Free Seduced in September (Spring River Valley Book 9) by Clarice Wynter Page A

inside.
    Ignoring the discomfort caused by his soaking wet clothes, Quinn reached up to help Lily out of the back of the ambulance. “Thanks,” he whispered when she jumped down from the raised step. “I couldn’t have done that without your help.”
    “You had it. I just helped you up,” she said dismissively, but she lingered close to him for a second while the orderlies finished maneuvering the stretcher through door and out of the rain.
    “Either way, we make a good team, don’t you think?”
    She held his gaze but didn’t answer. A second later her aunt called her, and she moved off down the corridor, following the stretcher toward the ER.
     

Chapter Thirteen
     
     
    With Aunt Maddie on her way to X-ray, Lily finally allowed herself a deep, calming breath. She wrapped her still shaking hands around her coffee cup to soak up the warmth of the steaming decaf and leaned back into the cushions of the small couch in the waiting area outside her aunt’s room in the ER. What a night.
    Her wet jeans clung to her legs, and her shoes sloshed from being submerged while she and Quinn had worked to free the shopping cart from beneath the ambulance. She imagined she looked much the worse for wear, and she felt the same, but the physical discomfort was nothing compared to her roiling emotions. Embarrassment at coming face-to-face with Quinn had turned into something she couldn’t quite describe when she’d watched him in action. Now she wanted to see him again, but she dreaded being unable to find the right words to express herself. Thoughts of him sent butterflies dancing beneath her ribcage when she should have been concentrating on her worry for her aunt.
    The only thing that could make it worse would be if the booted feet that strolled into her line of vision belonged to Quinn. Reluctantly, she looked up from the soothing depths of her coffee into eyes as equally dark and hot.
    “Hey,” he began, his tone mildly hopeful. He handed her a pair of green cotton scrubs. “I got these from supply, in case you wanted to change out of your wet clothes.”
    She accepted the neatly folded pants and top, carefully to make sure her fingers didn’t touch his. “Thanks. What about you?”
    “I’ll grab another pair on my way out. Tanner’s waiting for me, but I wanted to see how your aunt was doing before I left.”
    “They just took her to X-ray.”
    He pulled up a plastic chair from across the corridor and sat down in front of her. Heat crept up the side of her face. When she’d said they could talk later, she hadn’t meant later tonight.
    “So…”
    “We don’t have to do this now.”
    “Do what?”
    She set her coffee aside and folded her hands in her lap. “The other night…”
    “I’m sorry. I don’t normally do shots in rapid succession, and I honestly don’t normally forget…you know, names and things. It was…”
    “A special occasion. I don’t normally pick up strange men in bars and go home with them.”
    “So you think I’m strange.”
    She eyed him, fighting a smile. “Of course not. I meant, you’re just…we don’t really know each other.”
    “We do know each other. Sort of. But that’s not important. We…whatever we had, it was good, right? It was worth repeating.”
    Oh God. “That’s what this is about? You want a repeat performance?”
    “No, not at all. I mean, not…” He shook his head and cursed under his breath. “Why is this so hard? I can’t seem to say what I mean with you.”
    “I thought you meant everything you said the other night.”
    “I did. I do. I think. What did I say, exactly?”
    She rolled her eyes. “And there we go. You have no idea.”
    “I remember telling you how beautiful you were and how great we were together. I’m pretty certain I meant that.”
    “Okay. Did you also mean you didn’t want an ongoing relationship? You said you weren’t looking for anything, anything at all, and I agreed. I didn’t leave you my phone number because I