Page 28 of Against the Clock

Fourteen

Roman

8 Days Ago

Iwaited until theend of the day to take my lunch so I could go to the grocery store and be back before Quinn and Rosie got there.I had picked Trevor’s brain about what kind of foods kids liked to eat, but when neither of us had any idea, we found ourselves on some popular food blog with an abundance of options that looked easy and kid friendly.

I knew that Quinn was already struggling with the thought of staying with me for a while, so I wanted to make it as comfortable for them as possible.I picked up enough food to last us more than a few days and wondered how I was going to fit everything in the fridge, but that was a problem for another day.

Quinn and Rosie got there a little after six while I stirred the boiling pasta on the stove.

“You’re cooking?”Quinn asked with a smile as she shut the door behind her.This morning I had given her the spare key even though she fought me on it.I had also volunteered to pick Rosie up and take her back to work with me until Quinn got home.She had refused and said that things needed to be as normal as possible for Rosie right now, which meant that Sandra would pick her up when she got out around one, and then Quinn would get her on her way home.

I hated not being there to watch over Rosie while she was with her grandma, but I also knew Sandra almost my entire life and trusted that she was safe there.Just because Sandra hadn’t known about the van last time didn’t mean she was incapable of protecting her granddaughter.She had grown up in a life of military and law enforcement officers, so it wasn’t like she was clueless about what was going on.Mike had gotten her up to date, and Sandra was fully on board with everything that we were trying to do to protect Rosie.

“I cook,” I laughed, grabbing the towel hanging over my shoulder.“Not often, but I still know what I’m doing.”I opened the oven door and used the towel to take out the pan of chicken that I had baked.There were two chicken breasts that I had seasoned for Quinn and me, and then a third breast that I had cut into bite-sized pieces and breaded to make chicken nuggets for Rosie.

I set the pan on the back of the stove and turned the oven off.The pasta was done, so I removed it from the heat and drained it before adding it to the bowl of alfredo sauce that I had already warmed up.

“Go wash up while I help with dinner,” Quinn said to Rosie, gently tousling her hair as she bounced off toward the bathroom.

A few seconds later, we heard the water turn on, and Rosie started singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

“What can I help with?”Quinn asked, standing beside me at the stove.

I tried not to move, afraid that I would get burned if I did.It wasn’t the heat from the stove that had me worried—it was the chemistry that was sizzling between us that scared me.

“I’m good,” I answered, my voice thick and scratchy.

“You sure?”

She was close—too close—to where I could feel the tingle of goosebumps as her bare arm brushed against mine.

I nodded and muttered anmmmhmmbefore stepping away to grab the plates from the cabinet.I turned around to set them down when I crashed into her again.This time it was her fingers that grabbed onto my body to hold me steady before they trailed across my ribs.

“Quinn,” I breathed, still holding the plates but not bothering to move away from her touch.

“Yeah?”she asked, her fingers still making delicate trails around my abs.

“When you touch me like that...”

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