Free The Mighty Quinns: Ryan by Kate Hoffmann Page A

“Quinn.”
    His eyelids fluttered, then opened. He met her gaze, his brow etched with confusion. “Hi,” he said.
    “Good morning.”
    Ryan slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes. She snatched at the towel and quickly pulled it over herself, but not before he’d caught sight of her naked body. “We—we fell asleep.”
    “I can see that.”
    Serena sat up beside him. She wasn’t sure what to say. She’d only ever slept with a man after they’d had sex. Her gaze skimmed over his chest and came to rest on the bulge in the front of his shorts. Though she knew his response probably wasn’t caused by her presence, she preferred to think that he’d been dreaming about seduction.
    Reaching up, Serena tried to run her fingers through the tangles in her hair. Ryan reached out and rearranged a strand that kept falling into her face.
    “There. Much better.”
    “Thanks, Quinn.”
    “Do you want to try calling me Ryan? Now that we’ve slept together, I think it would be all right.”
    “Ryan,” she murmured.
    He grinned. “Much better.”
    Serena could imagine what she looked like—wild hair, smudged makeup and an imprint from the chaise cushion impressed into the right side of her face. She wanted to run into the house and make herself presentable, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave him.
    “How did you sleep?” he asked.
    “Really well.” Her nights recently had been plagued with restless dreams and frustrating bouts of insomnia. But last night, she’d fallen into a dreamless sleep that had left her perfectly refreshed and ready for another day.
    “I’m going to go take a shower and get dressed. Why don’t you figure out what we’re going to do today.”
    “With or without the girls?” he asked.
    “Without. After all, we just slept side by side, without giving in to temptation, so we’ve proven we don’t need a chaperone. And they’re a lost cause in the adventure department. But no matter. We’ll have fun on our own.” She smiled. “I’ll see you in a bit, Ryan.”
    She liked the sound of his name coming off her lips. It had been easy to keep him at a distance when he’d been just Quinn, the adventure guide. But there was no denying that they’d grown closer over the past couple of days. They’d become friends, and as such, she ought to call him by his first name.
    “Ryan,” she said to herself as she strolled back to the house.
    Serena stepped inside the house and rounded the corner into the kitchen. To her surprise, the girls were gathered around the table, still dressed in their evening clothes and digging into a lavish breakfast that Juni had laid out.
    They all looked up at her. She pulled the towel more tightly around her body, then forced a smile. “What? I just went for an early morning swim.”
    “What happened to your hair?” Bella asked.
    Serena reached up, then cursed softly. “I slept on it when it was wet.”
    A few seconds later, she heard Ryan come in behind her. He stopped short when he noticed the group gathered at the table. Serena glanced back and saw that he was holding her dress in one hand and her thong in the other.
    “Good morning,” he said. He quickly gave her her clothes, then continued on through the kitchen and up the back stairs to his room.
    “I’m going to grab a shower,” she said. “Save some breakfast for me.”
    She hurried up to her room and shut the door behind her. Closing her eyes, she slumped against the door, letting the towel fall to the ground. Through the walls, she could hear Ryan in the next room, whistling a soft tune.
    This was crazy. She wanted to go to him, to fall into his bed and make love for the rest of the day and the night. Since the moment they’d met, she’d felt this undeniable attraction. But after last night, she was forced to realize that this was more than just some silly infatuation.
    She was supposed to marry Ben in a matter of weeks, but instead, she wanted to run away with Ryan. With him, she could be entirely