“For what?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Men,” she said as she snatched a tissue from her fancy tissue holder. “What am I going to do with you?”
“You could marry me.”
She blew her nose with a snorty, wet, honking sound.
“Is that a yes?” he asked.
“No!”
“Oh. Well.” He glanced at the jar of quarters and gestured awkwardly toward them. “You can keep the change.”
“Quinn.”
“Yeah?”
She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out again. “You’re supposed to tell me you love me.”
“Telling me how to do my job again?”
“Someone has to.”
“All right.” He took her hand, raised it to his lips and brushed them over her knuckles. “I love you, Tess.”
“A kiss would be nice.”
He lifted her hand higher. “I just gave you one.”
“On the lips, Quinn.”
He stared at her red nose and puffy eyes and closed his own eyes, tightly, before pressing a short, sweet kiss to her mouth. “There.”
“‘There.’ Such a way with words.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t hear any coming from you.”
She moved in close, snugging her curvy front up against his and wrapping her arms around his neck and tangling her fingers in his hair, just the way he liked it. “I love you, J. J. Quinn. With all my heart. And I love your little girl, too. And yes, I’ll marry you. And I’ll-
She shoved him aside and dashed out her door, yelling at the officer tucking a parking ticket beneath her car’s wiper blade.
He shoved his hands into his pockets and strolled to the window-his heart as light as his step-to watch Tess rip the ticket from her car, crumple it in her manicured hands, toss it to the pavement and grind it beneath her spiky high heel.
A guy had to love a woman like that.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Terry McLaughlin spent a dozen years teaching a variety of subjects, including anthropology, music appreciation, English, drafting, drama and history, to a variety of students from kindergarten to college before she discovered romance novels and fell in love with love stories. When she’s not reading or writing, she enjoys traveling and planning house and garden improvement projects. Terry lives with her husband in Northern California on a tiny ranch in the redwoods. Visit her at www.terrymclaughlin.com.
