Fool Me Once

by Katee Robert

  A feeling twisted in her chest, making it hard to breathe. She blinked. Was that…homesickness?

  “Obviously you don’t get it.” Quinn hesitated. “Damn. Okay. Look, those people are well-dressed monsters. They deliver verbal barbs like it’s an Olympic sport. I know you have thick skin and all, but the thought of one of them striking home on you makes me want to bundle you up and take you back to Devil’s Falls before they get the chance.”

  Aubry blinked. Out of all the possibilities she’d considered, the fact that he thought he was protecting her had never entered into it. She was a warrior goddess—at least online. She didn’t need protecting. But the notion still warmed her cold little heart. “Quinn, I wouldn’t say I could handle it if I couldn’t.” She wasn’t afraid of not being able to handle it, exactly. But these people were so far from her people, it was almost laughable.

  “I’m sure you think you can, but you haven’t met my family.”

  “Trust me.” She didn’t like thinking about where she came from—went out of her way not to think about it most days—but the curiosity on his face was indication that he actually wanted to know. Plus, the best way to reassure him was to show him that she’d been raised in a house not that different from his own.

  It was a lie. Their little trailer couldn’t be further from the rich folks he kept talking about, but mean was mean was mean. “My mom had very particular ideas about what my role in life was—mainly to stay the hell out of her way and not hurt on her buzz or scare off her man of the week. No, don’t look at me like that. It wasn’t bad growing up with her for the most part—mostly because I found Deathmatch in my formative years—but when she was liquored up, she was downright vicious. She could single out a person’s weakness inside of ten seconds and she never hesitated to go straight for the heart.”

  It felt weird to talk about it, but not in a bad way. She trailed off, waiting for Quinn to jump in with… Hell, she didn’t know—some sort of reaction—but he just motioned for her to continue.

  “I was supposed to marry a nice boy with a wad of cash and take care of her the rest of her life, but I got all these ‘funny ideas’ about feminism and getting my own job, and so when she found out I applied to colleges out of state, she lost her shit. We had…words…and I left in a hurry afterwards.” Words where her mom told her that all the college in the world wouldn’t change the fact that she was, at heart, a mean trailer trash little bitch.

  Aubry shook her head. “Long story even longer, we don’t talk much anymore—and by much, I mean at all.”

  He turned those blue eyes on her, the look of anger searing away the little pain that talking about it had brought up. “She doesn’t deserve you.”

  “In that, we agree.” She shrugged. “The point is if my own mother can’t knock me down for good, your family sure as hell can’t.”

  That wasn’t completely true, though. A small, disgustingly weak part of her wanted their approval.

  It doesn’t matter what I want. I won’t get it. Best to know that going in.

  “If at any time you change your mind, say the word and we’re out of there.”

  When had anyone ever made her an offer like that? To put her first, completely and without caveats?

  Never.

  Jules would happily walk through fire for her—and she’d return the favor without a second thought—but that was different. Jules was the sister she’d never known she wanted. Quinn was…something else altogether. She took a deep breath, trying to ignore the steady warmth pulsing through her at his words. “That won’t be necessary.”

  “All the same.” He reached over and squeezed her thigh, the move comfortable and reassuring and—

  I like Quinn Baldwyn.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Quinn’s stomach was in knots as he pulled up to the hotel in Napa Valley. He’d seen his family less than a month ago, but this felt different. Important. The fact that Aubry had revealed her hellish upbringing only made it more so. He knew she was trying to reassure him, but it only made him that much more determined to spare her from this whole fiasco.

  He parked, fighting down the urge to ask Aubry for the third time if she was sure she wanted to do this. She wouldn’t thank him for the question, and it would probably just piss her off. To distract himself he reached over and pulled her across the seat and into his lap. “Hey.”

  “Hey.” She settled there, straddling him, her amber eyes seeing too much. “You wouldn’t be stalling, would you?”

  Definitely. He toyed with the edges of her shorts, running his hands up her sides to inch her closer. “Are you complaining?”

  She rocked against him, her grin doing funny things to his stomach. “It’s been hours since I had you last. I need my Quinn fix.”

  “Good to know we’re on the same page.” He palmed her ass, bringing her closer so she lined up where he wanted her. Her sigh was a reward in and of itself, but he wanted more. He wanted to lose himself in her body until this whole damn wedding passed and nothing mattered but the next looming orgasm. Quinn leaned in to kiss her—

  And froze when someone rapped on the window to his truck.

  He looked over and cursed under his breath. “My sister.”

  “Oh good. This is exactly the kind of first impression I wanted to make—necking with the bride’s brother in his almost-broken-down pickup.” He half expected her to scramble off him, but she just seemed to get more comfortable, offering Jenny a finger wave.

  Quinn bit back a grin at the scandalized look on his little sister’s face and rolled down the window. “Hey, Jenny.”

  “You’re late.” She looked over her shoulder as if expecting someone to materialize—probably their mother. “The rehearsal dinner is in an hour and you haven’t even checked in yet.” She barely spared Aubry a glance, but, out of all his family, he could guarantee that it wasn’t rudeness so much as panic. Her eyes were too wide and her breath was coming too fast and too shallow.

  Shit.

  “Hold on, peaches.” He slid Aubry off him and opened the door enough to slide out of the truck. “Breathe, Jenny. I’m here now and I’m not going to hold up your special day.”

  Her laugh was high and hysterical. “It’s not my day and you know it. It’s Mother’s.”

  Hell, he did know it. Their mother had always looked at Jenny like her second chance at youth, driving her to participate in everything from cheerleading to beauty pageants—things his sister never would have chosen for herself.

  “Sit down.” He guided her to the seat of his truck and adjusted her so that her head was between her knees. It wasn’t a totally stable position, but it was the only one he’d found that helped her when she started to lose it. “Breath, honey. That’s right, just like we talked about, nice and slow.”

  It took a few minutes, but she finally stopped shaking and raised her head. “I’m okay.”

  “Good.” He glanced over her shoulder at Aubry but didn’t want to let Jenny start thinking too much again and send herself into a secondary panic attack. He kept his voice low and soothing. “Just remember that you’re marrying Brad, and that’s what you want. The rest is just fluff.”

  Jenny shook her head. “It’s not fluff. It’s one of the biggest social events of the season.”

  When she said shit like that, she sounded exactly like Mother. Not that he’d ever tell her, because it would crush her. He sighed. “What do you need from me?”

  The question calmed the remaining turmoil in her blue eyes so similar to his own. “Check in. Get ready. Be fifteen minutes early.”

  He didn’t particularly want to do any of that, but her request reminded him of the main reason he was here in the first place—to support his little sister. She might not think the rest of it was fluff, but he knew better. He’d just forgotten it for a little while. “Will do.”

  “Okay.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, good. Who’s your friend?”

  He hadn’t planned to introduce her to any of his family off
the cuff, but it might actually be a blessing in disguise that Jenny had shown up. His little sister dealt with surprises about as well as Aubry did. “This is my date, Aubry.” He stepped back, allowing Jenny the freedom to hop down and turn to face Aubry.

  She must have taken her cue from him, because she offered her version of a bright smile and offered her hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”

  Jenny took Aubry’s hand, doing her best not to ogle the redhead. “It’s nice to meet you. Quinn hasn’t told us a single thing about you.” She elbowed him. “You’ll have to correct that as soon as we get a few minutes.”

  “Of course.”

  Jenny bounced up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Fifteen minutes early. Don’t forget.”

  “I won’t.”

  “See you soon—see you both soon.” Then she was gone, probably rushing off to check something else off her to-do list.

  He opened the door for Aubry. “She means well.”

  “So I gathered. That’s why my claws weren’t out.” She flexed her fingers at him like a cat about to strike. “She’s kind of…intense.”

  “She likes to make people happy.” He grabbed their suitcases out of the bed of the truck. “I think she’s just forgetting that this wedding is supposed to be about her happiness.”

  Aubry shouldered her computer bag. “From what you’ve told me about your family, I don’t think that’s the case at all.”

  She was right. He knew she was right. That didn’t mean it sat any better with him. There wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it, though, so he headed for the hotel, hoping like hell he wouldn’t see any more of his family before he had a chance to shower and get Aubry as prepped for it as she could be.

  Liar. The only one who needs prepping is you.

  That thought wasn’t comforting in the least.

  Aubry hesitated. “That’s where you learned how to handle the anxiety attacks.”

  “Jenny has had them on and off since high school. I wouldn’t have offered to take you to that convention if I didn’t have the knowledge to deal with it.”

  She smiled. “I know that now, it was just a little weird to see it from the outside. Not bad weird, just weird weird.”

  “Come on.” He led the way into the hotel and got them checked in as quickly as humanly possible. Their room was on the third floor in a corner, so there were tons of windows. The whole thing was decorated in tasteful wealth, something he knew from having grown up with it. There was no worse insult than “new money” for all that it’s exactly what the Baldwyns were. But since his mother liked to sneer delicately at blatantly extravagant expenses, it made sense that she’d picked this venue—because he had no doubt that it wasn’t Jenny’s choice. His little sister was big on comfort and good food, and this place met exactly one of those conditions, he’d bet.

  “Nice.” Aubry set her stuff down on the desk and wandered around. “Definitely a step down from the convention hotel.”

  “Hey now, I have a few ideas on how we can make the best of it.”

  “I just bet you do.” She stretched her back, drawing his gaze to the way her breasts pressed against her shirt.

  His cock went rock hard, right on cue. “Come here.”

  “Nope. I know what that look on your face means, and we only have a half hour before we have to be down there. I need a shower.”

  He started toward her. “Then I’ll join you.”

  “Nope again. Back to the part where I know what that look on your face means, and I know that if you join me, we’re going to be late, so don’t try any lines about conserving water.” She backed into the bathroom.

  “Peaches, California is in a drought. It’s practically our civic duty to conserve water.”

  “For the third time, nope. Do something useful and hang up our nice clothes.” She slammed the door in his face.

  Quinn laughed. She was right, and a perverse part of him really liked that she had no problem telling him no, even though her nipples were peaked beneath her thin shirt and she kept licking her lips like she couldn’t wait to get another taste of him.

  Shaking his head, he went about hanging up their nice clothes. The closet already contained his tux for the wedding—no doubt his mother’s doing—but there was still the rehearsal tonight and brunch in the morning. Once his stuff was finished, he turned to Aubry’s suitcase.

  There was something really strange about unpacking for her—strangely intimate. Seeing the clothes on her—and off her—felt different than doing this mundane little chore. He cursed himself mentally for letting something so small get under his skin.

  His breath left him in a rush when he lifted out a black dress that he highly suspected would hug Aubry’s every curve. He had told her to make a statement, hadn’t he? He carefully hung it up, his hands lingering on the fabric. It was so damn soft and there wasn’t a bit of give—it’d fit her like a glove. He swallowed hard, going back to the suitcase for the other dress. This one was a mix of deep purple, blue, and red the same color as her hair. It was fucking magnificent.

  That’s it. I really have lost my mind.

  He turned around as the door opened, the fantasy of Aubry in the dresses nothing compared to the sight of her standing in front of him in a towel. He took a step toward her before he caught himself. Throwing her on the bed and ravishing her sounded like the best plan in the world, but it would definitely make them late and he couldn’t do that to Jenny. So he got himself under tight control. “I’m going to shower.”

  “Good plan.” She watched him strip his shirt off, the look on her face almost enough to make him change his mind. Quinn stalked into the bathroom before he could. A cold shower was in order, because it was going to be a long fucking night.

  …

  Things started to go sideways the second they walked into the chapel. A couple in their fifties approached, and Aubry didn’t need for Quinn to tense beside her to know that these were his parents. The man was an older version of Quinn but shaped more like a barrel than the perfectly honed muscles she was used to. The woman didn’t have a dark hair out of place, and she wore a dress styled similarly to Jenny’s. If someone looked up “crazy stupid rich” in the dictionary, Aubry was pretty sure there would be a picture of these two.

  She shifted, feeling out of place in the dress she’d previously been really damn proud of. It was like a twilight personified, and she’d done up her hair to add to the affect. There was no hiding her tattoos or her bright hair but, damn it, she wasn’t ashamed of the way she looked. She was good enough to be Quinn’s date, and that was all that mattered.

  Quinn’s dad roared out a laugh. “Look what the cat dragged in.”

  “Dad. Mom.”

  There was no hugging, but she hadn’t really expected it. What she had expected was the way his mom’s eyes went wide behind her tasteful makeup. “And you brought a friend.”

  “More than a friend.” His arm came around her waist, pulling her against him. She would have snapped at the move, but the underlying tension in his muscles stopped her. Maybe he needed the contact as much as she’d needed his steady voice in the middle of her anxiety attack. Aubry ran her hand up and down his back, offering her silent support.

  When Quinn spoke again, he sounded closer to normal. “Mom, Dad, this is my girlfriend, Aubry. Aubry, meet my parents, Richard and Peggy.”

  Even though she knew it was fake her heart tripped over itself in her chest at him calling her his girlfriend. To cover up her response, she smiled at them. Well, she bared her teeth at them. “Pleasure to meet you.”

  Peggy looked like she might actually pass out. “Can I speak to you for a minute—alone?”

  “Nope.” Quinn’s arm tightened around her. “Anything you can say to me, you can say in front of Aubry.”

  Oh, for fuck’s sake. Surely his parents would clue in to the fact that it wasn’t real. But Peggy just marched away, and Richard laughed again and clapped his son on the shoulder.

  “Sowing your
wild oats. Can’t blame you. I mean, look at her.”

  Aubry bristled. Quinn must have known she was two seconds from searching for a candlestick to beam his dad with, because he cleared his throat. “There’s Jenny. We’ve got to go tell her congratulations. I’ll catch up with you later.”

  He didn’t wait for a response, steering her away from his dad and toward the small knot of people around his little sister.

  “Charming.”

  “You have no idea.” He’d spoken so softly she had to strain to hear. “They were on their best behavior just now.”

  She didn’t want to know what bad behavior looked like. Aubry hadn’t made a habit of spending time with people so far beyond her tax bracket, and if that delightful little interaction was any indication, she had the right of it. People with that much money thought they could act however they wanted and, for the most part, they got away with it for exactly that reason.

  Not that she was a gem, but even she thought trying to marry off a person who wasn’t interested in being married off was gross.

  “That offer to flee while cackling madly still stands. This is wine country—there’s got to be another hotel around here attached to a vineyard where we can drink our sorrows away.”

  The grin he gave her was downright sunny. “I appreciate the offer, but we’re stuck for the time being.”

  It struck her yet again that it was a good thing she hadn’t let him talk her out of this. He actually…needed her. She wasn’t sure she’d ever been needed before, not like this. Aubry straightened. “Just remember there’s an out. I don’t have much practice being a shield, but I could give it a shot if you need me to.” Surely sheer fury could keep her going long enough to find a private place before she started shaking over exactly how many people she’d be willing to face down for him.