With Every Heartbeat (Forbidden Men 4)

“Oh my God,” I gasped, setting my hand over my rapidly thumping heart as I focused on Cora’s face.

She looked awful. Bags under her eyes, hair a ratty mess, clothes rumbled and hanging loosely from her thin frame.

“What’re you still doing here?” I panted, out of breath from receiving the shock of my life.

She shoved the back of her hand across her nose and sniffed. “I’m waiting on you, idiot. What do you think I’m still doing here? I’ve tried calling your phone all morning.”

I hugged myself, unable to look her in the eyes. “I turned it off.”

“So I guessed. Look, I know you’re still pissed at me because I didn’t tell you about the other guys,” she said. She was so nonchalant about saying the other guys, I winced, freshly hurt on Quinn’s behalf. Just how many other guys had there been? “But are you really so upset you’re just going to leave me hanging on the whole kidney transplant?”

I blinked, clueless. “What?”

“We’re supposed to go in together this morning. You have more tests while I’m getting my treatment.”

“Oh.” Oh, crap. I’d forgotten all about that. I’d been too busy getting freaky with her ex all night long to think about doctor’s appointments. The color drained from my face and guilt layered itself on top of the guilt I was already feeling. “I guess I don’t have time for a shower, huh?”

I gulped, unable to think about anything but all the things I’d be washing off if I did have time.

“Fuck, no. You don’t have time.” She grabbed my arm, startling me. Quinn had touched me there last night. But then, he’d touched me everywhere. “Let’s go.”

I pulled away. “I really need to change.” And my contacts were killing my eyes. Plus I couldn’t handle feeling her hand on me.

She gave me five minutes, and then she bustled me out the door.

Still in a shocked daze over everything that had happened, I couldn’t wrangle my thoughts into any order. My mind was all over the place. It felt so strange to stand mildly by Cora’s side in the elevator when only hours ago I’d had her boyfriend’s cock in my mouth. Ex-boyfriend, I reminded myself. Ex-boyfriend’s cock. Quinn’s gorgeous, long cock that had—

I gasped out a sound, garnering a strange look from Cora. But I darted my attention away.

As soon as we reached the ground floor, I shot out of the slowly opening doors and dashed for the exit, barely thanking Terrance when he let me out of the building. I didn’t know how to do this, how to pretend I hadn’t spent the entire night in Quinn’s bed.

And then, as if thinking about him had conjured him, there he was, across the parking garage, standing by his truck. I jerked to a stop, not sure what to do. The wind whipped through his hair and flattened his T-shirt against his front, showing off every rippling muscle he had and reminding me what they’d felt like under my fingers.

Suddenly, I could feel him again inside me, could taste his kiss on my tongue, smell his perfect scent. My body reacted; I wanted him so bad, wanted him pressing me into his mattress and covering me with his hard warmth.

When he stepped forward, a hopeful yet uncertain expression, a shudder of longing tore through me. He’d followed me.

But then Cora said his name, and I nearly jumped out my skin. She raced past me, rushing to him, and horror filled his face. He turned away, yanking open his truck door, and slamming himself inside. When he started the engine, she banged on his window, but he sped away without slowing down.

I didn’t know what to think, what to do. I just knew he’d come here for me, not her.

He’d wanted me.

Maybe he had been talking to me when he’d spoken in his sleep. Or maybe I was making a mountain out of a molehill. He’d probably just come to apologize and tell me he regretted everything.

“Well, come on already,” Cora yelled at me, her hands on her hips.

So...we went. I still had her life to save.

I was so silent in the passenger seat I think it made Cora nervous. She finally huffed out a sigh, and grumbled, “I suppose you want to talk about last night, huh?”

I jumped. Last night? My brain immediately brought forth a dozen images in my head of last night: of Quinn on top of me, under me, behind me, pinning me to the wall. I paled and shook my head. “Not really.”

Cora lifted her eyebrows. “Seriously? And here, I was so sure I’d get the self-righteous, indignant speech about fucking around and being unfaithful. I was actually expecting a bunch of questions like why. Why, Cora, why?” She finished the last three words on a whine as if trying to imitate me.

I shrugged and turned to stare out the window, ignoring the insult. She had a lot more to insult me about than she could ever guess. “I guess I’ve stopped wondering why you do things that make no sense to me.”

She didn’t have an answer for that. She made a huffy sound, and then said, “Well, I certainly didn’t know he was going to propose.”