The Truth About De Campo(57)

She swallowed. “You trying to stir up more gossip and speculation parking yourself in my office like this?”

He gave her an even look. “I’d prefer to pursue the real story.”

Which is?

“Shut the door, Quinn.”

She stepped backward and pushed it closed, if only to prevent even more gossip.

He tilted his head to one side. “When you’ve taken my calls you’ve been annoyingly brief. Same with your texts. How am I supposed to know how you are if you won’t talk?”

She shook her head, trying desperately not to fall into the trap that was Matteo because therein lay disaster. “Hasn’t any of this craziness convinced you I was right in St. Lucia? This has to end?”

“Was I not clear enough we are going to work through this together?”

She sank her teeth into her bottom lip. Tucked the papers under her chin.

“Come here.” He held out a hand and dammit if her feet didn’t obey as if she was a trained animal. He smelled like spice and Matteo and when he tucked her between his legs and pushed her hair out of her face, it was the most right place on earth.

“First of all,” he murmured, holding her gaze, “thank you again for ensuring De Campo’s position in the pitch.”

“It was the right thing to do.”

“Secondly,” he drawled, “I know you wanted me to say I was falling in love with you the night of the party. But I need to do things in my own time, Quinn. I have baggage too.”

Her stomach did a loop-the-loop, ending up somewhere in the base of her abdomen. “I don’t know how to play this game,” she said huskily. “I need more, Matteo, to hang in here with you because right now this is all too much for me.”

His eyes flashed. “What do you need me to say?”

She shook her head. She didn’t even know.

“This isn’t about the deal, Quinn,” he said harshly. “I could pull De Campo out of it but it still wouldn’t help with your trust issues.”

“Earned trust issues.”

He sighed. Lifted his hands to cradle her jaw, his smoky eyes holding hers. “I’m crazy about you, Quinn. I’m falling so hard it terrifies me. But this is a place I’ve never been before. You have to cut me some slack.”

She felt her insides liquefy. “How are two commitment-phobes supposed to make this work?”

“Because it’s you and me,” he said softly. “And we are perfect together.”

If anyone could have expected her to hold up after that, they were sadly mistaken. She rose on tiptoe, set her mouth to his and let her kiss show him how much she’d missed him. It was about two seconds before it burst into full-on flames. Matteo made a sound low in his throat and set her away from him. “If you want a decrease on the gossip you’d better cut back on that.” He rubbed a hand across his jaw. “Please tell me you don’t have plans for tonight.”

“I do,” she said with a nod. “With my bathtub. I could possibly amend it to include you.”

The slow smile that stretched his lips pulled her insides tight. “I will make it worth your while, cara.”

The new Quinn was fully in evidence as they left the office just after five. They stopped at a local grocery store, bought some cheese Matteo knew far more about than she did and a bottle of wine and took them back to her penthouse apartment in the Loop.

Far more than she needed with three bedrooms and an impossibly gorgeous view of the skyline, it had been an investment. Matteo walked to the edge of the lushly landscaped terrace and took in the view as she worked the cork out of the Pinot Noir he’d chosen.

“So how did your conversation with your father really go?”

She’d given Matteo the glossed over version of her no-holds-barred confrontation with Warren. “He thinks my judgment is way off.” She poured the wine and walked over to hand him a glass. “He thinks you’re using me to get the contract.”

He winced. “Quinn—”

She held up a hand. “I know it’s not true and I told him that. I also told him I needed him to be more of a father than mentor sometimes. That the tough love can be too much.”

“And what did he say to that?”

Her mouth twisted in a wry smile. “I think he was flabbergasted. He thinks I’m as tough as him which clearly I am not.” She shrugged. “He also pointed out I am not the best of communicators.”

Matteo’s face softened. “We’ll call that an understatement.”

“I also told him about Julian.”

“Did he have any idea?”

“I think he didn’t want to have any idea. He was horrified. But I think maybe it made him understand me a bit more. Understand why I’ve been the way I’ve been. Done the things I have.”