Accident Prone

"Max, to be honest, I didn't think about marriage. You know that I am focused on work and on the upcoming conference of neurosurgeons to which I still don't qualify as a speaker."

Max felt that his heart resumed beating. "Will you think about it after you qualify? What if you don't qualify?"

Liz narrowed her eyes at Max. "Are you doubting me? I still have plenty of time to earn that invitation, the selection of speakers is finalized at the end of April."

"No. I'm trying to understand at what point your mind will free up so that you consider taking our relationship to the next level. And also, I want to know about any other variables that might impact that timeline."

Liz was stunned (again). How can she think about marriage LATER if he brought up the topic right NOW? But she is not ready for marriage, and her instinct is to run away from things that are out of her comfort zone, yet she does not want to run away from Max.

Max's arguments don't make sense, but if she uses the conference as a deadline, that gives her a four and a half months buffer during which she does not need to think about marriage, while at the same time she can use that buffer to see if she can accept the idea.

Liz knows that she adores Max, however, all her current plans stop with that conference. She does not want to commit to anything before June because so many things depend on it. She needs to sort out her career and life as a surgeon, before adding a man to the equation. If she does not know what is coming, a promise of marriage will only make everything messier and she does not want to think about it. Not yet.

"Alright. After the conference…", Liz responded in a whisper.

"After your speech.", Max said confidently. He didn't want to bring up the possibility of her not being invited as a speaker because he saw that struck a nerve.

Liz nodded in agreement.

Max smiled. With this, he has four months to buy the perfect ring!

Max pulled Liz into a tight embrace and pressed his lips against her forehead, happy that she hugged him back.

"How about we go back in and dance?", Max offered.

Liz looked up at him and placed her hands on his shoulders. "How about we dance here?"

Max squinted. "I can barely hear the music."

"Did we ever need music to dance?"

Max chuckled and pulled her closer as they started moving slowly.

Max wanted to clarify one point. "Liz, I hope that you will not feel the need to run away from me. If I am pushing too much, tell me and I will stop."

Liz smiled. "OK."

And they were back to getting lost in each other's eyes.

…

In the room where extra-dresses were stored…

Quentin helped zip up Brianna's dress at the back.

When they got inside the room, Quentin was impatient, and he ended up ripping her couture gown. Luckily, there are spare dresses she can wear, but these are designer's dresses, and she does not want to risk causing a scene when she walks out wearing this (if it's not allowed).

Quentin planted a kiss on her exposed shoulder before responding. "It's fine. I know the designer. Besides, this is the event to sell garments. I will buy this one no matter how much he asks for."

Brianna wiggled her hips. "I wish there is spare underwear."

She turned toward Quentin and glared at him. "You need to stop ripping my panties."

Quentin chuckled. "I can't help it. You wake up a beast in me."

He gave her a light kiss and whispered against her lips: "I will be the only one who knows that you are not wearing panties."

Quentin let out a low growl and squeezed her buttocks.

Brianna's eyes widened. "Mr. Reynolds… at this rate, the two of us will spend our wedding night in this storage room."

"I don't care where we are. As long as it's the two of us.", Quentin responded in a voice deeper than usual.

She felt his hands moving toward the zipper and she squirmed out of his hold. "You can't be serious. There is a party right there and we just finished one round."

Quentin frowned in displeasure. "Since when was one round enough?"

"We can have plenty more in our hotel room.", Brianna said and stepped backward when she saw Quentin approaching her.

"But I want it now."

Quentin extended his arms toward Brianna and she dashed away with a squeal.

"You are not getting away from me, Mrs. Reynolds…", Quentin growled and went after Brianna who was giggling and dodging him between the mobile racks filled with garments.

'BAM!'

A thunderous sound shook the space when one rack flipped sideways and hit the tiles. A moment later, Brianna let out a scream in surprise when Quentin wrapped his arms around her, pulling her down, and they ended up on the floor among the garments with Brianna on the bottom.

"Now let me get back to that zipper…", Quentin said in a husky voice and Brianna struggled to breathe between giggles.

"What if someone comes?", Brianna breathed. "That was loud."

"No one will come…", Quentin responded between kisses. "Everyone is busy with the party… and the door is locked."

"I feel we are playing with fire."

"The only fire here is the one you woke up in me.", Quentin mumbled, and Brianna giggled again.

They didn't hear someone trying to open the door. The lock clicked, and Kendra entered the room.

Kendra saw all the mess and two bodies in the pile of clothes, and her anger bubbled. "What do you think you are doing!?"

Quentin froze and he was glad that he didn't undress his fiery Goddess. The last thing he wants is for someone to see her exposed.

Quentin turned toward the voice and saw Kendra whose anger morphed into a panic when she realized what she had done.

Quentin didn't recognize Kendra's voice because she never shouted like that before.

"Q…", Kendra said under her breath. "I'm sorry, I heard the noise and I thought…"

Kendra inhaled forcibly and spoke quickly: "I didn't see anything."

Brianna was irked when she recognized Kendra's voice. Why did she call Quentin so intimately? Isn't she just an assistant? So far, in front of Brianna, Kendra always called Quentin as 'boss' or 'Mr. Reynolds'.

Brianna pushed Quentin to the side and observed Kendra's expression. "Why do you look surprised to see me, Kendra? Did you expect that my husband is getting frisky with someone else?"

"No, no… You are wearing a different dress, so I assumed...", Kendra stopped her words and quickly switched gears. "I was just shocked to see the mess."

"Don't worry about the mess. I will pay for it.", Quentin said.

Kendra fidgeted. "Do you want me to check later what was damaged?"

Quentin rejected. "No need. I will pay for all of it."

Brianna narrowed her eyes at Kendra. Why is she not leaving?

"Anything else, Kendra?"

Kendra shook her head.

"Then you can leave.", Brianna said curtly.

Kendra plastered a smile on her face and left the room.

Brianna puffed her cheeks in frustration while wondering, how come she didn't see it earlier that Kendra is interested in Quentin? Well, maybe because she refused to see it. But now it's different. Quentin is hers and she has no intention of sharing him.

"Is there a reason why she addressed you as 'Q'?", Brianna asked, unable to hide her anger.

Brianna saw reluctance flash in Quentin's eyes, and she didn't need to hear his response to understand that at some point lines of professionalism blurred between Quentin and Kendra. That was the same look of shame she had many times before.

Brianna pushed Quentin off from her and got up.

"Bri…", Quentin called. "Since I met you, I didn't touch any other woman."

"I know, Q. I know.", Brianna responded without looking at him.

She was angry. How can he keep Kendra as his assistant after hooking up with her? Is that why Kendra tried sabotaging them from the start? Is that the reason why Kendra always kept her distance robotically? Is that why Quentin said that he will fire Kendra?

Brianna told herself that she should not blame him for what he did in the past, because he can easily pull the same card on her. If this is going to work, they need to trust each other, and Quentin did plenty to show his sincerity. Discarding all that would not be fair.

Brianna took a deep breath before speaking again. "We are married now, Q. Don't give me a reason to doubt you. You managed to gain my trust and make me vulnerable, but I guarantee that it will not happen twice. If you break my heart, there will be no second chances."

"I don't need a second chance, Bri. I told you, I will not mess this up.", Quentin said with desperation in his voice.

"Your next assistant needs to be approved by me.", Brianna demanded.

Quentin agreed immediately. "OK."

Quentin got up and hugged Brianna from the back. "If I can rip my heart out to show you are the only one in it, I would do it. Please, don't allow nobodies to spoil our relationship."

Brianna turned and glared at Quentin. "Is Kendra a nobody?"

"You are the only important one in my life, Bri. You asked me about Kendra, and I need to ask you back: Kendra, who?"

Brianna was half-pacified. He will fire Kendra and she will be out of their lives, but how many other Kendras are out there? Brianna is not sure, and she was back to reminding herself that she needs to trust Quentin or give up. And she does not want to give up.

Brianna relaxed and leaned on Quentin. "We have a long way to go, Q. Let's take it one step at a time."

Quentin hummed in agreement. "It will be a long way, but I am ready to take it. With you."

Brianna wrapped her arms around Quentin's neck and kissed him on the lips.

Quentin and Brianna held each other and kissed for a long time, sharing the sense of security that both needed desperately because neither of them received the love they needed while growing up.

They were both broken and rough around the edges but by some miracle, their broken pieces came together perfectly as they completed each other with a sense of belonging never experienced before.

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