Dispute Resolution

Chapter Eight

Gray had no intention of going to Taryn's factory. The same as he'd had no intention of even coming to Byron Bay this weekend, yet here he was. He'd tossed and turned most of last night thinking about Quinn, even after his cold shower. Finally, he'd managed to forget all about it and fall asleep, but this morning after he'd taken his conference call, she was straight back into his head. He couldn't stop thinking about the kiss and the way it made him feel.

But also couldn't help wondering about her parting comments, that all men were the same. What had happened to make her feel that way toward men in general? He remembered now that she'd been touchy about the subject several days ago when he'd asked her about a boyfriend and his curiosity was winning over. He couldn't concentrate on his work anymore, so he ditched it and decided to head down to Taryn's factory.

He'd walked in to see Quinn donating probably half of her week's pay for a good cause. He frowned, then scowled. It did not match up with the Quinn Sinclair he knew. This was the same woman who wrote a baseless article on his dad and brother, continued her antagonism of his family with disparaging remarks about his mother and fought with him whenever they were in the same vicinity.

Except for last night when they kissed.

Now she was laughing and smiling and everyone was laughing and smiling with her, even Taryn seemed to like her. He could no longer hear what they were saying, but they were talking like they'd known each other forever. But then Taryn's judgment was not always sound. His ex-wife was a case in point. Still, there was another side to Quinn and this development confused him, made his control around her slip just that little bit more, which was why he needed to tell Quinn that kissing her last night was a massive screw-up, one that he didn't intend to repeat. He could always use that as an excuse as to why he'd jumped on the back of Sim's Ducati and rode down here. Except every time he thought about that kiss, he suddenly developed heat stroke in his pants.

He took a seat on a stool in the far corner of the factory. She still hadn't noticed him and it gave him a few more minutes to observe her freely. She was annoying and argumentative, but she was intelligent, too. He could see that in her eyes every time they clashed with his. She had beautiful eyes, hazel and feline. All of her was beautiful. Maybe that's what compelled him to leave his work early this morning and see what she was up to at the factory. He found himself drawn to her, even when he knew he shouldn't be, even when she was tearing shreds off him.

Suddenly, as though she sensed his presence in the room, their eyes connected. She flashed fire at him, but there was something else, too. Something primal, needy. Lust, hot and heavy, he realised. She dragged her eyes from him to thank the people in the factory but didn't make any attempt to come over to him. No matter, he would wait, he was sitting just by the door so she would have to pass him at some point anyway. Finally, when it seemed there was nothing else she could do, no one else to talk to, she headed toward him.

"Gray," she said coolly, "I didn't think I would see you here."

"I didn't think so either but I had no enthusiasm for work this morning," he said, his eyes briefly making contact with hers. "Come outside with me. We need to talk."

She hesitated. "No, I'm not going anywhere with you."

"I'm not going to kiss you again if that's what you're worried about."

"Why would I be worried about that? You only kissed me to make a point."

"But it was hot wasn't it?"

Quinn gasped and he smiled at her response to his words, but he also needed to remember he was here to put out the fire, not stoke it up again.

"Come," he said and took her by the hand giving her no choice. "We need to talk."