by Lana Dash
QUINN
THE NICE GIRLS’ NAUGHTY BOOK CLUB SERIES
LANA DASH
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Epilogue
Also By Lana Dash
About the Author
QUINN is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2021 by LANA DASH
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without express written permission from the author/publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
1
QUINN
I thought when I graduated high school over ten years ago, I’d be done dealing with the bossy queen bees of the world. But when I joined The Romantics Book Club at the local bookstore in my town and met Victoria, the club president, she reminded me that high school is never really over. The bossy girls we all had to deal with become bossy women.
“The Romantics Book Club members,” Victoria calls out. “We will be meeting in the reserved lounge area in the back in five minutes. This is your final warning to wrap up your purchases for the next meeting. If you didn’t get the email notification about next week’s book, we will be reading The Sweetest Splendor.”
I glance over at the rack near the register where next week’s book club books are always on display. There is a picture of a young woman running through a lush meadow of wildflowers on the cover. This cover lets me know exactly what type of book we will be reading without reading the back for the blurb— it’s another sweet romance.
I groan inwardly.
Don’t get me wrong! I love romance in all its shapes, colors, and sizes. From former high school sweethearts who are given a second chance when she returns to her quirky small town—I’m there. To a century-old vampire and a human falling in love after he saves her life—sign me up. And let’s not forget the prince that meets the commoner by chance and is willing to give up the crown for her—my finger is one-clicking that preorder. But sometimes, I just want a romance that isn’t all about tormented by past mistakes or forbidden love or fairy tales. Sometimes I want a romance where the storyline is equal to the amount of hot and steamy sex the main characters have on every other page.
The bell over the door chimes, and my best friend, Jess, walks in with her phone to her ear. She looks around and finds me standing next to the new releases table. I give her a wave, and she heads over to me.
“Has she given her final warning speech yet?” Jess asks as she ends her call and slips her phone into her purse.
“Yep,” I say, picking up a book with an extreme close-up of a couple on the cover. The woman has bright red lipstick on her full lips, and she’s whispering seductively into the man’s ear.
“Sordid Whispers?” Jess asks, picking up the same book. She flips it over in her hand and starts to read aloud the book blurb on the back. “Gabriella Sanchez never knows the right thing to say, so she keeps to herself. But when she catches the attention of her billionaire boss, Sebastion, he teaches her that her words have more power than she could have ever imagined.” She stops and reads the rest quietly to herself. “Sounds hot. Maybe I should suggest this book to Victoria for the book club to read next.”
“Yeah,” I scoff, knowing full well that Jess isn’t serious. We both know that Miss Pearls and Matching Cardigan would never sully her virginal eyes reading erotic fiction like this. “She’ll kick you out for even suggesting it.”
“Yeah, well, maybe that's what I need. You are the only reason I keep showing up here every week."
I look over at her in surprise. “I thought you liked book club.”
“I do. I love the idea of getting to talk and share ideas about romance books I’ve read with other romance readers, but she—” Jess nods in Victoria’s direction. “Is sucking all the fun out of it. I want to read more books with heat and hot men.”
“Maybe we should start our own book club,” I joke. “We can call it The Nice Girls’ Naughty Book Club.”
Jess grabs my arm, her eyes widening with excitement. “Yes!”
“I was just kidding.”
“I’m not.”
“It would just be the two of us.”
Jess points to the other members making their way to the back of the book store. “You honestly think that we couldn’t find a couple of other women who wouldn’t be interested in joining?”
“I don’t know,” I say.
“Ladies,” Victoria hisses and points to the lounge area in the back of the store.
“Be right there.” I smile and point to the register to let her know that I’m picking up next week’s book.
“Let’s talk about this later,” I say to Jess.
We both quickly check out, purchasing both The Sweetest Splendor and Sordid Whispers. The clerk behind the counter holds up Sordid Whispers.
“This book is amazing. I’m currently reading this out loud to my boyfriend—” she bites her lip but doesn’t say anything else.
The meeting has already begun by the time Jess and I take our seats near the back wall. I put next week’s book club read in my bag but keep Sordid Whispers in my lap. I haven’t even read a word, but I’m already feeling a connection with the main character, Gabriella. There is so much that I want to say in my life, but I don’t have the nerve to say it—professionally, personally, and especially in the bedroom. If Gabriella can give me any insight into stepping out of my comfort zone, I'm all for it. I open the book to the first page and start reading.
I’m nearly done with chapter two when Jess elbows me in the side.
“Ouch,” I grumble and look over at her.
She points towards Victoria, sitting in the high back chair that looks like a throne to match her Queen Bee status. Her icy blue eyes are on me, and that’s when I notice the entire book club is looking at me as well.
“I’m pleased to see that you are eager to get ahead on next week’s book but, maybe you can put it down and give us your attention until the meeting is over.”
“But she’s not reading next week’s book,” Jess says, next to me.
My head whips back towards her, and I give her my harshest glare, but she only smiles sweetly back at me.
“Snitch,” I whisper.
“Then may I ask, Quinn, what book has captured your attention so much that you aren’t even paying attention?”
Jess tries to lift my arm that’s holding onto Sordid Whispers, but I yank my arm out of her grip.
“It’s, umm,” I sputter, suddenly feeling like I’m back in high school and the teacher has called on me. “It’s just something I picked up when I was waiting for the meeting to start.”
Victoria’s left eyebrow lifts as if reading something other than what she's recommended is a challenge to her authority.
“I’d love to hear what it’s called,” she says.
“Sordid Whispers,” I mumble.
“What was that?” She asks with a sneering tone. From the expression on her face, I
know she heard me, but she's trying to embarrass me.
I don't know what comes over me because at that moment. I’m suddenly tired of holding back all I’ve wanted to say to Victoria since I joined the book club. Maybe Gabriella is already helping me find my voice?
I stand and hold the book up for everyone to see. “It’s called Sordid Whispers. It’s a new release in erotic fiction. I've only just started it, and already the sex scene in chapter two is much more interesting than—” I reach down and grab The Sweetest Splendor. “This will ever be.”
If Victoria were actually wearing pearls, she'd be clutching them right now.
“We don’t read books like that in this book club,” she says.
There is a murmur amongst the other members, and I can hear a few of them saying they wouldn't mind reading it.
"Yeah? Well, maybe some of us don't want only to read a romance that ends with a kiss. Maybe we want passion and sex.”
Victoria stands and points at the book I’m holding. “That is not romance!”
“Maybe not to you, but there are plenty of women, besides me, that would be interested in reading this book." I look around at the group, hopeful for anyone else to join in, but I'm met with looks of uncertainty.
“I will.” Jess stands up next to me.
The corner of Victoria’s mouth twists up in amusement. “I can respect you wanting to branch out with your reading, um, tastes,” she says that last word like it’s something bitter in her mouth. “But I think that it would be best if you both leave now and don’t come back next week.”
I didn’t live for these meetings each week, but I do enjoy the kinship of my fellow romance readers. And being told I'm no longer welcome here feels like a slap in the face. Jess bounces back from the news that we are being kicked out quicker than I do, but that’s probably because she’s already admitted that she didn’t like coming to meetings anyway.
“That's perfectly fine with me," Jess says, picking up our bags and grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the exit. “We will be starting our own book club. It’s open to all who are interested in reading books with more naughty topics and hot, muscly men.”
There’s another wave of murmuring through the group.
“Tomorrow!” I say, finally finding my voice. “We will meet at The Story Brew at seven o’clock tomorrow!”
The following day, Jess and I sit at a small table near The Story Brew's front windows. It’s nearly seven o'clock, and no one else has shown up yet.
“I told you it was just going to be the two of us,” I say, twisting the nearly empty mug of hot cocoa in front of me.
Jess waves away my comment as she sips on her Americano. “Relax. There is still time for people to get here.”
An auburn-haired figure runs past the windows, and I tense as I watch her nearly collide with a couple walking out of the coffee shop. She narrowly sidesteps them with the grace of a dancer and makes her way inside. Her soft curls swing when she looks around, and I realize it's the book store clerk from last night. She lets out a breath when she sees me.
“Am I late?” she asks, slumping down into one of the empty chairs across from Jess and me.
“Right on time.” Jess smiles at me with an I-told-you-so grin. “We are just waiting to see if anyone else shows up.”
"I think you might find a couple of others. After you two left last night, that book club lady with a stick up her butt had a bit of trouble pulling the meeting back together.” She holds out her hand across the table. “I’m Courtney, by the way.”
We are in the middle of making our introductions when two other members of The Romantics show up.
Michelle and Fiona are twins, but it's clear from their personalities that’s where the similarities end. While Michelle is energetic and outgoing, Fiona is more reserved and quieter.
"So," Michelle says after we’ve all got acquainted and claps her hands enthusiastically. “What’s the plan?”
Jess and I exchange a glance.
“Well,” Jess begins. “It was Quinn’s idea to start our book club, so I guess I will let her explain.”
“Thank you, Jess,” I say dryly before turning to the rest of the small group. “We didn’t really have a big plan for the club other than making the meetings less of a lecture and more discussion. And allowing a majority rule on what we read.”
"Preferably the dirtier, the better, right?" Courtney asks.
“That’s a given.” Jess smiles at her.
“I vote our first book is the one you were waving around last night,” Fiona suggests, speaking up for the first time since she walked in.
“I second that,” Michelle adds.
I glance at Courtney, who looks confused. She was in the book store last night but not in the meeting. She only heard our invitation for today when I yelled it out as Jess dragged me out of the store.
“I think Courtney’s already read it," I say and clarify to her. "Sordid Whispers.”
She shakes her head. “I’m only about halfway done. And you ladies are making a good choice. When you get to the scene with the yacht—” she leans back in her seat and sighs.
"Okay then." Jess looks around at everyone at the table. "We will meet back here, same time next week, having read Sordid Whispers.”
2
QUINN
The alarm on my phone goes off on the coffee table, and I jerk awake. I fell asleep in the early morning hours on the couch last night reading about Gabriella’s sexual awakening. The urge to make an excuse to call in sick for work so I can binge read the rest of this book is strong, but there’s a team meeting this morning that I can’t miss.
I shower quickly and get ready for work in a fog. My brain keeps drifting back to Gabriella and how, with each page, she's finding her voice. I'm dying to find out what happens. I’m about to walk out the door when I stop and grab the book off the coffee table. The highly sexual cover will make it hard to read on the bus or at my desk at work during lunch without getting judgmental looks. I flip over the book and see if there is a small headphone graphic on the back.
“Thank you, book gods,” I say to the ceiling, when I see that it’s also available as an audiobook. I toss the paperback down on the table again and head outside to catch my bus.
I purchase and download the audiobook to my phone while I wait at the stop. I fish around my bag for my wireless earbuds case, but it's open, and the two pieces are loose on the bottom of my purse. There’s not a lot of battery left in them. I’ll have to remember to charge them when I get to my desk.
A half-hour later, the bus drops me off near my office building downtown. I follow the crowd of people walking down the street to get to work on time. But I'm not nearly as agitated as they are, not with Gabriella’s words in my ears telling me all the things that she’s going to do to Sebastian’s hot body. He's telling her about how he wants to take her out on his yacht this weekend, and a thrill of excitement courses through me, remembering what Courtney said about that part.
As Gabriella’s words get racier, I get nervous like suddenly everyone around me can hear what’s playing in my ears. I pull one out and listen, but only I can hear the faint sound of Gabriella's voice speaking.
I swipe my badge to get into the building and wait for the elevator doors to open to take me to the seventeenth floor. I'm shuffled in with the other people waiting and turn around just as the door is closing.
“Hold the door!” A voice calls out.
I throw my foot out, much to the chagrin of the other passengers, delaying them further. Evan, my cubemate and crush, runs into the elevator, knocking into me slightly.
“Sorry, Quinn,” he says, slightly out of breath. “Are you okay?”
I can only smile back at him, the words catching in my throat, and nod.
The doors close, and I watch each floor’s number lighting up as we go. Seven. Eight. Nine. The door opens again, and Evan and I both move to let a man and woman in dress suits off on their floor. Aside from the sce
nt of his woodsy aftershave, I notice Evan’s holding his bike helmet. I remember him talking about riding his bike this week because his car is in the shop. This could be a chance for me to try and make conversation with him. I straighten, thinking of Gabriella first finding her voice around Sebastian.
I lean close and whisper to him, trying to add a touch of seductiveness to my voice. “Did you ride your bike again today?”
Evan turns to me and smiles. “Why are you whispering?”
Okay, that didn’t work.
I glance back over my shoulder to the other passengers. “Elevator etiquette.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, it’s going to be a couple more days before I get my car back.”
What would Gabriella do? I scramble, trying to think of what to do next. She’s always touching him gently. I can do that.
“A much as the athletic wind-blown look works for you,” I touch his bicep flirtatiously. “I could always use someone to sit with on the bus.”
The bus? Seriously, this is the worst topic to try and make sexy.
Evan looks down at my hand and swallows. His Adam's apple is bobbing up and down. His breathing, having only just slowed down from his run to the elevator, picks up again. My own heart is thumping in my chest, and I pretty sure everyone else in the elevator can hear it.
“Yeah, that sounds like fun,” he breathes out.
Whoa. Did that actually kind of work?
The door to our floor opens, and I would give my life savings at this moment to have us not walking to the same place. This would be such a perfect moment to walk away and let him watch me until the doors close. But life isn’t like a perfect scene in a romance novel. A girl has to work with what is given to her.
I step out first and feel Evan close behind me. But as we turn the corner, we are greeted by Tyler, another co-worker on our team.