She was out of controlâ¦
Lily pushed Brian back into the leather seat of the limo. Brushing his shirt aside, she smoothed her hands over his chest, hard and muscular, then leaned forward and pressed her lips to the soft dusting of hair beneath his collarbone. But when she let her fingers drop to his trousers, Brian grabbed her hands and drew them away.
âAre you sure about this, Lily?â
She smiled. He didnât have to be such a gentleman, but Lily was glad he made the attempt. âThereâs nothing wrong with twoâ¦â She moved back to his trousers. âConsenting adultsâ¦â She worked the button open. âEngaging in mutually satisfyingâ¦â She slowly drew the zipper down. âSex.â
Most guys had probably dreamed about hearing those words. And Lily never dreamed sheâd be the one saying them. But sheâd had enough of ârelationships.â What was wrong with taking her pleasure where she found it?
âHavenât you ever just been swept away by the moment?â she asked, playfully nipping at his neck.
âYeah,â Brian groaned, pulling her closer to him. âI think thatâs happening nowâ¦.â
Dear Reader,
Itâs hard to believe that Iâm almost at the end of my Quinn saga. Yet another handsome Quinn brother has fallen victim to love, and this time I almost didnât want to type the last page of the manuscript. Iâve gotten used to having these Quinns around!
Conor, Dylan, Brendan, Keely and Liam all found love, and now itâs Brianâs turn. And this stubborn and single-minded news reporter needed just the right kind of woman to tempt him. Public relations expert Lily Gallagher was the one, though falling in love was the last thing she wanted to do.
Iâve been so grateful for all the notes that youâve sent me about the Quinns and I hope youâll follow their stories right to the end. Next month Brianâs twin brother, Sean, meets his match. And after that, I guess Iâm going to go through a little Quinn withdrawal. But Iâm sure Iâll find a handsome hero waiting around the next corner.
Be sure to visit my Web site at www.katehoffmann.com for information on all my releases.
Happy reading,
Kate Hoffmann
WIND-DRIVEN RAIN LASHED at the windows of the house on Kilgore Street. The storm had rolled off the North Atlantic a day ago, a norâeaster with the force of a tropical hurricane and the chill of a midwinter blizzard. Brian Quinn stared out at the flooded street from the second-story bedroom window, his forehead pressed against the glass.
He knew the Mighty Quinn was a seaworthy boat and that it had weathered storms much worse than this, but Brian still couldnât banish the worry from his head. Seamus Quinn was a great captain and he didnât need the Coast Guard to tell him the forecastâhe felt it, he smelled it in the air and saw it in the clouds. But the Mighty Quinn was late coming in, already six days past the longest trip that Brianâs father had ever made. And Brian could see the worry in Conorâs eyes and the grim set of Dylanâs mouth. They were worried, too.
The fishing had been bad all summer and the Mighty Quinn had been forced farther and farther out to find swordfish. But now, the season was winding down and the weather becoming more unpredictable. After the last trip, Conor had tried to convince their father to head south as so many other fishermen did during the fall and winter.
Though it would mean the six Quinn boys would be on their own for five or six months, Conor had assured Seamus that he could handle things at home as long as the money kept coming in. He had run the household for seven years now, ever since their mother had walked out. Conor cooked and cleaned, he helped with homework and meted out discipline. And he tried his hardest to keep their situation from teachers and neighbors and anyone who might consider Seamus a neglectful father. A heavy load for a fourteen-year-old.
Brian glanced over his shoulder. His twin brother Sean was already in bed, the threadbare quilt pulled up around his chin, his nose buried in a comic book. Liam, the youngest Quinn, had crawled into bed next to Sean, curling up against him for warmth. The seven-year-old had given up begging his brother to read the comic for him and was now mouthing the words as he read for himself.
âBri! Check those buckets in the hall,â Dylan shouted from the bottom of the stairs. âIt wonât do any good if they overflow.â
Brian sighed. One of these days there would be enough money to fix the leaky roof and to paint the sagging porch and to pay the phone bill before it got disconnected. There was always the next run to the Grand Banks and dreams of a hold full of swordfish and the chance to offload first and command the highest price. But Brian had learned that his fatherâs big dreams very rarely came true.
Though they didnât talk about their fatherâs drinking and gambling out loud, Brian knew his older brothers had tried their best to deal with the lack of money. Conor had taken to meeting the Mighty Quinn when it came in, hoping to deter Seamus from a visit to the pub and a drunken all-night poker game. And Dylan had learned to hide the money jar after Seamus got home, knowing that it would gradually disappear at their fatherâs hand.