Page 27 of Alaskan Blackout
“I have too much unfinished business here to think of leaving yet.” He halted as they reached her truck, not sure where to begin with all he wanted to tell her. All he wanted to ask. But he wouldn’t launch into any of those topics now, when the soft mist of rain made a hazy curtain between them. “I stopped by the harbor last night, but the dockmaster told me you’d been held up a day because of a weather delay.”
He’d been worried. Even knowing she was strong and capable as hell. The more time he spent around Unalaska and the people who carved out lives in the Aleutian Islands, the more respect he had for this place where the Pacific met the Bering Sea.
Just seeing her now, safe and whole, made him want to kiss her. Hold her. Savor the fact that she had returned to him unharmed. He wished he had that right, but he understood he’d been the one to sever the brief bond they’d experienced together.
“We waited out the bad weather on shore.” Her words were clipped as she pulled a key ring out of her rucksack and unlocked the truck cab. “The tour groups know that’s a risk they run with outings up here. I won’t endanger anyone for the sake of a schedule.”
A rumble of thunder underscored her words and reminded him that this wasn’t the best time or place for a conversation.
“I’m relieved to hear it. I won’t keep you when you must be tired after your trip.” By the gold glow from the dome light, he could see violet shadows beneath her eyes he hadn’t noticed before. From exhaustion? Stress? He hoped that he hadn’t been the cause of any worries on her part. “But we need to speak. Would you let me take you to dinner Friday?”
Something in her manner made him think she was going to refuse him. The way she moved her shoulders, perhaps, or appeared ready to shake her head as if to say no. But then she seemed to stop herself. Biting her lip, she hesitated for a moment before nodding.
“We probably should talk,” she agreed finally, her chin notching higher. “I should be able to get someone else to cover for me at the bar on Friday.”
The rush of pleasure he felt at her agreement seemed out of proportion for the news he wanted to share. To tell her what he’d learned about her harasser and to reveal his next steps for finding Clayton, which would inevitably take him away from Dutch Harbor. Yet, just knowing they would have time alone together sent a ripple of heat through his body hot enough to make the falling rain steam right off him.
“In that case, I’ll pick you up at seven.” His heart pounded faster at the prospect of being with her.
How would he go back to their former boundaries with one another now that he knew what it felt like to hold her? He fisted his fingers and shoved them in the pockets of his jacket to keep from reaching for her. The need to tug her against him and kiss her burned brighter with each passing moment.
If he thought McKenna might cave to the same hungers as him, however, he couldn’t have been more wrong. She stepped up onto the running board of her pickup and slid into the driver’s seat. He had the urge to plant himself in the vee of the open door, to hold it open and stand close to her until she acknowledged she felt the same fire in her blood that ran in his. A fire that had only grown the longer she’d stayed away.
Instead, he watched her turn the key in the ignition and flip the switch for the heater. Giving him the silent treatment? Well, he could fix that at least.
“Besides the weather, how was your trip?” he asked, genuinely curious. He’d read more about the kinds of tours she led. Had spent some time envisioning her out there on the open sea.
For the first time since she’d stepped off of the boat onto the pier, he saw her features soften. An almost-smile curving her lips.
“I spent hours watching seabirds screaming and circling islands where no human ever walks.” Her eyes took on a distant look as if she was still hundreds of miles away. “I saw whales playing in the fog. And when I wasn’t tracking marine life, I was darting around islands with smoking fumaroles and glacier-covered volcanoes.” She swiped the sleeve of her sweater across her forehead to dry the rain from her skin. “It’s nice to escape our so-called civilized society sometimes.”
His stomach cramped at the idea that the world had ever given this woman a reason to want to escape in the first place. Tenderness toward her caught him off guard, making his throat burn.
“I’m glad you had that experience.” He knew he should let her leave. She had a life and home to return to, none of which involved him. “It sounds incredible.”
“I would have never even known that world existed if not for Clay.” She turned a switch on the dash that cranked the heater fan to a higher speed.
He could feel the still-cold blast of air from the closest vent as he told himself to back away.
“He’s been a good brother to you,” Quinton agreed carefully, wishing he’d had the chance to know him better during those infrequent weeks Clay had spent at Kingsland Ranch. No doubt he’d failed Clay then. And he didn’t even want to think about how much he’d violated the bounds of brotherhood by touching McKenna in the first place. “See you Friday.”
Stepping back, Quinton shut the driver’s side door for her so she could head home for the night. As he watched her taillights blur in the rain that started coming down harder, Quinton knew he needed a strategy for their date night.
Because no matter how much he still wanted her, he couldn’t afford to remain in Unalaska any longer. He owed it to Clayton to hand over his portion of the Kingsley inheritance. Quinton wouldn’t allow anything to stop him from performing the task that would be his last official act as part of the Kingsley family.
Once he’d given his own portion of the family holdings to Clayton, Quinton wouldn’t have any reason to return to Kingsland Ranch. He’d be free of the place forever so he could return to his home in Sunnyvale, California, where he could run his tech business away from the complicated family ties that had strangled him for years.
It had been his goal to escape Kingsland ever since his mother died.
So there was no good reason why it seemed like an empty one now as McKenna’s red taillights slowly faded out of sight.
Nine
Squinting one eye, McKenna stared in her bathroom mirror, her hand trembling a little as she brushed on mascara for her date with Quinton.
Frowning at the telltale sign of her agitation, she jammed the makeup wand back into the tube and told herself to get a grip. She’d survived the abject mortification of having her naked body broadcast to the world on the internet without her permission. Surely she could survive...
Motherhood?