by Katee Robert
She put her laptop into her bag and faced him. “If I think about doing this—if—I require clear terms.”
“Tit for tat.” His face gave nothing away. “We’ll share a room—both at the convention hotel and at the wedding itself. Don’t look at me like that. You know damn well DeathCon’s hotel has likely been sold out for months, and I’m not going to do you a damn bit of good if I’m staying somewhere else. At the wedding, we’ll share because my family knows me too well to believe I’d wait for marriage to have sex.” Aubry snorted, but he kept going. “You have to sell this. You can snarl and do that adorable snarky comment thing you do, but you can’t look at me like I’m dog shit on the bottom of your shoe.”
He thought she was adorable. She hated the faint heat she could feel in her cheeks at that realization. “I think you’re asking the impossible.”
“Do you? I think you’re just a bit disappointed that you don’t get to experience all I have to offer.” He leaned forward, giving her another whiff of that tantalizing cologne. “I think the lady doth protest too much when it comes to wanting me.”
Aubry burst out laughing. “Oh my God, does that line actually work with women?” She tried to keep her tone light, but she knew she was blushing. Worse, she knew Quinn could see it.
Sure enough, his blue eyes tracked over her cheeks, and his grin made her stomach do a slow turn. “I think it just did.” Before she could screech at him, he continued. “But it’s not meant to this time. This arrangement is purely business.”
As much as she wanted to tell him to take a hike, Aubry would never forgive herself if she passed up this chance. She straightened, took a deep breath, and held out her hand. “Okay, I’ll see what I can do. Deal?”
“Deal.” He ignored her hand and took a step closer, towering over her even though she was wearing thick-soled boots. “And, sweet cheeks, if you’re going to pretend to be my girlfriend, you should know damn well that we seal this with a kiss.”
“What are you, a demon from Supernatural? That’s not how people seal bargains.”
“It is when it’s like ours.”
Before she could do more than sputter, he hooked the back of her neck and kissed her.
Aubry hadn’t been kissed in a truly embarrassing amount of time, which was why she froze and didn’t immediately shove his larger-than-life ass away from her. Or that was what she told herself as her hands came to rest on his chest—his very nicely muscled chest. His hand was hot on her neck, his grip tight enough that she was fully aware of who was in control of this situation, but his mouth was light on hers.
She still hadn’t figured out if she wanted to bite him or kiss him back when he lifted his head and said, “I knew you weren’t all piss and vinegar.”
The almost surprised expression on his face slammed her back into reality. She’d just stood there like a bump on a log and let Quinn kiss her. What the fuck was wrong with her? She shoved him.
Or she tried.
When she pushed on him, he didn’t move, but she hopped back a full foot. “You are insufferable!”
“You say the sweetest things.” He turned and started for the door. “Tell Adam and Jules I’ll see them later.”
She watched him go, wondering if she’d just made a horrible mistake. Oh, who was she kidding? She knew she had. Going to DeathCon with Quinn was a no-brainer. She would be so busy fighting not to have a panic attack and excited about Deathmatch she’d be able to ignore his towering presence. At least in theory.
But the other half of the bargain? How was she supposed to pretend they were in a relationship when she could barely stand to be in the same room with him? And that was ignoring the fact that she didn’t know what the hell an actual relationship looked like. She certainly hadn’t seen one between her mother and the men she paraded through their doublewide when she was growing up. Or from the boys who’d tried to talk their way into her pants, starting around the time she hit puberty.
Hell, the only healthy relationship she’d ever held down was with Jules, and that hardly counted because she liked Jules just fine but had no desire to roll around naked with her.
Not that she had a desire to roll around naked with Quinn. Because she definitely did not. Besides, this wasn’t about whether she theoretically did or did not find the idea of sex with Quinn attractive. This was about pretending she did. His parents or whoever he was trying to fool wouldn’t be convinced if she just stood next to him. She’d have to, like, touch him. Or hold hands. Or kiss. Or…
What do people in relationships even do—besides bang a lot?
Aubry dropped into her chair and laid her head on her folded arms. She couldn’t even model her behavior after Jules and Adam because her friend was such a foreign creature in so many ways. She was so sunny. Aubry couldn’t fake that. She didn’t want to try.
She was just…herself. Cranky and kind of twisted and maybe old beyond her years.
It wasn’t too late to back out. All she had to do was give up DeathCon and there was nothing holding her to that damn wedding. Quinn might not be the most awful person in existence, but she wasn’t inclined to do him this type of favor out of the goodness of her heart. She wasn’t sure she had a goodness of her heart.
But she didn’t want to give up DeathCon.
Now that there was a real chance she could play that demo, she didn’t want to give it up.
Even if it meant playing girlfriend to Quinn at some hoity-toity wedding. Aubry lifted her head. How hard could it really be? There would probably be alcohol there, so that was something. An open bar was too much to ask for, but if she was supposed to be Quinn’s girlfriend, there was no reason he couldn’t foot her tab. It was only fair.
She sat up, feeling significantly better about the whole thing.
“This is doable. It’s only a few days. Really, what’s the worst that could happen?”
There were so many ways to answer that question she didn’t even want to start.
Chapter Three
“What do you mean, you don’t fly?” Five days out from their trip, and she was just now springing this on him? Quinn could barely credit the words coming out of the crazy woman’s mouth.
Aubry crossed her arms over her chest and somehow managed to glare down her nose at him, despite the fact that she barely came up to his shoulder. “Do you know how horrible death would be in a plane crash?”
“Sorry, no. I don’t spend much time thinking about how different ways to die would feel.” He’d noticed she seemed to see serial killers under every rock, but he hadn’t actually thought she’d have a problem with one of the most common modes of transportation. Silly him. He put his phone down, already regretting having shown up at her place to negotiate this.
But he’d thought it’d be a simple cut and dried thing—he’d book the flights and she’d get the rental car from San Diego to Napa Valley. He was fine with footing the larger bill… Or he had been until she threw this totally unnecessary wrench into his perfect plans. He glared. “You do realize that more people die in car crashes every year than in planes going down—as in, exponentially more.”
“I’m aware.”
Of course she was. It seemed like the type of fucked up little fact she’d keep tucked into her back pocket. “Then what’s the problem?”
“Don’t you start with logic and that nonsense.” Aubry paced around the tiny kitchen counter. Hell, everything in the apartment she used to share with Jules was tiny. The few times he’d been here, he’d felt just as uncomfortable as he did now, as if one wrong step would send him crashing through some breakable item. It made him feel big and clumsy, and he hated it.
“You would seriously rather spend several days in closed quarters with me than risk a tiny chance that our plane might fall out of the sky in a ball of fire?”
She went paler, if that were even possible. “That’s not funny.”
“No, what’s funny is that your fear has no fucking basis in reality and it’s going to cost us days of travel for no reason. E
xcept, no, it’s not funny. At all.”
“I knew this was a mistake.” She turned and plopped down onto her well-worn spot on the couch. It was practically a little nest, with a blanket curled around her body and a set of Xbox controllers in front of her on the coffee table. Hell, even her cell phone was already sitting on the cushion next to her.
She spends a shitload of time here, all playing that damn game.
She’ll be crushed if she isn’t able to play that stupid demo.
He looked away, uncomfortable with the sudden desire he had to make sure she got her chance. He appreciated her passion, even if he didn’t always understand it. She wasn’t the type of girl he usually hung out with. She obviously didn’t like the outdoors or getting any kind of dirty, and he’d bet his left nut she’d never been on the back of a horse.
But she loved that damn game. If it was Jenny, he’d want someone to step in and help her out so she could do something she loved without her anxiety getting in the way.
The only reason you’re doing this is because she reminds you of your sister, whom she’s nothing like at all…Yeah. Sure.
He forced himself to unclench his hands and release as much tension as possible. “If we do this, we do it on my terms.”
“I’m not trying to negotiate with you here. I’m flat out telling you that I won’t fly.”
It was really difficult to have any kind of empathy for the woman when she was willing to bite any hand he offered her off at the wrist. “If we’re driving, we need to leave on Monday instead of Wednesday.”
“What? Why the hell do we need two days to drive to California? It’s only fifteen hours.”
Only fifteen hours. She was killing him. “I’m aware, sweet cheeks.” He enjoyed the way her face turned red and her eyes blazed when he used that particular nickname. “But after that amount of driving, you’re going to need some extra time to settle in.”
“The hotel is only for Wednesday and Thursday.”
She was just determined to make the whole thing more difficult than it had to be. “Yeah, I got that part, too. We’ll just get a hotel for one more night in town.” She looked so outraged he couldn’t help another little dig. “It’ll give you that much more time to perfect pretending you worship the ground I walk on.”
Aubry snorted. “Let’s not get carried away. I said I’d try to pretend I can stand you. And besides, I wouldn’t worship the ground anyone walked on, let alone a boyfriend.”
Her phrasing was so strange he started to ask her if she’d ever had a boyfriend to try it out on, but then he stopped. He might enjoy poking at her and watching her blood pressure rise, but if he was going to be cooped up in the car with her for days on end, pissing her off before they even got started would be a lesson in insanity. He might not be the smartest man in existence, but even he had some sense of self-preservation.
Besides, no way she’d never had a boyfriend, prickly or not. Most of Aubry could be termed sexy. Her curves made his mouth water when he was able to forget the attitude they were attached to. There had to be some guys out there who liked contrary women. He just wasn’t one of them. Quinn preferred his women to be the agreeable sort—agreeable and sexy as hell.
But then, maybe she was more agreeable than he thought. He was honestly kind of surprised she’d let him get away with that kiss the other day. Though it had been sexy as fuck to have her lips go soft against his. And the way her fingers had kneaded his chest had made him think more kitten than the tigress he was used to.
He shook his head. What the fuck was he even thinking? There was no woman more off-limits than Aubry, especially now that she’d agreed to act as his date for the wedding. He couldn’t afford to let something like sex muddle the waters between them. They didn’t like each other, and he was more than fine with that.
The longer he stood here, the more likely he was to say something they’d both regret, so he pushed off the wall and headed for the door. “Whatever. Just be ready bright and early Monday morning.”
“I don’t do bright and early.”
He opened the door and glanced over his shoulder. “You will on Monday. Be ready or I’ll climb into bed with you, and we both know how that would end.”
Her screech of fury was music to his ears, and he broke out into a little whistled tune as he jogged down the stairs and out the door.
…
Aubry hauled her suitcase down the stairs, cursing Quinn with every insult she knew under her breath. It was seven in the goddamn morning and she hadn’t had her coffee yet.
As if her thinking it had summoned said coffee, Jules appeared in the doorway that led to the café, a travel mug in her hands. “It’ll be okay.”
“I’m supposed to be the one saying that to you. You’re going to scatter your mother-in-law’s ashes.” Aubry had been so wrapped up in her fury at Quinn she hadn’t been focused enough on what Jules was going through. Yes, Jules had Adam, but that didn’t mean she and Aubry weren’t friends anymore. She sighed. “I’ve been a bad best friend.”
“You’ve been fine.” Jules passed over the coffee and squeezed her arm. “And both Adam and I will be fine, too.” She looked chagrined. “Honestly, I feel like I should be apologizing for pushing you into this trip with Quinn. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I’m wondering if it isn’t going to be a horrible mistake.”
“Oh, I can save you from wondering that—it’s already a horrible mistake.” The stricken look on her friend’s face instantly made her feel like an ass. “No, it’s fine. I’m joking.” Mostly.
It wasn’t being around him for the next few days she was worried about. It was that, when he’d threatened to climb into bed with her, she’d actually caught herself considering it for half a second. That was utterly unforgivable. She didn’t hook up. For fuck’s sake, she didn’t even date. To break both those rules with a man she could barely stand?
No. Absolutely not. Aubry might be kind of crazy, and she might be anti-social enough to worry her therapist, but she wasn’t that nuts. Even contemplating that level of crazy was asking for the kind of trouble she wasn’t sure she could deal with.
It didn’t stop her from wondering what it would be like if he really kissed her.
“What’s got that look on your face?”
Aubry jumped, trying to stomp down on the guilt weeding its way outward from her stomach. She had nothing to feel guilty for. “Nothing.”
“Aubry—”
The back door opened and Quinn stepped through, filling the door frame. He took them both in. “Guess I’m not crawling into bed with you, sweet cheeks. You missed the time of your life, and you don’t even know it.”
There went her blush again, flaming across her cheeks and making her want to snarl. The way Jules’s mouth dropped open did nothing to help Aubry’s mood. She grabbed her suitcase handle and started for the door. “Call me when you get settled in your hotel,” Aubry said.
“I, uh, okay.”
And then she was through the door and out into the sticky June heat. If there was one thing she missed about Ohio, it was the summers that were just shy of blistering. The milder winters down in Texas almost made up for the melting summers, but it was hard to remember that when she’d been out of air conditioning for a grand total of five seconds and was already starting to sweat.
She caught sight of the truck idling at the curb and stopped short. “Are you on crack?”
The truck looked like it had been alive longer than she had, and it wasn’t one of those pristine rebuilt oldie trucks, either. This thing had been lived in since it came off the production line or however the hell trucks were made.
“Not last time I checked.” Quinn scooped up her overnight suitcase and tossed it into the bed of the truck. He eyed the bag in her hands, which only made her clutch it to her chest. No way in hell was she letting him toss her computer around like he just had her clothes.
Satisfied her equipment was safe, she focused on the problem at hand—mainly, the
sad excuse for transportation in front of her. “That is not going to get us to San Diego. I’m not even sure that will get us past the town limits.”
“Don’t listen to her, Betsy.” He patted the hood.
As if I needed another sign that this is a horrible mistake I’m going to regret.
She was already starting to regret it. “Why can’t we just rent a car?” At least then there’d be some sort of contingency in place and the vehicle would be somewhat reliable.
“No.”
She blinked. “What do you mean, no?”
“I’m speaking English, sweet cheeks.” He waltzed around and opened the passenger door. “Now get that hot little ass up in here and let’s get this show on the road.”
Knowing she’d created this situation of her own free will only made it more annoying. She set her computer case onto the bench seat and climbed up after it, having to grab the “oh shit” handle to haul herself into the truck. Quinn didn’t give her a chance to get settled before he slammed the door behind her and strode around to climb up into the driver’s seat.
It was only when they pulled away from the curb that his words penetrated. She turned to glare at him. “What is your obsession with my ass?”
“Have you seen it?”
Is he joking? She glared harder. “I don’t like you.”
“Well, hell, I don’t like you, either. But I’m not blind, and I happen to be an ass man.” He sent her one of his grins that she hated so much and slipped a pair of Aviators on. “And yours, sweet cheeks, is perfection.”
Her stomach gave a funny lurch, and warmth that had nothing to do with the disgusting heat outside curled through her. It was so dumb that a compliment from this man was enough to make her feel a little squishy, but apparently she was more starved for attention than she ever could have guessed. “Just don’t be getting any ideas.”
“I have all the ideas in the world. Do you want me to describe them to you?”
“You wouldn’t.” He totally would. Before he could follow through on his—hopefully empty—threat, she rushed on. “I don’t know if that kiss curdled your brain or what, but I have no interest in flirting with you, let alone going further. I’d rather seduce a snake.”