“All right then. See you in an hour.” Lenny shuffled his feet down the hallway.
Quinn stared at her and shook his head grinning, “Who are you?”
She bunched her brows together. “I told you, Ann.”
He chuckled, “Not your name. I mean who are you? I’ve never met anyone like you before.”
“I hope that’s a good thing.”
“I’m still inside you, aren’t I? Yeah, it’s a good thing.”
“So, does this mean I aced the interview, or blew it?” She gave him a seductive smirk and wink.
This time Quinn laughed so hard he slipped out of her.
“What’s so funny? I was only teasing.” His laughter was contagious because despite her current position she was giggling right along with him.
“Oh, you definitely blew it, alright.” He shook his head as he held his hand out to her. “You want to grab some lunch?”
Ann was pulling up her shorts quickly and asked him nervously, “I…Do you have a bathroom?”
“Yeah, behind that door.” He motioned with his hand to a small door in the corner of his office.
He watched her as she went inside and closed the door. He had to admit, he thought it was cute how she could all of a sudden seem bashful. He waited while she cleaned herself up and wondered who she was, besides her name. He’d lived in Oakdale almost his whole life and knew almost everyone. She obviously was new in town, which meant she probably hadn’t met many people yet. This was fine by him, because he had every intention of seeing her again. In very much the same way he had minutes ago, with her naked and writhing beneath him in pleasure. His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and she walked out.
Ann strode over and picked up her purse from where she had dropped it on the floor, right before she’d—done what she’d done. She turned to him and quickly turned away, unable to meet his gaze. “Are you okay?” He wondered aloud. He didn’t miss how quickly she turned away from him.
“Yeah, I’m…embarrassed, I guess you could say. I wasn’t kidding earlier. I’ve never done anything like this before. I don’t know what came over me.” She smiled at him. The embarrassment covered her face in the form of red cheeks.
He walked to her, hating that she was feeling regrets. He definitely wasn’t. “If you think I think badly of you, I don’t.”
She looked up at him as he put his hands on her shoulders. “Really? I mean, I know that you’re a nice guy and, well, I guess I don’t really know that. But you seem like a nice guy and you don’t have to give me a bunch of sweet words. I mean we’ve already, you know. So, it’s not like you have to try to be all nice to me.”
Quinn was shocked by her low opinion of both him and herself. “Is that what you think? Listen, what we did was incredible and yes it is over now. But I was kind of hoping I could see you again sometime.” He held up his hand when she started to speak. “Outside of work, because I won’t be hiring you.”
Quinn had to stop her from the obvious rush of fury that swept through her. She hadn’t been with him to get the job. But the idea that he screwed her, and now refused to hire her, seemed like the ultimate insult. “How dare –”
“Hold on. Hear me out.” He waited for her to close her dropped open mouth before continuing, “I like you. And this job calls for a woman that can handle men grabbing at her and making all sorts of lewd comments. The guy from the side of the road earlier, he’s a regular.”
“I’m quite capable of taking care of myself, and for the record, I find it completely deplorable that you can – umph.” She was silenced by his mouth pressed against hers. His lips were gentle and undemanding when they brushed against hers.
Satisfied that he had stunned her into silence, Quinn pulled away from her. “Now, as I was trying to explain, I like you. I was hoping that I would get to see you again. But I don’t want it to be while some jerk is grabbing your ass. So, my brother and I have a restaurant in town, nothing fancy, just a little steak joint. We need a hostess for a few shifts during the week and alternating weekends.”
Quinn watched as her expression changed from shocked to inquisitive. “So, what do you say? You interested?”
She cocked her eyebrow up at him. “Let me see if I’ve got this straight. You just met me, but the idea of another man grabbing my ass bothers you so much you won’t hire me here, but you’ll give me a job at your restaurant. Does that about sum it up?” She waited for him to answer.
“Yep, that pretty much covers it.”
A large and amused grin formed on her face. “You don’t even know me. What if I’m a horrible employee?”
He shrugged, “You’re good at other things. I assume you’ll be good at all things you do.”
“Pretty big assumption.” She pointed out.
“Does that mean you don’t want the job?” He wanted desperately to kiss her again but restrained himself.
This time she shrugged, “That depends.”
“On what?”
“Would I have to sleep with you?” She said teasing, but waited to hear his answer.
“You won’t have to. But I sure as hell hope you do.” He winked at her. “Now do you want the job or not, because I’m dying to kiss you again.” Quinn didn’t wait for her answer as he took possession of her mouth with his.
Chapter Three
“You think you can handle all that?” Derek asked her.
“Yeah, it sounds easy enough. Will you be around if I need help?” Ann asked, knowing she wouldn’t.
“Yeah, I’ll be in the back. We’re uploading a new payroll system. Just let me know if you need anything.” He smiled at her.
“Okay, thanks.” Ann watched Quinn’s brother walk away. He was the polar opposite of his brother. While Quinn had dark hair and tan skin with dark eyes, Derek was blonde haired, blue eyed and fair skinned. Other than their obvious similarities in the height department, they looked nothing alike. If Quinn hadn’t told her they were brothers, she would never have believed it.
Ann spent the next several minutes getting acquainted with her cute new work station. She had a little podium, a clipboard, a holder for the menus and her own cordless phone. She was a hostess at a little steak restaurant and for some reason, she felt like an executive who was just given the corner office of the top floor. It was just a silly, menial job, but she felt great. Well, it was possible that she felt great because last night, hours after Quinn had bought her lunch, he had come to her hotel room and made her feel just as incredible as he had when she was spread out on his desk. A warm flush ran up her face at the memory of it.
“What are you thinking about?”
Abruptly, Ann turned to see Quinn standing there grinning. He was wearing that cowboy hat again. Something about that hat made her knees go weak with need. She pointed her finger at him. “You scared me.”
“I only scared you because you were lost in thought.” He came to her and wrapped his arms around her. “You gonna tell me what has your face so red?”
She twinkled her eyes at him. “No, I’m not.”
“Fine, be a tease. So, how’s it going?” He peeked around the restaurant, wondering where his uptight brother was.
“Derek’s in the back, if that’s who you’re looking for.”
“Good, then I can do this.” Quinn pulled off his hat and set it on the podium as he leaned over to kiss her. He couldn’t seem to get enough of her. After he left her last night, he found himself lying in bed with a hard on. He didn’t even know why he left. Being a macho guy, he thought he would look stupid if he asked to stay. Guys weren’t supposed to want to stay and cuddle, which surprisingly was what he wanted to do. Besides, he knew he had to go. He had been so caught up in the act with her last night that he almost let some of his secrets spill. She had been talking to him about her fantasy, the one about the cowboy who rescues her on the side of the road, when he almost let one of his come out. He knew then he had to high tail it out of there. It was bad enough he was too big to be comfo
rtable for most women. But now that he finally had one that he really liked, and they had great sex together, he wasn’t about to jeopardize it just because he had a few fetishes.
“Wow,” Ann said when she pulled away. “You are really good at that.”
In his best Elvis accent he said, “Thank you, thank you very much.”
“Oh Jesus, you doing Elvis again?” Derek asked from across the restaurant.
Quinn turned to his brother. “Yep, I sound just like him, huh?”
“Hardly. Listen, this program keeps giving me an error every time I get it about 50% loaded. It do that to you at the Roadhouse?” Derek asked.
Quinn shook his head. “No, did you look at the manual that came with it?”
Derek tilted his head in mock amusement, “No asshole, I just figured it would magically work. Don’t little fairies come and install everything while we sleep? Yes, I read the damn manual.”
“All right, fine.” He turned to Ann. “I’ll be back. I need to go help him with this. He gets kind of high strung sometimes.”
“Sure, of course.”
Quinn walked away, but not before giving her a quick wink.
Ann didn’t see Quinn come out of the office. She assumed she had missed him though because his hat was gone and they had gotten very busy with a lunch rush. Which she admitted to herself was actually kind of fun. She enjoyed all the people that came in. They all seemed to be regulars that knew each other well. When they asked who she was, they welcomed her warmly with kind words of encouragement for her new job. She smiled to herself as she thought she was really going to like it. Lord knew she already had a soft spot for her boss, well at least one of them anyway.
Ann sat down in a chair after the last of the lunch customers had left. They were so busy that she took to bussing tables to help the wait-staff keep up with the steady flow of patrons. She closed her eyes for only a moment when she opened them to the smell of something wonderful. She looked up and saw Derek.
“You were running pretty hectic there for a while. I thought you’d be hungry.”
She looked at the small pie in front of her. “What is it?”
“My specialty. You’ve heard of beef pot pie. Well this is like that, only with tender marinated sirloin and my own spices.” He motioned with his hands. “Go ahead, try it. It’s good, I promise.”
Ann reached for a fork and smiled. “It smells heavenly.”
Derek watched her as she took a bite and moaned. “Good?”
“Mmm hmm. This is fabulous,” she told him honestly.
“I’m glad you like it.” He got up from the table and started to turn away, but stopped himself, “You know Ann, I love my brother.”
Ann placed the fork down, suddenly feeling like she was under a microscope. “Obviously. Why wouldn’t you?”
“I guess what I’m trying to say is…well, he hasn’t had the best of luck with women. I don’t want to see him hurt. He seems to like you.”
“Really?” God, she sounded like a school girl. Really? Do you really think he likes me? Geez.
“Yeah, I think he does. So, just be good to him, huh? He’s a good guy.” Derek looked clearly uncomfortable saying it. His need to protect his brother was apparent. “Quinn hasn’t had it easy over the years. It’s left him…bitter I guess you could say. I just don’t want him to be hurt again. Treat him right okay?” Ann nodded, knowing that while he was being nice, there was also a warning somewhere in his request. “I will, Derek,” she said as he started to turn away, “I like him, too. More than I think is normal after knowing him for only a day.” She smiled, hoping he knew she was telling the truth.
“Good.” Changing the serious mood he said, “Now hurry up, we’re not paying you to sit on your tush and eat my wonderful food.” And he walked back into his office.
Ann ate her sirloin pot pie and smiled. She was definitely going to like it here. The only question was, Larry who? She giggled.
Hours later, Derek was arguing with Ann in the back office. “I’m the boss. So, I can make you.”
Ann laughed, “Come on Derek, that’s stupid. Look how busy we are.”
Derek rolled his eyes. “There are labor laws, you know.”
“In Oakdale. Really? Come on. I’m not tired, and I’m having fun. The people here are great. Let me stay? Please.” Ann asked him with complete sincerity. It was stupid, but she had such a good time today and she wasn’t really that tired. What else was she going to do? Go sit in her hotel room and watch reruns of Will & Grace? It’s not like she could entertain herself with more mind blowing orgasms with Quinn. He would be at the Roadhouse until late tonight.
Derek sighed. “Fine, but you’re coming in late tomorrow.”
“Deal,” she said as she shook his hand and ran back out to her little podium.
She smiled when she got back up to the front of the small restaurant. “Mr. and Mrs. Tollson, weren’t you just here five hours ago?”
Mrs. Tollson gave her husband the evil eye and said, “I ain’t cooking for someone that doesn’t appreciate me.”
Mr. Tollson looked to the heavens above, for either encouragement or to be struck dead. “For the last time, Martha, I told you I didn’t mean it the way it sounded. You take everything so dang personal. I’d ask if it was your time of month but I know you’re past that point in your life so—”
Ann listened in horror. He had not just said that to his wife in front of all of these people. People they knew. “Ah, Mrs. Tollson, where did you get those earrings? My God, they’re gorgeous!”
Mrs. Tollson tore her death stare away from her husband and looked at Ann. “You really like them? I bought them at Betty’s Boutique just around the corner.”
“I hope they have more. They look great.” Ann reached over and touched the small silver dangles.
“Thank you dear. Do we have long to wait?”
Ann checked her list. “No, I’d say about ten or fifteen minutes tops.”
“That’ll be fine.” Mr. Tollson said. “You know honey, those are beautiful earrings. They do a great job hiding how big your ears really are.” He told her with a smile, proud of himself for being so smooth with the compliment. His smile quickly turned to a frown when both his wife and all of the surrounding couples gasped in horror.
“Oh Jesus, now what? What’d I say?” He asked them all.
“Mr. Tollson,” Ann gently took his arm, guiding him away from the onlookers. “Perhaps it’s not really a compliment if you mention a flaw. You know what I mean?”
Mr. Tollson bunched his brows together as he pondered her advice. “So, say something nice and leave it at that?”
Ann laughed. “Exactly.”
“Well, hell. Why didn’t somebody tell me this sooner? Twenty three years of marriage, she never said anything. How am I supposed to know?”
Ann patted his arm. “Well, now you do. So, just remember to, I don’t know, think before you speak. Okay?”
Mr. Tollson nodded at her. “Thanks. I like you, you’re nice.”
Surprised, Ann blushed. “Thank you, Mr. Tollson.”
“You’re seeing one of the Travis boys, aren’t you?” He asked her.
“Yes, Quinn, but it’s still fairly new so I don’t really want word getting around that—” She was startled by the three couples laughing at her.
“Honey,” Mrs. Tollson told her, “You should have thought of that before you let Quinn into your hotel room at three o’clock in the morning. That Sandi who works the front desk can’t talk without spreading rumors.”
Ann was embarrassed. “So, who knows then?”
One of the other men waiting, Mr. Rollins piped in, “Well, let’s see. There’s me, you, them,” he said pointing around at the other people in the restaurant. “Then, there are the people that came in contact with Sandi, then the people that came in contact with those people, and the people that came in contact with those people, and so on and so on. So I guess I’d say probably the whole town.”
Ann’s face turned red with embarrassment. “Great.”
“Don’t worry, dear. Quinn’s a good boy. He comes from good stock.” Mrs. Tollson told her. “He’ll treat you right. His mama raised him good.”
They all had a good laugh at Ann’s expense. While she wasn’t angry with them, she just felt somewhat uneasy that so many people knew that she had slept with Quinn, especially since she only got to town yesterday morning. That would do wonders for her reputation in a town this size. And to think she chose a small town because she thought she wanted to get away from all the bull that went along with living in the city. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize that the country had bull too, just a different kind.
Hours later, Derek lifted the last chair to rest on top of the table. “That’s it, we’re all done.”
“Whew. I am tired now. I can’t believe how busy you guys get.”
Derek sighed as he sat down. “Yeah, it was a good idea to open this place. It’s the only place in town that serves a decent steak and potatoes meal. Everything else is just diners and sandwich shops.”
Ann sat down across from Derek and rested her chin on her palm. “How long have you and Quinn been in business together?”
Derek squinted his eyes, thinking. “We just have the restaurant together. We have different mothers. Our dad had some issues with fidelity. Wasn’t the best role model for me and Quinn. He loved both of our mothers in his own way. But he just had some major difficulties with the whole faithfulness thing. I’m only a few years older than Quinn. Shortly after I was born my parents got a divorce. My Dad’s jealousy ruined things. Which is ironic, seeing as how monogamy wasn’t one of his personality traits. Anyway, then he got together with Quinn’s mom. They fell in love and got married. Problem is he never stopped loving my mom. It was hard. He was a tough old bastard. He broke both of their hearts on a daily basis. Always promising to leave one for the other and vice versa. It made the holidays really uncomfortable.”
Intimate Persuasions Page 3