Page 62 of Home Coming

Bailey pictured her all tan and blonde with inhumanly long legs and hard, lean muscles. AMalibu Barbiedoll come to life. And Quinn would be her perfectNavy SEAL Ken.

“So what did you do all day?” she asked, trying to sound casual as she reached for plates.

“I want to talk to you about that, actually,” he said looking uncomfortable.

She paused, plates momentarily forgotten. Finally, she remembered they were in her hand and set the stack of three down on the counter. “Oh?”

“Can we sit down?” he asked.

Uh oh.No good conversation began withyou’d better sit down.Shaking, she lowered herself into the nearest chair.

“So my leave is up in a couple of weeks. I was lucky to get that long approved to begin with,” he began.

She nodded.

“But there are a couple of problems. One, I’ll be leaving no matter what at the end of the month…” He swallowed. “If not sooner because there’s a chance I could be called back early.”

Ah, there it was. The icing on the cake.

Just when she was trying to accept he’d be gone in just weeks and she probably wouldn’t hear from him because—friend zone—now he was telling her he could be leaving early.

She would soon be forgotten as he got back to living his real life. Accepting that, she nodded again. “Okay.”

Frustration radiated off him. “No. Not okay. I don’t want to leave you without security, whenever the time comes. The paparazzi. The intruder selling your shit online. Axel. His fans.”

Security. That was what he was worried about. Of course. Always the hero. The great protector.

She shook her head. “I’ll be fine.”

“Stop trying to be so stoic. It’s okay to need someone, Bailey. To have someone there who has your back. And I don’t mean Josie. I mean a trained person.”

“I don’t need security. Quinn, seriously. I sat here on your sofa all day.”

“And before that we were dodging photographers everywhere we went in the city. I almost ran one over with the car. They’re aggressive and they’ll do anything for a story. Bailey, you know this.”

“Fine. I’ll think about it.”

“No. You’ll do more than that,” he began in a low firm tone.

The timbre of his voice, the set of his jaw… Quinn in protector mode did something to her inside and it definitely wasn’t friendship she was feeling.

“You’ll promise me if you travel, someone goes with you,” he continued. “And again, I don’t mean just Josie. She’s no protection. And if things change and the paparazzi decide to come here and follow you around town, you get protection even if you are just sitting here on the sofa all day.”

She opened her mouth to protest and again he didn’t let her.

“That happens, it’s not just for you but for my family as well so you can’t argue with me about that.”

He was right. She couldn’t. She’d never put the Baldwins in danger. But were the paparazzi really a danger? All they wanted was a photo…

“And,” Quinn went on.“I’m going to call Xander and make sure he knows what we spoke about. That he should hire someone if you don’t do it on your own.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re going over my head?”

“I’m trying to save that pretty little head of yours from danger.”

Pretty…

No. It was just an expression. He hadn’t meant anything by it. But it would be nice if he did.

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