All It Takes (Romancing Manhattan 2)

“Sure thing,” Christy says with a wave as they file out, a bounce in their step from the encouragement of finding the receipt.

Hell, I want to turn a cartwheel.

Not that I ever could.

I take my phone out of my handbag to call the office, but it starts to ring in my hand.

“Hello?”

“Hello, darling,” Mom says brightly. “Am I interrupting?”

No, it’s just the middle of the workday. What would you be interrupting?

But I just smile. “Nope, what’s up?”

“Well, I’ve decided to have a family dinner on Sunday. I haven’t seen you in quite a while.”

“I know.” The daughter guilt sets in. “I’m sorry, I’ve just been busy with the park case, and keeping up with other work stuff.”

“I understand, but I hope you can take a couple of hours on Sunday to spend some time with your family.”

“I’ll be working with Quinn early in the day.”

“Well, bring him,” she says, a little too brightly. “Your sister has told me a lot about him already, and I’d like to meet the man that you’re dating.”

I roll my eyes and make a mental note to have a talk with Lou.

“There’s not been a lot of time for dating, Mom.”

“Bring him anyway,” she says. “I insist.”

“Okay, I’ll let him know that he’s invited. I’m not making any promises.”

“Great, we’ll see you two on Sunday, then. Let’s say six?”

“Six it is.”

I hang up and laugh, shaking my head. My mom’s never been good at taking no for an answer, especially from her kids.

She and Quinn should get along great.

“How did it go today?” I ask Quinn as he walks into the conference room. It’s past six. The others left a while ago, after I insisted that it was okay.

“The doctor thinks the memory stuff is from her medication,” he says as he lowers himself into the chair next to me and rubs his face with his hand. He looks tired. Worried.

So I reach over for his hand, giving it a squeeze.

He pulls me out of my seat and into his lap, lays his cheek between my breasts, and takes a deep breath.

“That’s good, though, right?”

“It’s definitely better than it being a brain issue,” he agrees and pats my ass. “They’re making some adjustments, and we’ll see how she feels.”

“Well, that has to be a relief.” I kiss his head and run my fingers through his hair. “I have good news too.”

“Tell me.”

“We found another receipt.”

He looks up, his eyes wide with happiness. “That’s awesome.”

“I know. We can now account for three-quarters of the loan, and that makes me very happy.”

“I’m so glad.” He kisses my neck.

“Part of me thinks that this should be enough proof to go to the judge with.”

“I would agree if it was just about anyone other than Judge Maxton,” he says. “She’s a stickler.”

“And I wouldn’t be happy with anything less than finding that last receipt,” I agree. “So we’ll keep plugging along.”

“That we will.” He kisses me again, then nudges me off his lap. “Now, let’s go home.”

“Quinn, it’s only six. I’d like to get a couple more hours of work in.”

“I forbid it.”

I cock a brow, brace my hand on his hip, and tip my head to the side.

“Excuse me?”

His lips twitch with humor. “That didn’t work? Fine. You’ve been working your ass off. You found more of what you need today, and you’re exhausted. Let me take you home, feed you, and you can get some rest before diving back in tomorrow.”

“That’s better.” I shake my head as I gather my things to leave for the day. “You’ve gotta know me well enough by now to know that if you forbid anything, I’m going to do exactly that.”

“I mostly wanted to see the look on your gorgeous face when I said it,” he says with a smug smile. “I wasn’t disappointed. It’s the same face you have in court, and it makes me hard as fuck.”

That stops me in my tracks. “Really?”

“Oh yeah. Don’t forget, I’m a courtroom junkie, and you’re damn hot in the courtroom.”

“You’ve only seen me in action once.”

“And that was plenty for me to know.”

I laugh and lead him out of the conference room, waiting while he closes and locks the door, then follow him down to his car.

“You seem to be feeling better tonight.”

He’s pulled out of the garage and we’re headed to his place, which isn’t far.

“I am,” I agree. “It helps that we found that money. I guess it gave me some of the energy and confidence that slipped yesterday.”

“I’m glad.”

The ride up to his condo is quiet. He opens the door, and for the second time in the span of minutes, I’m stopped in my tracks.

“Holy shit, Quinn.”

There’s a fire in the fireplace, and lit candles all over the room. There must be five dozen red roses in vases on the kitchen island.