Jordan's Return

by Samantha Chase

  Zoe started to say something but cut herself off. “I’m going to get something to drink. You want something?”

  “Some water would be great.”

  Standing, Zoe took her oversized hat off and placed it on the back of Anna’s head. “Watch this for me, will you?”

  Anna laughed. “Sure. Whatever.” She wasn’t sure why Zoe tossed the hat on her, but it didn’t matter—she was too relaxed. Wiggling slightly, she got more comfortable and sighed. This was good.

  “Hey, you made it,” Zoe said quietly to Quinn as she approached him. “I didn’t expect you here so early. I figured we’d have to send out the search party to get you.”

  “Yeah, well…I decided to skip work today and head down here and see if you needed help with anything.” He looked past Zoe’s shoulder and spotted someone lying on one of the chaises.

  Zoe followed his gaze. “Well, why don’t you come inside? I was just about to grab a couple of bottles of water and then I can show you your room.”

  Quinn shrugged. “Sure, yeah. Um…is that one of your friends from Arizona? Aidan didn’t mention anyone being here yet.” He took a couple of steps past Zoe, a grin slowly appearing on his face as he appreciated the curvy, half-naked woman on the chaise. She was wearing a tiny blue bikini and was all tanned limbs.

  “Uh…Quinn?” Zoe began.

  “You go and grab the drinks. I’ll go and introduce myself.” He continued to walk.

  Rather than do as he suggested, Zoe followed slowly behind him, anxious to watch what was about to unfold.

  Quinn sat down on the chaise Zoe had vacated and cleared his throat. “Hey,” he said smoothly. “I’m Quinn, Aidan’s brother. Zoe’s going inside to grab some drinks and I thought I’d come over and—”

  Anna turned over, the large, floppy hat falling behind her.

  Quinn quickly stood and stumbled and fell backward over Zoe’s chaise. “Holy shit! Anna?” He slowly came to his feet. “What the hell?”

  She shaded her eyes and gave him a sour look before looking over at Zoe. When Zoe started to come forward, Anna held up a hand to stop her. “I got this.” Once her friend was gone, she returned her focus to Quinn. “Is there a problem?”

  Quinn helplessly looked around and grabbed the towel from Zoe’s chaise and threw it at Anna. “For crying out loud, what are you doing?”

  “Um…sunbathing? Lying out? Getting a tan? Really, take your pick.”

  He straightened the chaise and sat down, but his eyes stayed focused on the ground. “Well, maybe you’ve had enough sun for today and should…you know…put some clothes on.”

  A small laugh escaped before she could help it. It would seem she had finally managed to get Quinn Shaughnessy to notice she was a girl. Well…a woman. Great. It only took her being practically naked for it to happen.

  When she stayed silent, Quinn lifted his head but kept his eyes firmly on hers. “I’m serious, Anna. You need to go and get dressed.”

  It was the tone that did it. Anna was used to him being bossy and condescending most of the time—it was who he was—but right now, all of her good humor and thoughts of teasing him went right out the window. “No,” she said firmly and made herself more comfortable by rolling over onto her back.

  He said her name again. This time it was nearly a growl.

  She turned her head and looked at him. “If you have a problem, maybe you should go inside. I’m staying right here.”

  A stream of curses was his immediate response. “Any minute, my brothers are going to be showing up here. Is this how you want them to see you?”

  Now she reached for her sunglasses that were tucked away under the chaise and put them on. “They’ve all seen me in a bathing suit before, Quinn. Why is this such a big deal?”

  He stood angrily. “Because it is! This…this isn’t a bathing suit,” he stammered, waving his arms over her. “This is indecent!”

  Zoe came sauntering back over with a huge grin on her face. “I know, isn’t it fantastic? Who knew Anna was hiding such a rocking figure under those T-shirts and jeans?” She handed Anna a bottle of water and then a beer to Quinn. “I figured you might appreciate one of these.”

  Quinn took it from her and opened it, muttering the whole time under his breath about people being stubborn. He took a long pull of his beer before turning to Zoe. “Would you please tell her to go and put something on before everyone gets here? I mean, she’s being stubborn.”

  “Aidan was here with her earlier and everything was fine. I don’t think anyone’s going to have a problem with her,” Zoe said evenly and gently moved Quinn out of her way so she could resume her position on her own chaise. “Can you hand me my hat, Anna?”

  “No problem,” Anna said sweetly and smiled at Quinn as she picked up the hat and handed it over to Zoe.

  Quinn rolled his eyes and looked around for a place to sit. “At least roll back over. Or put on more sunscreen or…something!”

  “I just got comfortable, Quinn. Now either be quiet, or go away. Go unpack or watch TV or just…stop being annoying.”

  “I’m annoying?” he asked sarcastically. “I ask for one simple request and I’m the one being annoying.” He huffed. “When does your brother get here? I bet he’ll back me up on this.”

  Anna lifted her sunglasses and glared at him. “I wore this exact bathing suit to the beach with Bobby last week. No issues. So why don’t you unclench and…again…go away.” Putting her sunglasses back in place, she wiggled a little—unnecessarily—and got comfortable. Was that a groan she heard coming from Quinn? She smiled to herself.

  “You know, Anna,” Zoe began, “it really has been a while since you’ve put on some sunscreen. You’re probably due.” Then she picked up her phone and began to furiously type something.

  Anna looked at her quizzically.

  Zoe nodded while Quinn wasn’t looking and then nudged her head in his direction with a thumbs-up. “Yeah. I definitely think it’s time. Especially on your back. Your shoulders are getting a little red.” More typing.

  Anna still wasn’t sure what Zoe was up to. “Oh…um. Okay. Can you help me?”

  “Sure, let me just grab…” And then her phone rang. “I really need to get this. Quinn? Can you help Anna? I need to take this inside. Wedding stuff.” And then she was on her feet and walking away.

  If Anna wasn’t mistaken, Quinn was actually blushing. “You don’t have to help me,” she said quickly.

  “No, no,” he grumbled. “It was my suggestion, so…” He came and stood beside her. “I don’t know…roll over or something.”

  She rolled her eyes and did as he requested. Why was he being such a jerk? And why did it only seem to make him more appealing? Clearly she needed to get her head examined. Or get a boyfriend. Or just get some relief from the sexual frustration that was dominating her life right now.

  She’d always been in love with Quinn. Ever since they were kids. She just…knew. He was the one for her. Her soul mate. The only problem was Quinn didn’t feel the same way. She was his pal. His buddy. There’d never once been anything romantic between them, and if he even suspected how she felt, he’d never let on.

  With a sigh, she relaxed back on her belly with her arms folded under her head. And now, even if he did suddenly notice she was a woman, it still didn’t make a difference. He was still surly and difficult and not impressed. Rather than making him act a little more charming—like he always was with other girls—her lying there in next to nothing was making him angry, and he tried to clover her up.

  Quite the ego boost. Not.

  And then his hands were on her and…oh. Slowly, those big, work-roughened hands started at her ankles and began a journey upward. Oh my…

  She almost wanted to turn and watch him work. With his sandy-blond hair, blue eyes, and rough hands, he was her every dream. All the Shaughnessys had dark h
air except for Quinn. It used to bother him, and by the way he normally wore some sort of hat or beanie, Anna could tell it still did. But he wasn’t wearing one now, and with all the sensations he was creating in her, she wanted to roll over and rake her hands through his hair and pull him down toward her.

  It was never going to happen, but the imagery kept her smiling while he touched her.

  Quinn was completely silent and Anna seemed unable to breathe. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe…she could only feel. And, boy oh boy, was Quinn making her feel. His hands skimmed the backs of her knees, and when they hit her thighs and one finger came close to her bottom, she had to stifle a moan of pleasure.

  His hands stopped for a moment as if he realized what he was doing. Anna almost lifted her head to look at him but thought better of it. And then his hands were on her again—this time on the small of her back. And then upward—circling, rubbing, massaging. She wanted to purr.

  When they hit her shoulders, his motions seemed to slow as he went into what could only be described as a deep tissue massage. All of the tension from a few minutes ago completely faded away as his hands—those magnificent hands—worked on her. On any given day, Anna was all for a good massage, but this was beyond good. It was almost a religious experience. And this time she couldn’t stop herself from purring.

  His hands instantly were gone.

  She didn’t bother to look up. Didn’t bother to question it. No good would come of turning around and seeing the look of horror on his face at her reacting the way she just had to him.

  Idiot.

  Beside her, Quinn cleared his throat and stood, the bottle of sunscreen hitting the ground. “Um…yeah, so…that should do it,” he croaked. “You should be good for now. I’m going to go and find Zoe and get settled in. I’ll see you later.”

  Again, Anna didn’t bother to respond. The man was clearly running away because she had been foolish enough to let her guard down for a minute. She waited until she heard the sliding doors to the house open and then close before she allowed herself to lift her head and look around.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zoe stepping back outside shaking her head. When she got closer, she said, “What did you do to him?”

  “Me? Nothing! I just laid here and let him put sunscreen on me. Why?”

  Zoe laughed as she sat back down. “He ran in the house as if he were on fire and demanded to know which room was his. I offered to show him, but he was already halfway up the stairs yelling for me to just tell him which one!”

  “So weird.”

  “Tell me about it.” Zoe relaxed back in her spot. “So…he didn’t say anything to you? Not even while he had his hands all over you?”

  Anna glared at her. “Yeah, thanks for that. The only time Quinn ever touches me is to give me a high-five or to punch me in the arm when I beat him at something.”

  “Ah…so this was the first time he, like…really touched you.”

  “What are you doing, Zoe?” Anna asked wearily. “Why are you stirring up trouble?”

  “Because it’s so obvious you’re into him.”

  “Well, duh! It’s no surprise. We’ve talked about this. A lot.”

  “Yeah, we have, but you never do anything about it. I was merely…prodding things along.”

  “Yeah, well, keep your prodding to yourself. In case you didn’t notice, your little attempt failed. Big time. Now I know what it feels like to have his hands all over me, and while I’m sitting here in a puddle of my own drool, he’s running and hiding in his room to escape. He couldn’t get away fast enough.”

  “Oh, I don’t think I’d count this as a fail, my friend,” Zoe said sweetly. “I think you made him nervous. I think we prodded him just enough for the blinders to finally come off.”

  “What are you talking about? He was horrified. He was massaging my shoulders and I…” Anna paused and cringed. “I moaned.”

  “Like a sex noise?”

  Anna shot her a look. “Yes, like a sex noise. Like a big, loud ‘I’m on the verge of an orgasm’ sex noise. There. Are you happy?”

  Zoe threw he head back and laughed. “Oh my gosh! That’s awesome!”

  This time Anna twisted and sat up. “How is it awesome? He’s going to avoid me like the plague from now on! It’s bad enough he only sees me as a friend and now I’ll lose that! Dammit, Zoe.”

  “Okay, hold on. You’re freaking out over nothing. I’m telling you, that man just got the shock of his life. When he spotted you over here, he didn’t realize it was you, and he was practically salivating.”

  “Yeah, and it all stopped as soon as he got a look at my face and saw it was me.”

  “Anna—”

  “Forget it,” she said and got to her feet. “I can’t talk about this anymore. I’m going for a quick dip and then I’m going inside. Maybe I need to hide out in my room for a while.” And then she took the few steps to the side of the pool and swiftly dived in.

  * * *

  Quinn slammed the door behind him, threw his suitcase on the bed, and then cursed a blue streak. Raking his hands through his hair, he paced the room from one side to the other, unable to see anything except Anna in her tiny bikini. Where did she get off having a body like that?

  He cursed again.

  Why had he never noticed that about her? He saw her almost every day. Okay, maybe not every day, but he’d seen her enough over the course of his life that he should have noticed she had…curves. Lots of them. Stopping, he racked his brain for what he normally saw when he looked at her.

  Short blond hair. Brown eyes.

  Jeans. T-shirts.

  No curves.

  “Man, was I way off base there,” he muttered. Even now, he could close his eyes and see them, feel them.

  Finally taking a moment to look at the room, he groaned. Twin beds, dresser, nightstands, closet. Small. The walls were closing in on him already. At least the beds were long twins. There was no way he and his father would be able to fit in anything smaller and even that was going to be pushing it.

  Eyeing his suitcase, he contemplated unpacking but couldn’t summon the will to do it. Instead he flopped down on the mattress and closed his eyes.

  Big mistake because there she was again. Except now he was horrified to find his hands twitched with the need to touch her again. Her legs had been firm and soft at the same time. He knew Anna had always been athletic—hell, she competed with him in almost every activity and most of the time could kick his ass.

  But the things he normally loved on a woman—the small of her back, her grab-able ass—now he noticed on Anna, and it felt…different. Not wrong, exactly, but definitely different. Thank God Zoe was going to have her single friends here this weekend. Quinn had a feeling he was going to need a distraction or he’d end up pouncing on Anna, and he couldn’t allow himself to do that. They were friends—best friends—and there was no way he was going to ruin that over a great ass.

  Or long, tanned legs.

  Or… He groaned. The list was now endless. How the hell was he supposed to survive the weekend like this? They were going to be together the entire time and Quinn had no doubt Anna was going to be in his face if he ignored her. No doubt she’d call him out on being a jackass and tell him to grow up. And in any other situation, he’d gladly take it and admit she was right. But now? He had no idea how he was going to look her in the eye without letting his eyes wander and wondering what she was wearing underneath her jeans and T-shirts.

  Damn wedding.

  Why couldn’t he be at work right now? If he were working on a classic car, everything would be right with his world. When he was working on a project, it held his attention from start to finish—no distractions. Sure, he went out and socialized. Hell, he even dated. He was a guy, after all. But it was all superficial—a quick stop at the pub, a quick bite to eat, and some hot s
ex. But for the next three days, there was nothing but family and…Anna.

  He seriously hoped Zoe’s friends were hot. It would be a welcome distraction. It would quite possibly be the only thing that would save him from any awkward interactions with Anna. Then at night, he’d have to deal with the other awkward situation—sharing a room with his dad.

  A shudder wracked through his body. He knew it was only for three nights, but the only person Quinn wanted to share a room with was Anna. NO! Wait… Oh hell. A woman. He only wanted to share a room with a woman! Damn Anna and her bikini. Now he was going to have to be even more careful for the rest of the weekend, or it wouldn’t only be Anna getting in his face about his behavior. Soon his brothers would be in on it and eventually…Bobby.

  Crap. It was no secret there was no love lost between Quinn and Bobby. He wasn’t even sure when it started. They were all friends when they were kids, but somewhere along the way—probably around high school or maybe even as early as middle school—Bobby had taken a disliking to Quinn, and that, in turn, had made Quinn dislike Bobby. They’d had more than their share of brawls, but whenever Quinn would come out and say, “What is your problem?” Bobby would just throw his hands up in disgust and walk away.

  And it got worse when Bobby became a cop. Not to say he was harassing Quinn, but Quinn knew he got more tickets than the average citizen and it was usually over nothing. You’d think Quinn would just pack it in and set up his business’s home base someplace else. But no. Not only did he set up one of his shops in his hometown, but he’d seriously expanded and made it his crowning location.

  Idiot.

  Okay, so now he was up to three awkward situations on tap for the weekend. Maybe he should just stay in his room and fake being sick or something. Luckily there weren’t any medical professionals in the bunch. Riley wouldn’t come near him for fear of getting sick and missing out on being with the public. Owen was a bit of a germophobe and would definitely stay away. Darcy would poke her head in just to be nosy, while Hugh wouldn’t want to risk getting Aubrey sick. And Aidan…well, it was his wedding, there was no way he’d risk getting sick for his wedding day.