Broken Promises (The Brianna Lane Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

shot out, grabbing me. This time his grip was gentle, and without thinking, I stopped.
    It took some courage but when I finally faced him, I was relieved at the change. Gone was the lustful leer and coldness. Gone was the aggression I’d seen seconds before. The Quinn I was staring at looked mortified.
    “What the hell just happened?” His voice quivered, giving away his uncertainty as his fingers raked through his hair. His voice wasn’t the only thing shaking—his hands trembled when he lowered them. He sat there for a moment, turning them over—back and forth—studying them as if they held the answer.
    “Oh, Bri,” he repeated, shame splashed across his face. It seemed as if he wanted to touch me but hesitated at the last moment. My heart broke as he withdrew in horror over his actions.
    “Did I hurt you?” he whispered, and then added before I could answer, “What a stupid question, of course I did.”
    “Look at me,” I commanded gently, realizing whatever happened had past and I was no longer in danger. I cupped his face, brushing my thumb across his jawline. I felt him tremble as he leaned into my touch. He was clearly upset.
    “It’s okay. It’s over. It did hurt, but more than anything, you scared me.” I held onto his hand, placing a soft kiss on his knuckles. I needed him to know we’d get through it. “What happened? What were you thinking?”
    His forehead creased, showing me he was struggling to remember. “I don’t know. One minute I was singing with you, and the next, I had this overwhelming feeling to hurt you. I knew it was wrong, and I tried telling myself to stop, but it was like I was possessed. The harder I fought it, the angrier I became.” A sigh ripped from him. “Am I going crazy?”
    In a quick move, he opened the car door and started retching. I reached into my purse and pulled out a tissue, handing it to him when he finally stopped dry heaving. Silently, Quinn took it to wipe his mouth. He tightly gripped the remains—a slight tremble still visible.
    Searching the back seat, I found a bottle of water and offered it. “Drink this and see if it helps you feel better.” He took the container and took small tentative sips. I rifled through the glove box for the gum I knew was there.
    “Chew on this as well. We’ll have you minty fresh in no time.” I wriggled my eyebrows at him, but his solemn look stopped my joking in an instant.
    “How do I make this better, Bri? Please, just tell me how.” His question came out as a whispered plea—as though he was afraid of my answer.
    I studied him for a moment—testing his sincerity. I hated seeing the pain in his eyes and I decided to not dwell on it. I put my hands on the steering wheel and prepared to pull back into traffic.
    “We go to the theater and watch whatever movie you picked. We’ll snuggle, you’ll drink all the soda while I eat the popcorn and when it’s over, you’ll take me home and make love to me. That’s what we’ll do.”
    I offered him a smile and put as much love as I could into it. If I knew anything about Quinn, he was swamped with guilt and beating himself up.
    “Bri . . .”
    “It’s okay, seriously. I love you, and I know despite what just happened you love me and would never hurt me on purpose. We can’t change the last few minutes, but we can move on.”
    He seemed to deflate as he listened, obviously holding his breath in fear I might tell him goodbye. I released my own sigh. We would get through this.
    With the theatre just down the street, I merged into traffic and headed toward the building. Judging by the clock, we’d barely have enough time to throw our money at the cashier before racing up the stairs to where the movie was showing. We may need to see the second showing that starts a little later but if that was the worst thing that happened for the rest of the night, I wasn’t too worried.
    “Oh crap,” I said, slapping the steering wheel. Quinn jumped slightly and I immediately