by Amy Brent
What makes you think this is serious, a soft voice whispered in my thoughts by I ignored it as I tried to clean myself off as best as I could, examining the damage we’d just done to the plaster overhead.
It seemed pretty hopeless. Bits of plaster and duster were everywhere but it was fun to try and help clean off Leo. All of him. I was just considering giving it another go, maybe against a different wall when a deep, masculine voice sounded from downstairs. I shared a wide-eyed look with Leo. Oh, hell. So much for keeping us a secret.
Chapter 11
Quinn
Fear spiked through me thick and potent as my shocked gaze met Leo’s.
"Damn it." He whispered, echoing my own thoughts, "Jonah?" He mouthed that last as if the bare mention of his name would be enough to conjure my overbearing brother. I shrugged, unsure. But who else would it be?
“I don’t know, just…” My mind raced for a solution to our sticky situation. “You just stay up here and I’ll go down and see what’s going on. Maybe it’s nothing and I can send him on his way.”
“Alright. Just make it quick. Don’t leave me trapped up here all day.”
We shared one last look before I turned to rush down the stairs. I was braced for the worst. It was Jonah. He’d somehow caught us together and was seconds away from murdering his best friend and then I’d have to help hide the body, that was unless he decided to just kill me right along with Leo.
We both should know better, I got that, but…there was something different about Leo. Something that made him worth the risk. You better hope so, that small, rational part of my brain murmured snidely.
That is really not helping.
Neither is sleeping with your brother’s best friend, even when you know how he’ll react. Even when you know he’s just going to up and leave. He’s practically said as much.
You don’t know that, I shot back. This was ridiculous. Now I was arguing with myself! And what was worse, I was losing.
"Hey! I wasn't expecting you, Jo–." I cut the word off short as I stared in surprise at the ragtag group standing in the front room of the house.
“Quinn! There you are! We were too afraid to explore this death trap– I mean house any further than the main floor.” Lily’s voice reached her from behind the small group and she politely made her way forward before giving me a quick hug before glancing at the crew behind her dubiously.
"Quinn, I'm sure you remember the Brewers, Henry, Luke and that tall one over there is Danny," Lily made the introductions and I nodded to the boys in turn. Of course, I remembered them. They all had the same reddish brown hair and freckles. We all went to high school together. Luke used to have a crush on me but he'd been too terrified by my big brother to ask me to the school dance, even after I told him I wanted to go with him.
I waited a moment for any of those old feelings to come rushing back but none did. It seemed so long ago now as if it was a different lifetime. A tiny flicker compared to the bonfire that rage inside me whenever I thought about Leo.
“Of course. Hi guys. Thanks for offering to help out.”
“Well, we didn’t exactly offer,” Henry started, shrugging uncomfortably under Lily’s stern glare, “I mean, sure. No problem Quinn. Happy to do anything we can for a friend.”
Lily nodded before continuing. “The vampire clad in all black over there is Charlotte.”
“Call me Char. Everyone does.” The goth-like girl with the nose ring and jet black dyed hair to match her wardrobe shot me a surprisingly cheerful grin and I smiled back.
"And of course you know Finn." Lily's voice faltered nearly imperceptibly as she said his name and I had to fight not to give her a sympathetic look. She'd been friends with Finn Hunter since the eighth grade, but little did he know, to Lily it was much more than friendship. She'd just never found the courage to tell him how she truly felt.
Finn was tall and good looking with a face that screamed ‘nice guy’. I almost shook my head. I never saw the charm but Lily was different. She was nice guy bait. Just not this particular nice guy. The only one she’d ever wanted to give her a second moment’s notice.
“Again, thanks everybody for lending a hand. I’ve already started in this room. I’ve made pretty good progress already–.”
Charlotte interrupted with a dubious look around the great room, “This is progress?”
I grimaced. I knew it was going to take a lot of work. I just didn’t realize exactly how bad a shape this place was in until I started digging through all the debris.
“I know it looks bad. But it’s mostly cosmetic. Once we get the carpet and rotted wood out of here, you’ll see. It’ll shape up in no time.”
“If you say so.” She said under her breath, and the rest of the crew obviously shared her reservations. But it didn’t stop any of them from rolling up their sleeves and getting to work. But before anyone could get started a new voice joined in from behind me.
“Is the coast clear?”
I jumped, spinning to see Leo creeping down the stairs, looking particularly suspicious.
"Clear of what?" Lily asked, casting a curious look from me to Leo and back again. I couldn't stop the blush that spread across my cheeks at her knowing look but luckily, she didn't say anything out loud as Leo came down the rest of the way and joined them.
I made quick introductions, finishing with a stammered, “Leo’s helping out too. He’s Jonah’s friend.”
“Uh huh.” Lily said after a moment, and I was sure she was about to say something else but instead clapped her hands together sharply startling everybody, “Well, are we going to get to work or just stand around talking all day? This place won’t clean itself.”
I let out a sigh of relief, sharing a look with Leo before grabbing a pair of gloves and jumping back in. Lily was right about one thing. The house sure as hell wasn’t going to clean itself.
***
Leo
I took a grateful sip of the cold beer as I glanced around the room. We'd made better progress this afternoon than I expected, aided mostly by Quinn's crew of friends. At some point, as the heat grew more stifling as the day went on, one of the Brewer boys, I still wasn't sure which one, went and grabbed a case of beer from the liquor store down the street and it tasted damn good after the mouthful of plaster dust that still seemed to linger.
The sound of laughter drew my attention and I found myself staring as Quinn joked with her friend. What was her name? A flower of some type. Rose? No, that wasn’t right. Lily. That was it. Lily.
She was nice, in a quiet sort of way, chatting with Quinn mostly until she offered to read my chakra and set me up with some sort of crystal thing to, what did she call it? Deepen my spiritual connection to the natural world. Uh huh. I’d politely told her no thank you, but she’d gone on anyways, telling me which chakras were cloudy or some shit. The whole-time Quinn had been standing there, hiding her laughter behind a hand as she watched me squirm in discomfort.
The noise drew my attention again and I watched the smile curve Quinn’s perfectly kissable lips, charmed despite my best intentions. In any normal situation, I knew I’d already be long gone and on to the next girl that caught my eye by now, but something about Quinn was different.
It was like she was a new drug I’d never tasted before and now I was addicted. I couldn’t get enough of her. She was in my veins. In my bloodstream and I couldn’t get her out. Hell, I didn’t even fucking want to.
I was already drooling for another taste of her, dreaming of different ways to get her alone before I went insane with wanting her.
I shook my head at myself, trying to banish the thoughts but they remained, lodged in my head and no matter what I did I couldn’t extricate them. Worry shot through me and I took another sip of the beer, trying to wash it away. Damn if that didn’t help one bit either.
That worry ate at me though, as we continued to work. Quinn was getting under my skin in a way that no woman had in a hell of a lon
g time. Maybe ever. It should have terrified me. It should have had me running for the hills, or at the very least packing my bag and running on to the next town, the next slew of willing women.
I’m getting in too deep. The thought echoed through my mind and for a moment I gave it credence. For the hundredth time thinking about how I should just cut things off between us.
It would be better for both of us. No more sneaking around. No more hiding whatever this was from her brother, from my best friend.
Quinn’s sweet laughter drew my attention once more and I found myself wanting to grin along with the sound of it.
I’m just having fun. That’s all. It’s just fun. Now, I just had to find a way to convince myself of that.
Chapter 12
Leo
“Come on, you son of a bitch. You don’t stand a chance against me.” I growled the words, my muscles straining as my grip tightened, “You might as well just give up now. You’re mine.”
Sweat was dripping down my brow and soaking the back of my shirt but I didn’t stop until I felt the rusty bolt start to give.
"Ah Hah! One down, twenty more to go!" I crowed victoriously as I dropped the rusty piece of metal into the bucket in front of me. The door hinges may be stubborn, but they were no match for me.
It seemed like every door in the whole damned place was rusted almost beyond use and I was starting the process of taking them all down. Half of the door jambs themselves would have to be replaced but this one seemed salvageable.
Over the past few weeks, the construction on the property had gone better than anyone had first anticipated, especially me. I’d been sure it was a lost cause from the beginning but something had begun to happen, working on me as time passed.
Quinn. It’s Quinn working on you.
That’s ridiculous, I scoffed to myself, clamping the top bolt in the mouth of the wrench I was using.
Is it?
I put all my weight into moving the rusted bolt but it didn't budge. It was stuck even worse than the last one and bent at an odd angle that would make it even more difficult to get out.
It’s just this project, that’s all. Seeing something that seemed so hopeless starting to take shape through hard work and sweat. That’s all. That’s what I told myself silently as my muscled strained once more.
Riiiight. You're just here to work on the project. Sure you're not here almost every free moment you have because of the pretty green-eyed, blond haired woman that means so much to you?
I shook off the thought. What the hell else have I got to do, anyway? Why not help out a friend.
Oh, friend? Is that what Quinn is, now? A friend?
I was saved from having to answer myself by a whistle sounding behind me. I tossed a glance back over my shoulder and saw the demon of my thoughts standing there, looking sexy as hell in her short denim shorts and a tank top that clung to her body like sin. I can’t believe it, I huffed to myself in frustration, I’m jealous of a god damned tank top.
“Hey Quinn,” I forced out the words as I turned back to the rusty rod of metal and the wrench that wasn’t doing any bit of good. “How’s it going in the kitchen?”
They’d made it through the front room, repairing the hallway and what they could of the bathroom and the back room that Quinn was going to convert into an office before finally moving on to the most intimidating of the damage.
“It’s looking pretty good.” Quinn finally answered, a sweet huskiness in her voice that had my body responding instantly. How the hell did she do that? “But not nearly as good as it looks up here.”
“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.