by Amy Brent
“You better be careful. Distract me and I might fall down this ladder and then where would that leave us?” I said the words in jest, but a part of me was serious. She had a way of stealing all my focus and this rickety ladder was already pretty unstable, before throwing a potent Quinn into the mix.
“Hm. If you fall and hurt yourself, you might be bedridden.” She chuckled darkly to herself and the sound danced down my spine, “I could get used to the idea of you stuck in a bed. It would give us an excuse to actually use one.”
"It's not my fault you drive me so crazy I can't wait to make it to the bedroom," I growled, carefully climbing down the ladder until my feet were firmly on the ground again. Only then did I turn towards her, drinking in the sight of her delicious curves. Even dirty and sweat-soaked from working she sent my system into overdrive. She knew what she wanted and she was willing to work hard for it. I wonder what else she’d work hard for?
The thought had barely crossed my mind before I was distracted by her hands curling around my waist and slipping under the hem of my t-shirt to caress the skin of my back. There was no more room for sultry questions.
My mouth dipped low, nibbling on her lips like a pair of juicy fruit and I was dying for a deeper taste. I wanted more of her. No, damn it, I wanted all of her. I deepened the kiss, angling my mouth so I could dip my tongue inside, teasing hers with small, sliding movements.
My fingers fisted in her hair, holding her even closer and her mouth parted even wider on a moan of need that nearly drove me to my knees. She was like the most potent liquor, smooth and sweet and hot, burning all the way through me with every taste but I still wanted more.
The fingers of my hand trailed down her body, sweeping over every curve before grabbing the bottom of that damned tank top. I was about to rip all her clothes off and show her just how good it could be when a sound reached us, barely registering through the lust induced haze.
“Quinn? Hey, Quinn you up here?”
“Fuck.” I jumped apart from Quinn, barely reaching the second rung of the ladder before the rest of Jonah turned the corner, following his voice. I glanced at everything except for Quinn, trying desperately to hide the evidence of my desire by hunching slightly as Jonah spoke again.
“Quinn, there you are– Oh, hey, Leo. I didn’t know you were here.” Jonah gave him a friendly wave that Leo returned, forcing a smile to his lips.
“Hey, man. Just helping out with, um, doors.”
“Doors, huh. Fun.” Jonah turned back to Quinn and tried desperately to calm my racing heartbeat. That was way too damn close. “Quinn, I have a bunch of old beams from the job site. They were just going to throw them away, but I thought maybe you could use them.”
“Thanks, Jonah! That’s amazing! Really, really amazing!” Quinn sounded overly cheerful and I winced, sure in that moment that the gig was up. There was no way Jonah wouldn’t be able to feel the tension in the air between us.
But somehow, he remained unaware. He turned towards me, slapping me good-natured on the back.
“Leo, I haven’t seen you around Lucky’s as much these past couple of weeks. We’ve been missing you. And so have the eligible ladies of Coral Springs.” Jonah said, ribbing me and I just forced another grin.
“I’ve been busy lately, you know. Work and stuff.”
“Dude, you work at the bar.”
"Stella's been cracking down on me pretty hard," I said hastily, making it up as I went along. The truth was, I'd been spending every free moment here, helping Quinn but I couldn't tell Jonah that. It was sure to raise his suspicions.
“I’m heading over there now to grab a drink after work. Why don’t you come with me? You’re missing out on some prime female catch.”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on, man. You’d rather hang out here with my sister and fix doors?” Jonah gave me a dubious look and I knew then and there that I didn’t have a choice. “What do you say, brews and broads?”
Reluctantly, I nodded my head. “Sure, yeah. You know what, that sounds like fun. I just gotta clean up.”
Jonah nodded and I nearly sighed in relief. He bought it. But before I could get the breath out I looked over his head and I caught sight of Quinn's face. It was obvious that she'd heard every word her brother had said and had believed me when I said it sounded like fun.
"Well, you boys enjoy your…fun," Quinn said, her voice sharp and I had to bite back a curse as she turned to walk angrily from the room. Damn it. When did my life get so complicated?
I looked down at Jonah, who was still standing there, oblivious. I let out a deep breath.
“Well, let’s go get drunk.” Maybe that would help. I prayed it would.
Chapter 13
Quinn
I didn't know what to do, so I did what I had always done when I had gotten in a fight with Jonah or had a problem that I couldn't talk to him about. I went to Lily's. I knew the way to the small cozy cottage that I'd spent much of my teenage years in like the back of my hand. My thoughts were raging furiously as I pulled into the brick paved driveway and slammed my foot on the braked before throwing the truck into park.
I barely knocked before pushing open the door and barreling inside.
“Lily! Lily, you in here?”
"Still breaking and entering I see," Lily shouted back and I followed the direction of her voice to small, quaint kitchen with its painted white cabinets with their teapot cutouts.
“It’s not breaking and entering when the door’s unlocked.”
“Pretty sure that’s not true,” Lily said, rolling her eyes in my direction as she stirred something particularly pungent on the stovetop. An old looking book was opened on the kitchen counter next to the over and Lily carefully tipped in a handful of…something. I couldn’t tell what it was and walked closer. But one deep inhale and I immediately regretted it.
“Whoa! Jesus, what the hell is that Lily?” I pinched my nose with one hand but it was too late, the oddly sweet and bitter smell was lodged in there.
"It's, um, tea," Lily said, shooting me a bashful shrug.
“Tea? There’s no way that’s tea. More like castor oil mixed with a gallon of syrup. What are you making?” I gave her an accusing glare, “Is this another one of your concoctions?”
Lily grabbed the book, hastily carrying it over to the small kitchen table and plopping it open again in front of me, pointing to a page yellowed with age.
My eyes widened as I read the title scrawled along the top of the page in a flowing script font.
“A love potion?” I choked out the words, “Are you serious, Lily? This is a new weird, even for you.”
"I found it at the library." She shrugged, taking the pot off the stove and wafting away the steam to help cool it. After a moment, she poured it into two tiny porcelain teacups and brought it back to the table, placing them on the surface with a soft rattle.
Lily looked over at me then. “What harm could it do?”
I glanced into the cup, grimacing at the dark greenish-brown liquid. "Why is it so thick?"
“Oh, come on Quinn. You’re supposed to be the brave one.”
“How do you know it’s not poisonous?”
"There are only natural ingredients in there. Nothing bad for you."
“Are you sure? Because it looks like death.” I leaned closer and nearly gagged, “and smells even worse.”
"Come on Quinn. Are you really going to be a chicken?" Lily baited, knowing it was exactly the right thing to have me reaching out and taking hold of the ridiculously delicate teacup.
“Can we just get this over with?” I muttered. Knowing Lily, I wouldn’t get anywhere until this ‘love potion’ was digested. I held it to my lips, squeezing my eyes shut and trying not to inhale.
“Wait. Wait. Wait.” Lily shouted, making me nearly drop the damned thing.
“What?” I growled, shooting her an annoyed glare.
“For the potion to work, you have to close your eyes and think about t
he person you want the spell to work on, got it?”
“Yeah. Got it. Hocus pocus and all that.”
Lily rolled her eyes at my words but then grew serious as she closed her own eyes and breathed deep and even. I cast one more look at the vile stuff. Lily was lucky I loved her like a sister. I wouldn’t do this kind of stuff for anyone else.
“Well, bottom’s up.” I murmured the words between clenched teeth before closing my eyes and tilting the liquid into my mouth. Liquid was being polite. It was more like trying to drink cinnamon and motor oil flavored paste.
We both let out a choking gasp and I put the cup back on the table, shoving it as far away as I could for good measure.
“Jesus, that stuff is terrible. Even worse than when you tried to make a potion that could make us invisible.”
"It wasn't so bad." Lily grimaced, trying to put a brave face on it but really, it was that bad. It was worse. After a moment, Lily popped to her feet, grabbing a bottle from a shelf and two more teacups before bringing them back to the table.
"Here, this should help." She poured a shot of tequila into each of the teacups and handed one to me. She shot me a grin, "Bottom's up."
I threw back the shot, grinning back at her with a rueful shake of my head. “I need to get you some shot glasses.”
"A vessel is a vessel," Lily said sagely as she poured us both another and re-took her seat across from me. "So, what's up? It's obvious something's bothering you."
“I’ll tell you, but…I need you to keep it between us.”
Lily gasped in affront, “You know I’m the best secret keeper there is. Jonah still doesn’t know about that night you snuck out to go to the lake with Matt Lockney.”
"And it better stay that way." I took another sip of the liquor for fortification before continuing. "This is a little bit different."
“Different how? I’m assuming it’s something you don’t want Jonah to find out about.”
I toasted her with the tequila-filled teacup, "You assume correctly." After a deep breath, I opened my mouth and the whole story came falling out.
“When I got back into town I ran into someone, literally,” I gave a slight laugh as I remembered how we had collided on the sidewalk in front of Lucky’s, “We’ve been…seeing each other.”
“Quinn Moore? Dating someone? I do declare.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call it dating,” I said with a shrug, “More like we tear each other’s clothes off and go at it like animals whenever we’re in the same room together. Can you call that dating?”
“Listen, you and Leo can call it whatever you like, but–.”
“Wait a minute, you know about us?” I looked across the table at Lily in shock but she just gave me a knowing look.
“Quinn, I’ve seen the way he looks at you when he drops by the Mayhew place, which is suspiciously often. And, I’ve seen the way you look at him too. You liiiiike him.” Lily drew out the word like a playground taunt but this hit the mark.
“That’s the problem, Lily. I do like him. And I don’t know what the hell to do about it.” I shook my head in despair, my temper boiling as I remembered the earlier scene when Jonah had nearly walked in on us.
“One minute he had been about to tear my clothes off and the next he was joking with Jonah about going out to the bar and scoping out women. What am I supposed to do with that?”
Lily cast her a sympathetic look. “Listen, Quinn. Leo has been in Coral Springs for a few years now so I know enough that I can credibly tell you…that man is a player.”
“I know. He basically told me from the first that he could up and leave at any moment. That he got ‘restless’.” I shook my head, “But I can’t help but think, maybe this is different. Maybe what we have is different.”
"Maybe," Lily said with a shrug, "All I know is that I've never seen him stay with the same women for more than three nights, so maybe you're right, but Quinn, I don't want you to get your heart broken over him if he turns out to be just another asshole, okay? You gotta look out for yourself."
"You're right," I said, nodding in agreement.
“I’m…right?” Lily looked at me suspiciously. Damn it. She knew me too well.
“Yes, Lily. You are right. I need to be sure.”
“Sure of what?”
“Whether he’s an asshole or not.” I nodded more vigorously as the plan formed. Maybe it was the ghastly love potion or just the tequila spurring me on. “Let’s go find out before I get in too deep.” I hope it’s not too late.
“What are you planning, Quinn?”
“We’re going to Lucky’s. We are going to observe the lion in his natural habitat,” I chuckled to myself at the small joke but Lily just gave me a nervous look. “I’m going to catch him in the act.”
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea–.”
“I need to know the truth, Lily,” I gave my best friend a serious look, “I already care about him more than I should. I don’t…I just need to know, okay?”
Reluctantly, Lily nodded and I jumped to my feet before glancing down at myself. I was still wearing my work clothes and they were covered in paint and smeared with dirt and god knows what else.
I looked back at Lily. “First, do you have something I can wear?” A slow grin spread across my face, “Something sexy?”
Chapter 14
Leo
A heavy, unfamiliar feeling sat in the pit of my stomach as I took the glass of beer that Stella had just placed in front of me and I threw back my head, chugging half of the glass in one go. The alcohol wasn’t seeming to help drive the feeling away. If anything, it was making it worse, my thoughts swirling and tangling up in one another.
On the one hand, I should be happy that Jonah intervened. I knew I’d been getting too close to Quinn. Letting her get too close to me. The whole thing was too much for me. I should have cut things off between us weeks ago, long before I started helping her out around the old farmhouse.
This was the perfect chance for me to end things with Quinn before it got messy. Right? I should be ecstatic. I hated drama and relationships were nothing but drama. I’d learned that lesson. So then, why wasn’t I happy, damn it?
Instead, I hated the fact that I didn’t get a chance to explain to Quinn that I was just trying to keep Jonah off their trail. That I hadn’t meant any of the things that I’d said. And there was the rub of it. The normal Leo would have meant them. Four weeks ago, I would have been more than happy to throw back a couple beers with Jonah and chase women. What did it mean that that was the last thing I wanted to do now?
I took another sip of the beer, grimacing at the suddenly bitter taste before setting it on the bar and pushing it away. No, the beer wasn’t helping. I honestly didn’t know what the hell would. My thoughts were still a tangled mess when I glanced over at the front door just in time to see Jonah toss me a wave as he made his way over.
There was a pretty decent crowd in the bar already. At seven o'clock it would only get busier before it started to die out in the early morning hours as the last of the stragglers made their way to their own beds. Lucky's was the only bar in the town and basically, everyone stopped in to have a drink and unwind after the work week.
“Stella, can I get a drink? Whatever’s on tap.”
“You got it, Jonah. Coming up.”
I waited until Jonah took a seat next to me before turning to him with a nod.
“Hey, man. I’m glad you talked me into coming out. Not sure what’s been going on with me.” I nearly bit my tongue as the words flew out. They were far too close to the truth for comfort.
"It happens to the best of us sometimes," Jonah said with a grin as he took the beer from Stella and raised it high, "Cheers, to a good time and even better lays."
I had no choice but to grab my own glass and clinked it against Jonah’s.
“Cheers.”
We both gulped down a few drinks, Jonah nearly finishing his whole glass before he spoke again.
&nbs
p; “Honestly, I’ve been pretty slammed myself. With this new job that’s behind schedule and everything with Quinn…it feels good to relax, you know?” Jonah took another swig, draining the last drop before gesturing to Stella for another round.
I knew I shouldn’t but I couldn’t help myself from asking. “What do you mean, everything with Qui– your sister?" I quickly changed my wording, hoping he didn't notice. I was afraid he'd hear the familiar tone of my voice. Damn, this was tricky business keeping a secret from a best friend.
“It’s just everything with the property. I mean, you know how it is over there. It’s a lost cause, that place, but she’s convinced she can fix it up. She’s got, what, five months left before that buyer comes here? I should just stop her before it goes too far, but, damn it, she seems so happy you know?” Jonah shook his head, drowning another sever gulps of beer. “I don’t have the heart to take it away from her, not after…”
“After what?” I prompted. It was too late to back out now, and if I was honest with myself, I wanted to know more about her. I wanted to know everything about her. I didn’t look too closely at why.
“The whole reason we got the property in the first place.” Jonah shook his head and for a moment I wondered if he would go on but it seemed like the alcohol was already loosening his tongue. “Some lawyer showed up on the doorstep with a deed in hand. Apparently, our grandfather had left the property to our mom when he died like twenty years ago but she just let the place rot.”
Jonah snorted in disgust and I just sat there in silence. I didn’t know what to say, so I just let him talk. After a moment and another chug of beer, he did.
“Well, turns out that there was another clause in the old man’s will. If the first recipient passed away, the property would pass onto the next surviving relative. Which means me.” Jonah raised his glass again, somewhat less cheerful this time before taking a drink.
It took me a moment for the meaning of Jonah’s words to sink in and when they finally did, it hit me like a ton of bricks.