Dare To Resist (Dare Nation 1)

“My wife, Kelly, is a reporter and she’s here for work, too,” he said proudly.

“Is this Quinn, as in your ex-fiancée?” Kelly asked.

Daniel cleared his throat. “It is. Kelly, this is Quinnlyn Stone.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Quinn murmured.

Before they could continue, Austin had joined her, easily slipping in beside her and wrapping an arm firmly around her waist. “What did I miss?” he asked, eyeing her ex and his wife.

Quinn wondered if Austin had caught an expression that indicated she wasn’t overly comfortable. She’d meant to hide her feelings, but coming face-to-face with Daniel and his pregnant wife had been a surprise. She didn’t begrudge him happiness, but she hadn’t seen him in so long, this meeting was awkward for her.

“Who is this?” Daniel asked, his gaze on Austin.

“Austin Prescott.” He extended his hand and Daniel took it. “I’m Quinn’s…”

“Boss,” she chimed in.

“And you are?” Austin asked.

“Daniel Munroe. Quinn’s ex.” Daniel grinned sheepishly, pulling his wife closer to his side.

“They were engaged,” Kelly said, her voice tight.

Beside her, Austin stiffened. He didn’t know about her engagement and why should he? She’d ended it just before she’d gotten the job at Dare Nation, and they’d been colleagues for the past year. Not friends. Certainly not lovers, at least not until this past week. She’d had no reason to get into her past.

Wanting to keep things light, Quinn glanced at Kelly. “I hear congratulations are in order. My brother told me you’re expecting.”

At her curious glance, Quinn explained, “Matt is a professor at the college with Daniel.”

“Right,” Kelly said. “I forgot that.”

“Do you want to see pictures of the baby’s sonogram?” If Daniel had had a particularly annoying fault, it had been that he was clueless to other people’s discomfort or emotions. Which was probably why he’d thought Quinn would change her mind and want to have his baby one day when she’d made her feelings perfectly clear.

Kelly shifted uncomfortably on her feet. “I don’t think they want to see—”

“Of course we want to look,” Quinn said. She didn’t want Kelly to view her as a threat of any kind.

Daniel pulled the picture from his wallet, and they spent the next few minutes oohing and aahing over the black-and-white blob.

Finally, Kelly spoke up. “My feet hurt. Can we go sit down now?” She tugged on her husband’s arm.

Catching on, Daniel nodded. “Sure. It was nice seeing you again, Quinn. Good to meet you, too,” he said to a silent Austin.

Finally and blessedly they were left alone and Quinn let out a relieved breath. “God, was Daniel that obtuse when I was with him?” She shook her head, laughing until she caught sight of Austin’s stony face. “What’s wrong?”

“You were engaged?”

“I was. Yes.” And she didn’t want to discuss her past here. “Is it time to go home? If we’re going to dig into my old relationships, I’d like to do it in private.”

He inclined his head and took her elbow, leading her out of the ballroom.

She didn’t know what his problem was but she intended to find out. Except he didn’t make it easy.

He hadn’t said a word since they agreed to leave. Not when they waited for his Porsche to be brought around by the valet. Not on the drive home. And not when they walked into the house and she checked in with Amy and let her cousin out, locking up for the night. And not when she walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind her.

Clearly something was going through his mind. Walking up behind him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and placed her cheek against his back. He’d already removed his jacket, so she leaned against his shirt, not worrying if she transferred makeup to the white material. “Austin? What’s bothering you?”

“Nothing. I’m fine,” he said curtly.

“Liar.” Her body moved against him as she laughed quietly. “You’re jealous for no reason.”

“Why did you break up?” he asked, not denying her accusation.

She kept them entangled together when she spoke. “When Daniel and I got engaged, we agreed that we didn’t want kids, but come to find out, he thought he could convince me to change my mind. I just… I didn’t want children with him. So we broke up.”

“And you have no feelings left for him? Because when they walked up to you, the look on your face…”

She shook her head and turned him around to face her. “None at all.” She felt more for Austin than she ever had for Daniel, but how did she admit that when they had to have an end date? “But I have lots of feelings for you.” In the end, she couldn’t deny him knowing that she cared.

“I spent the night watching you in that dress and wanted nothing more than to peel it off you,” he said in a gruff voice.