Kate Hoffmann – The Mighty Quinns: Jack (страница 3)

He was thirty-one years old and happily single, although not necessarily by choice. He’d always thought that he’d know when the right woman came along. But even after six years with Melanie, the spark just wasn’t there.

And here he was, nearly bursting into flames over a stranger. He cursed beneath his breath and brushed the image of the beautiful blonde out of his head, then walked back outside.

He found his mother standing at the curb, staring at a black Mercedes sedan. The hazard lights were on, but there was no one behind the wheel. Airport security had just pulled up and was examining the car.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ben said he’d pick me up in a black Mercedes sedan,” his mother said. She glanced down the long walkway. “I wonder where he went?”

Jack rolled his suitcase over to his mother. “Watch the luggage. Don’t talk to strangers. I’ll check to see if he’s inside.”

In truth, Jack was more interested in finding the blonde, but he knew she was probably long gone. He hurried back through the doors, searching the crowd for a guy who looked like the man he’d seen on Ben McMahon’s Facebook page. But as he wove through the waiting passengers, he caught sight of a familiar face.

There she was. The goddess, standing in a spot near some uniformed chauffeurs, holding a sign made out of crumpled paper. As he approached, he searched his brain for something to say. Maybe he should just be honest.

“I’d really like to get to know you? Would you be interested in meeting me for a drink?” he murmured to himself. That seemed a little forward. “Hey, it’s you again. Sorry for getting in your way. Maybe I can buy you lunch.”

He glanced down at her sign. Maybe he should just pretend he was the person she was looking for. Jack stopped short when he saw “QUINN” scrawled across the paper in ballpoint pen.

“I’m Quinn,” he murmured. He hurried up to her, then cleared his throat. “Hey, there. I’m Quinn.”

She looked at him and rolled her eyes. “Sure you are.”

“No, I am,” he said.

“I’m here for an older woman named Elyse.”

“That’s me,” Jack said. “I mean, that’s my mom. I’m her son. She’s waiting outside. Elyse Quinn.”

She gave him a suspicious look, as if weighing the truth of his words against their previous encounter. “If this is just some come on, I really don’t have the—”

He held out his hand. “Hey, I’m not messing with you. I’m Jack Quinn, Elyse’s son.”

She took his hand, folding her fingers against his. The moment caused a tiny shock to rock his body. She had the most beautiful fingers and his mind automatically thought of what those hands might do to his body. He’d never realized that chauffeurs could be so sexy.

“I’m Mia McMahon. I’m Ben’s daughter.”

All his fantasies screeched to a halt and Jack tried to cover his stunned expression. “His daughter?” His mom had told him that Ben had three daughters, but he’d just assumed they’d be married, and living elsewhere. He searched her hand for a ring and found her fingers bare. For some reason, that made him happy.

She smiled warmly. “I’m sorry. My dad sprained his ankle playing tennis this morning. He’s hobbling around on crutches. He would have been here, but he can’t drive. So he asked me to look for your mother.”

“Well, she’s waiting outside. Let’s go,” Jack said, nodding at her.

She gave him a coy smile. “All right.” They wove their way back through the crowd and strolled out the door. But as they made their way back to the Mercedes, Mia took off at a run. The security officer was bent over the hood of the Mercedes, slipping a ticket beneath the wiper.

“No!” she cried, grabbing it and holding it out to him. “I’m here. I’m right here. We’re leaving.”

He held up his hands and shook his head. “Sorry. You can’t leave your car unattended. There’s no parking allowed here at all. You can circle and load, but no stopping to wait.”

“But I had to—”

“Nothing you say is going to make me rip up that ticket. You can mail the fine in to the address on the back.”

Mia shook her head as he walked away. “Great,” she shouted. She glanced down at the ticket. “A hundred and ninety-seven dollars? For five minutes?”

Jack walked up and took the ticket from her fingers. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. It was our fault.”

“No!” she cried, grabbing the ticket back. “Don’t be silly. It was my fault.”

“It was my mother you were picking up,” he countered.

Their gazes met again and for a long moment, Jack lost track of where he was and what he was doing. God, she was pretty. He gently took the ticket from her fingers, then cleared his throat. “Maybe we should get in the car,” he said.

“Right,” she said.

He dragged their luggage to the rear of the vehicle as Mia popped the trunk. And when he’d finished loading it, he circled back to find that his mother and Ben’s daughter had made their introductions and Elyse had taken a spot in the backseat. Jack opened the front door and slid into the luxurious interior, taking a spot next to Mia.

She glanced over her shoulder and pulled away from the curb. “Seat belt,” she whispered to him.

“Where is Ben?” his mother asked.

“He sprained his ankle playing tennis this morning.” Both Jack and Mia answered at the same time and he chuckled softly. He saw a smile twitching at the corners of her mouth and wondered what was going on inside her head.

Was she as attracted as he was? Jack hoped that her duties for the weekend didn’t end with a ride to their hotel. He was going to be alone, for the most part. It might be nice to spend some time with a beautiful woman like Mia McMahon.

MIA’S WEEK OFF HAD NOT started out the way she thought it would. She’d planned to spend the afternoon painting the spare bedroom in her small condo in the Mission District and later, joining a group of friends for dinner.

But a frantic call from her older sister had sent her racing out to the family home in Marin County to help her father get to the doctor after a fall on the tennis court. After that, she’d been tasked with the job of picking up her father’s “houseguest” from the airport.

“We’re staying at the Stafford Hotel on Union Square,” Jack explained. “It would probably be best if we checked in first and—”

Mia frowned. “The Stafford? Oh, no. Actually, you’re staying with us. My father said I was to drive you back to the house.”

“But we have a reservation,” Elyse said. “We couldn’t possibly impose.”

“Oh, it’s no imposition. We have a guest cottage. You and your—You and Jack will be very comfortable there. And you’ll have your privacy, as well. And with my father’s injury, he won’t be driving for a few days. It really would be more convenient.”

“Well, then,” Jack said, grinning. “I guess that’s settled.”

“No, it isn’t,” Elyse said.

Mia looked at Jack, then glanced at his mother in the rearview mirror. “Really, the drive back and forth is almost a half hour. Hotels in the city are ridiculously expensive. You’re our guests. And it’s absolutely no imposition,” she repeated.

“Maybe Mia is right, Mom,” Jack said. “We wouldn’t want to be any trouble. And since you decided we shouldn’t rent a car, it would save on cab fare. Besides, we are only staying two days.”

A long, uncomfortable silence descended over the interior of the Mercedes and Mia glanced again between Jack and Elyse’s reflection in the rearview mirror. “Thank you for the offer,” Jack finally said. “We’d be happy to stay in your guest house.”

“Great,” Mia said. “Then it’s decided.”

Now there really was a reason to stick around home for the weekend. She wouldn’t even need an excuse. It would be the only hospitable thing to do. Mia pointed out the windshield. “We’re going to be crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. Is this your first trip to San Francisco?”

Though she’d meant the question for Elyse, Jack seemed anxious to begin a conversation. And Mia wasn’t about to object. She couldn’t deny that having the man around for a few days might be nice. And she couldn’t help but wonder how he felt about their parents’ new “relationship.”

Mia had learned about her father’s Facebook “affair” a few weeks ago, from her oldest sister, but she hadn’t had much time to think about it. In truth, she’d didn’t want to think about it.

Her mother had died three years ago after a long battle with cancer. As the youngest of three daughters and the only one living near home, she’d been there to help out, to be the caretaker and to support her father during those last days.

And after the funeral, she’d stayed with him for nearly a year, helping him cope with living alone. She made her living as a graphic designer and was able to do most of her work from home, but while she was away, she’d given up on having a life of her own. She’d ignored her friends and pushed her own grief aside to make her father’s life easier.

And now, without a second thought, Ben McMahon was ready to move on to someone new. Only she wasn’t ready for that to happen. Nor were her two older sisters. They hadn’t had enough time. A stab of guilt shot through her. Images of a grasping social-climber had filled her head ever since she’d learned of Elyse’s existence. But in all honesty, her dad’s “friend” seemed really nice. The kind of woman her mother would have liked.