedtime.

She almost smiled at the scene in spite of herself.

“What are you doing here?” Autumn asked. Her voice was sharp. Quinn supposed that was fair.

“I wanted to talk,” Quinn said. She didn’t make a move to step inside Quinn’s home, but she was hoping for an invitation.

“I don’t have anything to say to you tonight.”

Quinn took a moment to assess Autumn, she looked tired. Weary in a way that made Quinn want to come inside and take care of her.

“Please. What you saw tonight wasn’t what it seemed,” Quinn tried.

“Really? So, you weren’t dancing with your ex-girlfriend? The woman you assured me that you wanted nothing to do with and were going to get rid of super-fast.”

The words stung, but only because they were true.

“It isn’t what it looked like. Please let me come in and explain. We can talk things out.”

Autumn held up a hand, cutting her off before she could keep going.

“I want to talk to you. But not tonight. Tonight, I want to sit in my fuzzy robe and watch reality TV shows until I fall asleep. I’ll text you tomorrow and we can set something up.”

Autumn’s words didn’t leave any room for arguments. Quinn nodded her head in subtle defeat.

“Okay. I’ll get out of here,” Quinn whispered.

Autumn didn’t respond, just simply closed the door.

Quinn heard the lock slide back into place.

She stood there for a long moment. Uncertainty filled her.

Quinn had never considered an outcome where she didn’t get the chance to apologize.

She had never thought about what would happen if Autumn sent her away.

In her head she’d imagined Autumn being angry, but not sending her away.

Tears stung her eyes as she walked back to her car.

She wanted to scream, or cry, or bang on Autumn’s door to beg her to listen.

But Madison was right, she’d made this mistake all on her own.

And if Autumn needed space the least she could do was give it to her.

Quinn pulled out and drove into the night back to her bar.

Madison was waiting beside her apartment door. She watched as her friend scanned her face before offering a smile.

“I thought you could use a friend tonight,” Madison offered.

“I thought you were mad at me,” Quinn grumbled.

“I was never mad at you. It just upsets me to see you acting against your own best interests.”

Quinn nodded her head slowly. She barely had the energy to lift her head, but she did manage to meet Madison’s eyes.

“You want to come in for a night cap?”

“Let’s do it.”

Quinn might have alienated the woman she was in love with, but at least she had a friend to rely on.

Quinn made a couple of cocktails and sat on the couch beside Madison.

She handed one drink to Madison and took a sip of her own.

Quinn had made the drink strong enough to burn on the way down.

She watched as Madison gave the drink a careful sniff then set hers off to the side with a grimace. Quinn chuckled.

“How did things go with Autumn? Was she home?”

“She was home, but she refuses to talk to me. She doesn’t want to talk until she’s calmed down,” Quinn frowned down at her drink.

“Honestly, good for her,” Madison quipped.

“Whose team are you on?”

“Yours, always. But would you rather Autumn talk to you when she’s too emotional to know what she wants? You want her to talk to you when she’s so mad she can’t see straight?” Madison asked.

Quinn hated reasonable questions when she was upset.

“Maybe,” Quinn mumbled.

“No, you don’t. Giving her time to process the night means that there’s a better chance for the two of you to work things out later. If you talk to her tonight, she might just tell you to fuck off.”

“Hey!” Quinn protested.

“Sorry. I mean it is true though. Take her needing time as a good thing. And a sign of emotional maturity on her part.”

Quinn smiled at that.

“You’re right. This is actually the very least I can do. We’ll talk tomorrow and hopefully things will go better,” Quinn managed something that resembled a smile.

They sat in relative silence as Quinn finished her drink.

“Are you going to drink that?” Quinn asked Madison pointing to her discarded drink.

“Absolutely not. That drink is strong enough to knock out a Viking. I want to be able to make it home and sleep in my own bed,” Madison laughed, and Quinn joined her.

Madison left a few minutes later. Quinn found Madison’s discarded drink and drank it. If anything would put her to sleep it was this. She was disappointed when she still tossed and turned several minutes before finally drifting off.