Quinn's Woman by Susan Mallery Page B

would understand. Who could accept what he did and know why. He’d long ago given up on the hope of finding her. There was no way she existed...or did she? Was D.J. a possibility or was he fantasizing, based on a tough talk and perfect thighs?

    “You did promise that you’d be in town for a few weeks,” she said as the waiter cleared their plates. “I expect a return on my investment.” She plucked at her long sleeve as she spoke.

    “I’m on indefinite leave.”

    She waited until the waiter left before leaning forward. “Why? Were you injured?”

    Not in the way she meant. “I want to consider my options. My work requires a level of disconnection I need to be willing to continue. Maybe it’s time for a change.”

    This was the first time he’d verbalized what he’d been thinking about for the past few weeks. He waited to see if the words felt right or not. When there was no definitive answer, he finished his wine and reached for the bottle.

    “I was supposed to kill someone and couldn’t.” He poured himself another glass and topped up hers. “I’d never refused an assignment before. Never had reason. But this time...” Everything had been different, he thought grimly.

    Her dark gaze never left his face. There was no recoil, no disgust, no foolish questions.

    “You had a good reason for refusing,” she said. She wasn’t asking, she was announcing.

    “Yeah.”

    There was no way she could know, but he liked her assumption. She was right.

    He’d been sent to kill a double agent. It had happened before and he didn’t mind killing one of his own if the operative had crossed to the other side. But the double agent had turned out to be someone Quinn had known for years. His former commanding officer and mentor. He’d felt as if he’d been trapped in a bad spy movie, only the players and the bullets were real. When the time came, he couldn’t do it. He’d had the man in his sights and he’d been unable to pull the trigger.

    Someone else had been sent in to take care of the problem, and he’d been brought out for evaluation. When he’d asked for leave, it had been granted. Until then he hadn’t minded what he did for a living, but he knew he couldn’t keep cleaning up messes like that – not without paying with the price of his soul.

    Silence surrounded them. Quinn searched for a casual topic, some distraction. He didn’t usually talk about his work in any detail. He certainly never told the truth. So why had he with D.J.?

    She tilted her head. “So when you sneak into foreign countries, you probably don’t get the exotic stamps on your passport, huh?”

    “No. Under those circumstances we tend to avoid immigration.”

    “Bummer. The stamps are the best part of traveling.”

    Her easy acceptance relaxed him as much as it made him curious. “Why aren’t you involved with someone?”

    “I’m not an idiot. I don’t need a testosterone-filled male dominating my life. What’s in it for me? More work? More financial obligations? I don’t think so.”

    Her answer made him chuckle. “What about kids?”

    She smiled. “I would like children.” She made a show of glancing around the restaurant, then she leaned close. “What with you being out of the country and all, you may not have heard. Marriage isn’t required for children anymore.”

    “You’re kidding?”

    “Nope. Isn’t modern science amazing?” The waiter arrived with their entrees. As they were served, Quinn watched D.J. There was a reason she was so against marriage in general and men in particular. Someone, somewhere had hurt her. Who had done it and how? He knew there was no way she would tell him, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to know.

    When they arrived in the parking lot of his hotel, D.J. gave Quinn a pointed look. He knew she expected him to say good-night and climb right out of her car, but he didn’t plan to make things that easy for her.

    “Why don’t you pull into a parking space