Dances With Demons - A Phoenix Chronicle Novella by Lori Handeland Page B

called your in-laws, told them where you were, how to contact us if they needed to.”
    “You... Wait... What?”
    “It’s not aeronautics, Megan.”
    I blinked, then made the connection. “You mean it’s not rocket science?”
    “Aye,” he agreed.
    Sometimes he spoke like a little old British man.
    “I brought you here to relax and get some rest. You won’t do either one if you’re worrying about the children.”
    “I always worry about the children.” Even when they were sitting right next to me. I probably always would.
    “You called my in-laws.” I remembered Susan’s question about Quinn and closed my eyes. “What did they say?”
    “The children are having the time of their lives.”
    That didn’t sound like Susan. She was not a “time of your life” gramma.
    “They did seem a bit taken aback that you’d gone off to Ireland.”
    I opened my eyes. “You think?”
    His face creased. “I don’t understand.”
    “One of the reasons my in-laws take the kids is so that they can have a few weeks away from a mother who works all the time.”
    He still appeared confused.
    “I never go on vacation. I have a business to run.”
    “Not any—” The light dawned. “I told them what happened.” He lifted his good hand. “I asked them not to tell the children about the accident.”
    I resisted the urge to snort. It had not been an accident, but I didn’t want Quinn to know that. Would he move on down the line to the next job if he knew I was marked by demons? A day ago I’d have paid him and said, “Goodbye and good luck.” Today I wasn’t sure what to do, what to say.
    “I gave your mother-in-law my number. I explained that the cell service was bad way out here, but that my phone worked better than yours.”
    “You told my in-laws that I’d left the country, and I’m staying in a remote cottage that has iffy cell service with my boy toy bartender. That’s swell.”
    “I don’t understand why you say it like that.”
    I spread my hands wide, waiting for him to catch up.
    His eyes widened. “They think that I...? That you...? That we...?”
    I snorted. “They thought that before you, me, we did.”
    “Why?”
    I looked him up and down. “It isn’t aeronautics.”
    He blushed. I’d never seen him do that at home. Then again, at home he’d been Quinn, the bartender, and I was his boss. Now... well, hell. The last of my good mood fled. Now, things might get awkward.
    “What’s a boy toy?”
    Definitely awkward. “It means you and I, that we... “ I waved toward the bedroom.
    “Are lovers?”
    This wasn’t about love. Couldn’t be. I needed to set some ground rules. Fast.
    “Boy toy means we’re having fun.”
    His eyebrows lowered.
    “Just sex,” I continued.
    “Just?” he repeated. “There’s nothing just about sex.”
    He had a point. I should try to explain better, though why I had no idea. He was a hot, young bartender. He had to have had a hundred one-night-stands. Double damn.
    “We didn’t use anything.” He blinked. I had switched gears, but I was still on the same subject. “No protection, Quinn.”
    My voice was sharp. He winced, and I softened it. This wasn’t his fault. I’d kissed him. What was he supposed to do? Run? He was a young man, and I wasn’t that old of a hag.
    “I’m on the pill.” I had to be. The first few days of my periods were so heavy that without it I could barely drag myself from the house; there was no way I could work. “I won’t get pregnant.”
    I’d once dreamed of having half a dozen kids. Silly in this day and age, but I loved kids, loved being a mom. I still did, though having to be a dad, as well, sucked.
    “You sound sad, a chéadsearc .”
    My gaze met his. He looked sad. Most guys his age would panic at the very mention of pregnancy.
    “I feel foolish. We should have used something, but I’m not... I haven’t. Since Max.”
    “I know,” he murmured. “If you’re worried about disease ye needn’t be. I would