LITMIR.BIZ

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wasn’t up to another burst of tantrum before we left.’ Quinn’s slow, deliberate movements as she unbuckled her seat belt showed her weariness and reluctance to go inside.

      The stress she was under was relentless—juggling Simon’s injuries with the fostering process and her job. All on her own. The two of them could probably do with a break away from it all.

      He glanced back at Simon. ‘Someone’s out for the count now. He shouldn’t give you any more trouble.’

      ‘If I can get him up to bed without disturbing him I might actually get a few hours to get some work done. Then I’ll be on standby for the rest of the night with pain relief when he needs it.’ She was yawning already at the mere mention of the night ahead.

      ‘Make sure you get a couple of hours’ sleep too.’

      ‘That’s about as much as we’re both getting at the moment.’ She gave a hollow laugh. The lack of sleep would definitely account for the short tempers and general crankiness, not to mention the emotional outbursts.

      ‘Why don’t you open the door and I’ll carry Sleeping Beauty inside for you?’

      She was strong and stubborn enough to manage on her own, he was sure—after all, she’d been coping this far on her own—but it didn’t seem very gentlemanly to leave her to carry the dead weight of a sleeping child upstairs. If he delivered Simon directly to his bed there was more chance of him getting out of here within the next few minutes. That was his excuse and he was sticking to it.

      Quinn opened her mouth as if to argue the point, then thought better of it, going to open the door for them and leaving him to scoop Simon out of the back seat. It was an indication of how weary she was when she gave in so easily.

      As Matt carried Simon up the steep staircase to bed, careful not to jar his arm in the process, he knew he’d made the right call. Leaving a tired, petite Quinn to manage this on her own would have been an accident waiting to happen. He’d had enough experience of doing this with baby sisters who’d sat up long past their bedtimes to negotiate the obstacle with ease.

      ‘Which way?’ he mouthed to Quinn, who was waiting for them on the landing.

      ‘In here.’ She opened one of the doors and switched on the rocket-shaped night light at the side of the small bed.

      Matt eased him down onto the covers and let Quinn tuck him in. She was so tenderly brushing his hair from his face and making sure he was comfortable that in that moment an outsider wouldn’t have known they were anything other than biological mother and son.

      They tried to tiptoe out of the room together but Simon unfurled his foetal position and rolled over.

      ‘Do you like my room, Matt?’ he mumbled, half asleep and hardly able to keep his eyes open.

      ‘Yeah, mate. You’re one lucky boy.’ He could see how much effort Quinn had gone to in order to create the perfect little boy’s room. From the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, to the planet-themed wallpaper, it had been co-ordinated down to the very last detail. The sort of bedroom a young boy sharing a council flat with three sisters could only have dreamed about.

      ‘Now Matt’s seen your room he has to go and you need to get some sleep.’ Quinn tucked the loosened covers back around him.

      ‘What-about-the-zoo?’ he said in one breath as his eyes fluttered shut again.

      ‘We’ll do that another day,’ she assured him, and tried to back out of the room again.

      ‘Can-Matt-come-too?’ He wasn’t giving in without a fight.

      Quinn’s features flickered with renewed panic. This wasn’t in the plan but they knew all hell would break loose again if he left and denied this request. Their silence forced Simon’s eyes open and Matt had to act fast or get stuck here all night trying to pacify him.

      ‘Sure.’ He glanced back at her and shrugged. What choice did he have? With any luck Simon would forget the entire conversation altogether. Especially since the required answer sent him back to sleep with a smile on his face.

      This time they made it out of the room undetected and Quinn released a whoosh of breath from her lungs as she eased the door behind them.

      ‘I thought we’d never get out of there alive.’ She rested her head against the back of the door, all signs of tension leaving her body as her frown lines finally disappeared and a smile played upon her lips. It was a good look on her and one Matt wished he saw more often.

      ‘We’re not off the hook yet but hopefully we’ve stalled the drama for another day.’ Preferably when he was far from the crime scene.

      ‘I appreciate you only agreed to the zoo thing to get him to go to sleep. Don’t worry, I won’t hold you to it.’ She was granting him immunity but he remembered something she’d said about people letting her down and he didn’t want to be another one to add to her list.

      ‘It’s no problem at all. I told you, I love the zoo.’ It just wasn’t somewhere he’d visited since his sisters had entered their teenage years. An afternoon escorting the pair around the sights wasn’t a big deal; he’d been the chaperone on a few organised hospital trips in his time and this wouldn’t be too dissimilar. It would be worth a couple of hours of his free time to see them happy again.

      ‘Thanks for the idea, by the way. I kind of fell apart when he said he didn’t have a home to go to.’ The crack in her voice was evidence of how much the comment had hurt.

      ‘He’s frightened and it’s been another tough day for both of you. It’s easy to hit out at the ones closest to us. I’ve lost count of the amount of times my sisters told me they hated me and they couldn’t wait to move out. They didn’t mean it, and nor does Simon. It’s all part of the extras package that comes with parenthood, I’m afraid.’

      There’d been plenty of rows over the years as teenagers rebelled and he’d been the authority figure who’d had to rein them in. However, they were still a close family and he was the first person they’d call if they needed help.

      ‘I’d hate to think I was making things worse for him. He seems so unhappy.’ The head was down as the burden of guilt took up residence again on her shoulders.

      He crouched down before her so she had to look at him. ‘Hey, I don’t know Simon’s background but I do know he’s a lucky boy to have you as a foster mother. You’re a wonderful woman, Quinn, and don’t you forget that.’

      She fluttered her eyelashes as she tried to bat away the compliment but he meant every word. The burden she’d taken on with Simon’s injuries and her determination to make a loving home for the duration of his time with her took tremendous courage. A strong, fiery soul wrapped up in one pretty package was difficult not to admire.

      Now free from the responsibilities of work and away from the stares of co-workers and impressionable youngsters, Matt no longer had anyone to stop him from doing what he’d wanted to do for a long time.

      He leaned in and pressed his mouth to hers, stealing the kiss they’d been dodging since their time in the pub. It wasn’t his ego make-believing she wanted this too when her lips were parted and waiting for him.

      Away from the hospital they were more than an overattentive doctor and an anxious parent. In another time, in different circumstances, he wouldn’t have waited a full day before taking her in his arms the way he did now.

      He bunched her silky hair in his hands and thought only of driving away the shadows of doubt already trying to creep in and rob him of this moment. The instant passion which flared between them was a culmination of weeks of building tension, fighting the attraction and each other. Every fibre of his being, with the exception of several erogenous zones, said this was a bad idea. She was a single mother and this went against all of his self-imposed rules. This new carefree lifestyle was supposed to mean he went with the flow, free to do whatever he wanted. And in the here and now, Quinn was exactly what he wanted, so he ignored the voice that told him to leave and

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