Under the Boardwalk

CHAPTER FIVE

I thought we were having dinner with your parents,” Quinn said as he started the truck outside Ari’s house. “Elena said she was cooking.” Much as he hated to admit it, he’d been looking forward to a home-cooked meal.

“You actually sound disappointed.” Ari shook her head in obvious amazement. “I’m sorry, Quinn, but my mother had you fooled. She’s not a traditional Greek woman.”

“I never mistook Elena for traditional. I just thought when she said she’d cook, she meant it.”

“Obviously you don’t know my mother’s version of cooking.”

“Any version of home cooking would be a damn sight more appetizing than the stuff that any of my foster mothers used to serve.” Realizing how much he’d given away, Quinn quickly shifted topics. “So tell me what Elena meant.”

Ari rolled her head to the side, meeting his gaze. In her eyes, Quinn saw questions. He clenched the steering wheel tight. No matter that he’d brought up the subject, it wasn’t one he wanted to get into.

“My mother makes a phone call and dinner is delivered from the Greek diner in town,” she explained.

Whether Ari read his mind or simply skimmed the topic of his past on purpose, he didn’t know. But he was grateful. “Greek diner. Why am I not surprised?” he asked, laughing.

She chuckled. “Aunt Kassie owns the diner.”

“I’ll have to check it out one day.”

“Be nice to me and maybe I’ll take you.” She not so subtly walked her fingers across the back of his seat until she reached his collar and dipped her hand into his shirt.

His neck tingled and he liked the sensation. “Define nice.”

“Where’s my sister?” she asked, not missing a beat.

He let out a groan and, unwilling to fall prey to her feminine wiles, volleyed the next change of subject right back at her. “I didn’t meet your Aunt Kassie, did I?”

“I’ll take that as a sign you aren’t ready to play nice.” She blew out a frustrated puff of air. “No, you haven’t met Aunt Kassie. Her work at the diner keeps her busy and out of family trouble.”

“Just like your work keeps you away and out of family trouble?”

She tilted her head to the side. “Don’t bother asking questions when you won’t answer mine. And don’t pretend to know me.”

“I’m not pretending. I know a little, and by the time we’re through with each other, I have a hunch I’ll know a lot more.” But more intimate knowledge wouldn’t come now. She was angry that he wouldn’t answer her questions, so instead he decided to hit on a lighter topic. “Tell me about the monkey.”

A reluctant smile pulled at her lips and she shook her head. “I don’t know. I came home and there he… I mean she was. The dress was something new.”

He chuckled. “Your family’s a riot.”

She turned her gaze his way. “Not many people think so,” she murmured. “But they obviously like to take in strays.”

The word “stray” distracted his thoughts from Ari’s relationship with her family to his own problems and triggered a reminder of Sam. “Oh shit.” He glanced at the street sign and took the nearest right.

“Where are we going?”

“We have to make a stop first. I have to talk to some friends. It’s important or I wouldn’t take the time.” He drove through the side streets, winding his way toward Sam’s foster parents’ house.

“What about my job?” Ari asked, though from the way she’d folded her arms across her chest and leaned back against the car seat, she was resigned to whatever errand he had to run.

“It’ll be there when you get back.” He glanced at his watch. “Besides, we were planning on having dinner at your parents’. It’s not like you’re going to be late.”

But he was days overdue checking on Sam and talking to Aaron and Felice. Quinn couldn’t believe he’d forgotten about Sam’s problems, but between Ariana and Damon, Quinn had his hands full.

Especially since two years of cultivating Damon’s trust was about to come to fruition. Damon had just asked Quinn to oversee operations this weekend so he could get away with his most recent bimbo. Quinn would be able to compare the videotapes of the counting room with the books Damon turned over to the IRS. With a little luck, he’d also find the real books that documented the actual take from the casino. He was so close to the end he could actually taste it.

But that didn’t mean Quinn could let Sam’s problems get lost. The system did that too often. She had to know there was one person she could count on.

He pulled the car to a halt in front of a pretty house, yellow clapboard with white trim and black shutters. The kind of house Quinn had dreamed of growing up in with two parents, brothers, sisters, and a pet inside. He slipped the gearshift into park.

“Can we get something to eat in the casino before my shift?” Ari asked.

“Behave now and I’ll consider feeding you. Wait here. This shouldn’t take long.” On impulse, he touched her nose with his fingertip before turning and climbing out of the truck, leaving one problem and heading for another.

• • •

After watching Quinn walk into the house and the door shut behind him, Ariana realized he wouldn’t be right back. She grabbed her bag and moved into the back seat of his truck. Blocked by tinted windows, she quickly changed into her work uniform. The short black skirt and tight white T-shirt with “Damon’s” scrawled across her breasts was a sight she hadn’t wanted her family to see.

She planned on telling them about her new job at the same time she told them she wasn’t leaving again for Vermont soon, as originally planned. Any sooner and they’d be meddling in her life, something neither she nor Zoe could afford.

She tied her last sneaker and glanced out the window. Still no sign of Quinn. “Damn the man.” As long as she was early for work, she’d hoped she could implement her plan to convince Maria she had no interest in Connor. But if Quinn didn’t hurry up, she was out of time and luck.

Another five minutes passed and Ariana ran out of patience. She grabbed her purse, left the truck and walked up the driveway to the house, then followed the bluestone steps that led to the front door.

“Who are you?” a voice coming from the bushes to her right asked. A young, female voice.

“That depends on who’s asking.” Ariana glanced around, but didn’t see anyone.

“I’m back here. Behind the big bush and in front of the prickly ones.”

Ariana followed the direction and caught sight of a baseball cap peeking out from between the surrounding greenery. “Well, show yourself. I’m not coming in to find you.”

“Not a nature girl, huh?” the young voice asked.

“Not when I can avoid it,” Ariana answered.

“Can’t say I blame you.” A teenage girl popped out of the landscaping, a hunter-green cap on her head and blonde hair hanging down her back. “I didn’t think Quinn would go for the preppy type either. You look okay though.” She had huge, sad eyes that seemed to see and know too much, and she stared at Ariana. And she couldn’t be any more than thirteen.

“I’m glad I have your seal of approval.”

The girl crossed her arms over her chest. “I haven’t decided that yet.”

“Well, I’m Ariana and I’m a friend of Quinn’s. Who are you?” Who was this child to Quinn? Ariana wondered.

The girl came up beside Ariana. “Nobody important.”

Ariana’s heart squeezed tight in her chest. “You’re wrong or you wouldn’t know Quinn.” She didn’t know how or why she knew that to be true. She just did.

“He’s okay,” the kid said, grudgingly.

“Okay” seemed to be the operative word of the moment. Before they could continue their conversation, Quinn stormed out of the house, slamming the screen door behind him. He ran down the steps, nearly barreling into Ariana. “Ari,” he said, surprised.

She felt Sam bump her from the other side, then Quinn’s hands came out and grabbed her forearms tightly. “What the hell are you doing here? I told you to wait in the car.” His eyes appeared darker than before, as if a black cloud had settled over him.

“I needed fresh air and I was just talking to-” Ariana glanced around, but the teenager had disappeared. No sign of the baseball hat in the bushes, either. “Someone,” she muttered.

“Well, let’s get the hell out of here.” Obviously upset, he led her to the car and headed out of the neighborhood and back toward Atlantic City and the casino.

“I met a friend of yours,” Ariana said into the oppressive silence. He hadn’t even turned on the car radio. “But she wouldn’t give me her name.”

“It’s Sam.” His fingers clenched the steering wheel tighter.

“Your sister?” she hazarded a guess, though she hadn’t noticed a resemblance between Quinn and the young girl beyond the sandy hair color.

He shook his head. “McDonald’s okay with you?”

“It’s fine. Look, I don’t want to pry into your private life-”

“Then don’t.”

“But she was upset and so are you. And I’m a good listener.”

Quinn pulled into the drive-through of a McDonald’s rest stop off the Garden State Parkway, then leaned one arm over the back of her seat and glanced her way. “If you miss psychology so much, why don’t you go back to teaching and leave me alone?” he asked without much heat in his voice.

“Because it’s so much more fun bothering you.”

“Can I help you?” a voice asked through the microphone.

Quinn placed their orders without asking her preference, drove around to the window, and took the bags, handing them to Ariana to sort through. She didn’t think it was wise to argue with him right now, so she let him pay.

She bit into her hamburger and watched as he did the same. He’d been distracted since leaving the house and she wanted to know why. More, she wanted to help him deal with what was bothering him. Not just because it would be a good distraction from her own problems, but because she liked him better when he was smiling. But she couldn’t figure out a way to get him to open up, so she munched on a french fry in silence.

Since she obviously wasn’t going to get any information out of Quinn by pumping him, she remained quiet the rest of the way to Damon’s, and five minutes later the glittering lights of the casino came into view.

Instead of leaving the truck with the doormen at the front, Quinn pulled around back and into the garage, circling around till he reached his reserved spot in the back. Ariana crumpled her wrapper and put all her garbage into the bag, then reached for the door handle.

“Sam’s in foster care.”

Ariana swallowed hard. “It looks like a nice house. Is she with a good family?” She pivoted back to look at Quinn, holding her breath.

His brows furrowed over and he shook his head. “I thought so.”

“But?”

“The wife’s pregnant and they aren’t sure they want to keep a troubled kid around now.”

Ariana thought back on her initial exchange with the young girl. Who are you? Ariana had asked. Nobody important. Ariana winced. “That’s… that’s…” she sputtered, unable to come up with an appropriate comment to something so unspeakably sad.

“Exactly.” Quinn shut the car down. “I knew this family. I handpicked them. I introduced them to Sam and I fought to get her placed there.” He slammed his fist on the steering wheel in obvious frustration.

She covered his hand with hers, offering comfort the only way she could. “What’s your relationship to Sam? To the family?”

He met her gaze and slowly started to reveal more. “Sam’s a kid I met at the rec center downtown. Felice and Aaron are a couple I met over at Ocean Isle Medical,” he said, naming the town’s main hospital. “They couldn’t have kids and Sam needed a stable family before her petty stealing and antics for attention ended with her in a juvenile detention center. I thought it was a good mix.”

Damon’s right-hand man, hanging out at the youth center? Ariana desperately wanted insight into this man, but the more he revealed, the less she seemed to understand. She couldn’t connect the dots. “What were you doing at the rec center?” she asked.

“Trying to give something to kids who feel like the whole world’s against them.” He spoke as if he knew the feeling.

And then she recalled his comment about his foster mothers and home cooking. Ariana’s heart filled as she realized just why Quinn cared so much. He’d once been the scared, lonely child Sam was now.

A lock of hair had fallen over his forehead. She wanted to touch yet was afraid to destroy the moment. “Nobody can fault you for trying, Quinn.”

“No, but I sure as hell can fault myself for screwing up at Sam’s expense.” He jerked his hand out of her grasp. “Let’s go.” He withdrew not just his hand but the fragile connection they’d started to share.

• • •

Quinn rushed through the back entrance to the casino with Ari on his heels. The faster he put her in Connor’s hands, the faster he could get back to his undercover reality. A reality that was jeopardized by the woman with the big green eyes, who looked at him with compassion and understanding, not pity.

One simple touch and she had him spilling his guts. If he slept with her, he’d probably admit he was a cop and give her directions to Zoe. She lowered his defenses that much. Damn.

“It’s a good thing I changed into sneakers,” she said, running up behind him. “Where’s the fire?”

“You’re the one who was worried about getting to your job.” But as they reached the bar, he slowed his step because there was safety in a crowd. With Connor behind the bar, Maria and a few other waitresses serving customers, and the beginnings of the dinner crowd filling the chairs, Quinn didn’t have to worry about being alone with Ari and revealing secrets he didn’t want her to know.

“Looking mighty fine tonight, Ariana.” Connor’s gaze raked over Ari in a way much too possessive for Quinn’s liking.

She glanced nervously over her shoulder to where Maria was waiting on a table, before turning back to Connor with a smile. “Thanks.” She reached for an apron behind the bar and tied the knot behind her back.

Obviously she’d figured out there was something between Connor and Maria-or at least that Connor wanted there to be. Or maybe she was just having problems with the other waitress. It didn’t matter and it wasn’t Quinn’s problem. Better she get frustrated and quit, he told himself.

Now that he had Ari settled, it was time to go. He leaned close to Connor. “She’s all yours, buddy.”

His friend raised an eyebrow. “If you say so.”

“I have business to take care of, so I’m outta here.” Quinn turned and bumped into Ari.

She’d placed herself there deliberately, he’d bet, and they now stood chest to chest, their faces inches apart. She wasn’t moving out of his way, almost daring him to face her or duck around.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

She shook her hair out behind her, the act bringing a whiff of fragrance to the air and a gut-clenching tightening in his belly.

“Just thanking you properly for the ride.” She reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist, fingers laced at his back, which had the effect of rocking her hips against him.

“Ari,” he said in warning.

“Quinn,” she mimicked in reply, a calculating, mischievous look in her eyes as she rose onto her tiptoes. If she was nervous, she hid it better than the other night, and before he could object, she sealed her mouth over his.

His body recognized hers, molding perfectly. He fit into the cradle of her hips while she kissed him and he responded, their mouths in a moist, heated, synchronized rhythm. As if they’d done this many times before. Many, many times before. And damn but she was good. He cupped his hand around her neck, angled his head and thrust his tongue deeper into her mouth until she moaned from deep in her chest.

The rumbling reverberated inside him and desire flooded through his overheated body. But the sudden sound of clapping penetrated his need-fogged brain and reminded him that they had an audience-something Ari knew when she’d started kissing him. The woman had an agenda. She had the ability to play him, while he’d gotten lost in anything she offered.

Damn. He had to get himself back under control and fast. They stepped apart at the same time, with Quinn completely conscious of the stares of those around him-of the employees who answered to Quinn, and of Connor, who’d never let him live this down.

“Don’t work too hard,” Ari said, flicking a speck of lint off his shirt. “I’ll see you when I’m off the clock.” With a sassy wave of her hand, she turned, picked a drink tray off the bar, and walked over to the nearest table. The college professor was nowhere in sight.

“I didn’t know they were an item,” Quinn heard Maria say to Connor.

“You learn something new every day.”

Quinn didn’t have to turn to see the killer grin Connor was probably flashing the waitresses’ way. Instead he watched Ari smile and flirt with a table of businessmen, then turn the same charm on the guys in T-shirts and grungy jeans. Once she set her mind on something, Ari had an ease about her and an ability to handle anything. She impressed him. A lot.

“Seems like you owe me an apology, sweetstuff,” Quinn heard Connor say to Maria. “All I was doing was trying to relax the new employee, not pick her up. Though why you care now when you refused any date I ever suggested is beyond me.”

“You’re an arrogant male who thinks he’s God’s gift to women. That I can live without.”

Connor chuckled. “Go ahead and try.”

Quinn left the bickering duo behind. He had work to do. And Ari with the wandering hands and powerful kiss would be here when he was done.

• • •

Quinn leaned back in a plush leather chair in Damon’s inner office and watched the bank of screens monitoring tables in the casino. He forcibly kept his gaze from the monitor covering the bar where Ari worked. He felt her presence anyway. Real or imagined, her scent clung to his clothing and hours later he still tasted her on his lips. But slowly the night crept by and soon he’d be driving her home.

By meeting her both before and after her shift, he minimized her ability to walk around and talk to people, asking questions about her missing sister. He didn’t know how long she’d put up with his presence, but once Quinn got his first look at the books this weekend, the entire operation might actually be over. Thank God. He ran a hand through his hair and shut his eyes, when a door slamming told him he had company.

“Slacking off on the job, Quinn?” Damon asked, his chuckle low and deep.

Quinn shook his head. “I’m just resting up before the long weekend.”

“That’s what I wanted to discuss with you.” Damon slung his jacket over the desk and began a methodic unbuttoning and rolling up of his sleeves. His gold Rolex gleamed under the fluorescent lighting. “I’ve had to rearrange my plans.”

Quinn’s gut warned him he wasn’t going to like the change. “I’m flexible,” he said. He rocked back and forth in the chair as if years of planning weren’t on the line.

“Roxanne can’t get away, so we’ll hit Palm Springs next weekend instead.” Damon took a seat on the corner of the desk, unconcerned. “I’ll just spend this weekend here.” His arm made a sweeping motion in the direction of the monitors, which flickered behind him, showing his domain in all its full-Technicolored glory.

“Whatever works for you, boss. You know that.”

Damon reached for the remote control and pulled the bar up onto the main television screen. “How’s our newest employee?” he asked, bringing Ari into full view.

“She’s settling in.”

“And you’re keeping an eye on her. I think that’s a good idea, considering.” Damon tapped his fingers on the desk, watching Ari as she worked. “She doesn’t suspect you in her sister’s disappearance?”

Quinn raised an eyebrow. “Hell no. I’m a charming guy and she likes me.”

“From the videos I’ve seen, I’d say she likes you a lot.” Damon tipped his head back and laughed aloud.

He’d obviously seen the kiss. Probably both of them, Quinn thought, and his skin crawled at the notion of Ari being watched.

“I don’t want to find her going through my books. Her sister came too damn close. I don’t intend a repeat performance.” Damon’s voice sobered. “Keep her busy,” he ordered.

“Sure thing. It’s not like being with her is a hardship,” Quinn joked.

Damon inclined his head. “Good. Do whatever you have to. Even at the expense of being in the hotel. If I know she’s occupied and in your capable hands, I have no problem covering for you here.”

Quinn forced a nod. “You got it, boss.” He didn’t ask what these new orders meant for Damon’s trip next weekend. Whether Quinn would still be in charge.

Seven days from now was a long way off. He had another seven days to live out of a hotel, on edge, and undercover. He had seven more days of keeping Ariana as close as his shadow.