Read Online Crazy For You by Jennifer Crusie - Free Book Online Page B

needed?”
    “Never.” She answered so promptly he wasn’t mad anymore.
    “I just wanted to make sure this was what you really wanted.”
    Quinn nodded. “It’s what I really want.”
    “I don’t mean the dog. I mean leaving Bill.”
    “It’s what I really want,” Quinn repeated, and her voice was firm.
    “Okay.” Nick moved around the car to the coatrack. “You want to tell me why we have to do this while Bill is at school?”
    “I don’t want to see him again,” Quinn said. “I told him in the car I was leaving, and he just smiled.”
    Nick stopped as he reached for his coat. “He what?”
    “He just smiled.” Quinn shook her head. “He wants to talk about it when he gets home, but he won’t listen, and I don’t want to talk to a brick wall anymore.”
    “He just smiled? Are you sure you told him?”
    “I said, ‘I’m leaving.’ I said, ‘You just watch me leave.’ ”
    “And he smiled.” Nick took down his coat. “You have a problem.”
    “Which is why I’m moving out.” Quinn shifted on her feet, impatient, like a little kid. “Could you hurry? He’s going to be late tonight because there’s a baseball meeting, but that won’t last forever.”
    “I’m coming. What are we moving?”
    Quinn stopped shifting to think. “The pie safe and Grandpa’s washstand and Grandma’s silverware. And my books and my quilts and my pictures and my clothes. This is really great of you, Nick.”
    “You got boxes for the books?”
    “No.” Quinn’s voice wavered.
    “Okay, I’ll round up some boxes tomorrow.” Nick turned his back to get his gloves out of his pockets so he wouldn’t have to watch her chin quiver. “In the meantime, we can get the furniture and the rest of the stuff so you can feel you’ve moved out. And then later we’ll go back for the books and whatever else you’ve missed.”
    “Thank you,” Quinn said from behind him.
    “It’s no big deal.” He turned to see Quinn clutching that dog, her eyes huge and hazel and grateful and alive, more intense than he’d ever seen her before.
    “It is a big deal,” she said. “I know what you’re doing, I know how hard it is for you to get involved with people. I know how much you hate it, and how you’re going to hate facing Bill.”
    “It’s okay,” he said, and then to his horror, she came closer and hugged him, squashing the dog between them, her hair soft and smooth against his jaw. She was warm against him, and she smelled like soap, and his heart beat a lot faster, and he was suddenly conscious of every curve she had, of every breath she took, and he did not put his arms around her.
    “It’s not just okay,” she whispered into his neck. “It’s what I really need and what you hate doing. You’re the best.” Then, after a couple thousand years at least, she let him go and went to the door.
    He breathed again. “Good. Remember that.” He followed her out, a little confused from her heat, calling to Max to watch the pumps, determined not to do anything that would bring her that close again.

    The short ride to Quinn’s apartment seemed longer than usual and the cab of the truck smaller. Nick felt lousy that she was so upset, and guilty about betraying Bill, but mostly he just felt tense in general. She sat next to him, cuddling that damn dog, and the insane need to be close to all her warmth again grew stronger. This was why it was better when Quinn was involved with somebody. As long as Quinn was off limits, she was just Quinn, and he didn’t think about her much. It was these times between her guys that made him uneasy, which didn’t happen often, thank God, because Quinn wasn’t flighty but—
    “Why are you so quiet?” Quinn said. “It’s because you don’t want to do this, isn’t it?”
    “I want you to be happy,” he said truthfully. “I don’t want you to be alone.”
    “I won’t be alone.” Her voice sounded surprised, still a little shaky with emotion. “I’m never alone. I have