Ready or Not Read online

Their eyes clashed. Hers spitting blue green fire, his taking in every last one of the flames aimed his way and drinking them in. He was one perverse sonofabitch.

  What was it about this woman that tripped off every button he had and then some? He knew she was bad news, was nowhere near the right kind of woman for him, so why was he so drawn to her?

  His attention fastened on her heaving breasts. She was glorious in her frustrated fury as she glared at him, eyes flashing, luxuriant brown hair falling around her shoulders. She was so obviously ready for a fight, and all he could think about was that her naked breasts were on the inside of his shirt.

  Yep, he was perverse, all right. Somewhere in the back of his mind the word dweeb taunted him. “What on earth do you think you were doing out there?”

  Hands on hips, she glared at him. “If you couldn’t tell then I guess I wasn’t doing it right.”

  His dick twitched as he remembered her lush backside wriggling enticingly mere inches from his nose in that oh-so-sexy thong. “Oh, you were definitely doing it right. The question is why you were doing it at all.”

  Her stance became even more defensive as she crossed her arms over her chest. He could actually see her shutting him out. “It’s none of your business. And why do you care anyway?”

  Damned if he knew. “I just do.”

  “That’s not much of an answer.”

  It was the only one she was getting. He didn’t understand himself why he’d stopped her. It didn’t make any sense. She really wasn’t anyone to him. He barely knew her. She’d gone out with a friend of his once. In the years since, he’d seen her here and there at the odd party, but that was it. The truth was, he’d gone out of his way to avoid her. She was too much like Celia.

  He ignored the tiny voice that reminded him he’d been lusting after her ever since their first meeting. That voice was just his gonads talking. His brain knew better and that’s what he was going to listen to. The brain in his head, that is. Not the one with a mind of its own screaming for attention in his pants.

  Catching him off guard, Brianna stepped around him and unlocked the door. “Well, it’s really too bad that you do, ’cause I have a job to do and I’m going to do it. So, if you’ll excuse me…”

  His hand flattened on the door, stopping her from leaving. He just couldn’t let her do it. “If I have to tie you up to keep you from going out there, I will.”

  Her pupils flared. Was it shock? Anger? Or arousal? He toyed with the possibilities. Was it possible she liked the idea of being tied up? And just like that a vision flashed through his brain of her tied to his bed, writhing beneath him as he worked over her feverish, panting flesh.

  Yeah, thoughts like that were really going to calm his libido down for sure. At this rate his hard-on was going to bust clear through his pants. It was bad enough before he’d seen her naked, now the erotic images had completely taken over his blood-deprived brain.

  With a great deal of effort, he shoved the images as far to the side as he could and focused on the task at hand. That is, the task of keeping her in here with her clothes on. Not of drooling over her naked breasts, although that was far more appealing.

  His frustration mounting at his lack of self-control, he tried unsuccessfully to focus on something other than sex. This entire predicament was pretty damned funny because all he really wanted to do was get her clothes off. Just not in front of a crowd of slavering jocks. Somewhere nice and private, the two of them alone in a candle-lit room with a huge king-sized bed and endless empty hours ahead of them…

  No. He had to stop thinking like that.

  “You can’t be serious.”

  About getting her naked again? Oh yeah. “What?” He really needed to keep track of this conversation.

  “You can’t be serious about not letting me back out there.”

  Oh, that. “I’m as serious as I know how to be. And that’s pretty damned serious. You’re not going back out there, and that’s final.”

  “I don’t get it. Why do you care? You don’t even like me.”

  Like had nothing to do with it. It was more along the lines of lust. “I like you. Why would you think I don’t like you?”

  She cocked her eyebrow at him. “Why do you think?”

  He had no idea. “I could try guessing but it would speed things up if you just told me.”

  “Never mind.”

  Quinn saw disbelief cross her face before she ducked under his arm and moved away from the door. At least she wasn’t trying to get out there again.

  Not taking any chances, he leaned back against the door and crossed his arms, enjoying the sight of her gorgeous long legs peeking out from his shirt as she paced around the room. No way she’d get past him now. He swallowed down the self-satisfied grin. He didn’t want to get her all riled up again.

  Brianna couldn’t figure Quinn out. What was this all about anyway? He said he liked her, but she knew otherwise. She could still hear her ex-boyfriend Steve during their last fight, yelling that Quinn was right about her, she was a flake and bad news. Apparently Quinn was the final authority on her value as a person because Steve had broken up with her that very night. The whole thing still made her angry.

  She’d had lustful feelings for Quinn from the moment she’d met him, but had fought them down because she was going out with Steve. On that awful night it had become painfully obvious Quinn not only didn’t approve of her for himself, but he’d felt strongly enough about it to tell her boyfriend what he thought of her, too. Of course, Steve was a good friend of Quinn’s, but still. It had really hurt to find out Steve and she were through at the same time as finding out there was no hope with Quinn either.

  Anyhow, that was neither here nor there. Her feelings were her own problem and she could handle it. Quinn didn’t like her and that was that. But this protective streak he was exhibiting right now just plain confused the hell out of her.

  Out of the corner of her eye she drank in a shirtless Quinn’s tall, lean physique, blocking the way out of the room. She couldn’t help it, her fingers itched to explore the bulging muscles in his arms and chest, and continue on down to check out his six-pack abs and follow the trail of hair there like breadcrumbs leading to nirvana.

  He must work out because he sure looked amazing for a desk jockey. She sighed. Unfortunately, that was one journey she’d never be taking. No matter how much she wanted to.

  Then again…

  Maybe she could at least have a little fun at Quinn’s expense. She knew he wasn’t completely indifferent to her. Sure, he disapproved of her, but for that very reason it might be fun to see just how much of a reaction she could get out of him. Hell, he’d already seen almost everything she owned anyway.

  Hiding a grin, she started looking around for her clothes. “You see my jeans around here anywhere?”

  “No.”

  “Never mind. Found ’em.” Making a big production out of it, she slowly leaned over at the waist to pick up her jeans, making sure Quinn’s shirt rode up as high as possible to give him an unobstructed view of her thong-clad backside. When she heard his indrawn breath, she knew she had his undivided attention, and bit the inside of her cheek to hold back the smile that threatened to break out.

  Without straightening, she glanced over her shoulder at him. “Something wrong?”

  His Adam’s apple bobbed and he looked about to choke. “No.”

  Not quite sure where this urge to taunt and tempt him was coming from, she decided not to worry about that and just go with it. After all, he had it coming with his rampant disapproval of her. May as well have some fun with this. Get a little bit of revenge, maybe even cop a feel in the bargain.

  She stifled the giggle threatening to erupt. Really, it was just a little friendly revenge. It had nothing to do with the fact that she’d fantasized about touching him for ages and this would be the perfect time to actually do it.

  Nothing to do with that at all.

  Uh
huh. Yeah, right.

  First making sure the shirt was still mostly unbuttoned, she straightened and turned towards Quinn again. “Are you sure? You seem kind of uncomfortable.”

  “I’m fine.” His voice croaked and elation raced through her. She was definitely getting to him.

  Moving towards him, she felt like a hunter stalking its prey. Which she supposed she was. Quinn, the king of the circumspect, was battling between his need to get away from her and his need to keep her from going back out there and stripping. This kind of power was heady stuff.

  Brianna stopped directly in front of him, leaving no maneuvering space at all. Even if he tried squirming away it would only make things worse. “I’m not so sure. You look a little flushed to me.”

  His pupils dilated, almost drowning out the storm gray of his irises. She gently laid her hand on his arm, still crossed in front of him as if he were warding her off, and felt the muscle twitch beneath her fingers. She soothed it with her thumb.

  Quinn didn’t say anything, just watched her closely. She wished she knew what he was thinking, but his face was impassive. Impossible to read. Maybe she needed to up the stakes a bit to get the reaction she wanted, because she definitely wanted to get a rise out of him. Although, judging from the size of the bulge in the front of his pants, she was already getting one kind of rise out of him. What she really had her heart set on, though, was for Quinn to acknowledge the attraction between them. He’d never act on it, of course, but they both knew it was there and it irritated her no end that he behaved as if it didn’t exist.

  No, this was the perfect time for a teeny bit of payback for all the sleepless nights he’d caused her.

  Licking her lips, she took in his face. Standing this close, you’d have thought she’d find all kinds of imperfections, but his rugged features were still movie-star perfect. She couldn’t see one thing she’d change. Even his five o’clock shadow only managed to make him even more handsome.

  Damned irritating if you asked her.

  His lips were an interesting contrast to his otherwise-hard visage. They’d always fascinated her, looking soft, and warm, and inviting. She’d often wondered what kissing him would be like. Now seemed like a good time to find out.

  A really good time.

  Without further thought she rose on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his. Yep, they were warm, all right. And soft. No reaction though, unless you counted the fact that he’d gone perfectly still, not even seeming to breathe. So she put a little more into the kiss, increasing the pressure, then opening her mouth to taste him lightly with her tongue.

  Okay, that was definitely a groan. It was barely there and she almost hadn’t heard it, but it was undeniably there. Encouraged, she reached up, threaded her fingers into his vibrant dark locks and tasted him more thoroughly. This was better than her favorite fantasy and her much-loved Heavenly Hash ice cream combined.

  As if in slow motion, Quinn’s mouth opened and suddenly the whole tenor of the kiss changed. She was no longer the one in charge. Quinn was.

  Magically, his arms no longer barred her from getting closer, but were now wrapped around her, drawing her full against him. Her breasts were mashed against his granite-like chest but instead of protesting, her nipples peaked as if reaching out, trying to get even closer.

  He spread his legs, fitting her hips even more snugly against him and it was pretty obvious that her nipples weren’t the only thing reaching out. She could feel his erection, huge, hard and throbbing, against her belly and everything female in her wanted to feel that hardness buried deep inside of her. Just the thought made her heart pound out of control, and she could have sworn live electricity raced through her bloodstream.

  Damn, but the man could kiss.

  Their tongues dueled and tasted and…oh Lord, was that mewling sound really coming from her? She would have been mortified, but the answering low growl from Quinn nullified her embarrassment. At least she wasn’t the only one taken to a previously unknown stratosphere with this kiss.

  No, make that a whole new dimension.

  She’d known there was chemistry between them, but this was more than just chemistry. This was an atomic-bomb’s worth of stuff zinging between them. Only instead of blowing them apart, it was imploding, pulling them together. Drawing them tighter. And yet somehow she still wasn’t close enough, she needed more.

  Completely disorienting her, Quinn suddenly pushed her an arm’s length away and it was over. Just like that.

  She almost cried out from the acute sense of loss.

  They stared at each other, breathing hard, Quinn with an accusatory look on his flushed face. No doubt she simply looked stunned because that was definitely how she felt. Stunned.

  She’d wanted to get a reaction out of him. She hadn’t counted on getting an even bigger reaction out of herself. The kiss was supposed to be a bit of payback, and instead all she’d done was shove her own face in the fact that Quinn was every bit as sexy and unique as she’d always imagined him to be. And then some.

  Shit.

  How did she always manage to do this to herself? Would she never learn to stop and think things through before she acted on these stupid impulses of hers?

  “What the hell was that for?”

  Yeah, like I’m gonna tell you. “What’s the matter, you never kiss someone on a whim before?”

  His frown intensified with obvious disapproval. “You mean you go around kissing men you barely know like that on a regular basis? No wonder you get into scrapes all the time. It’s a wonder you haven’t gotten into worse trouble. Or maybe you have and I just haven’t heard about it.”

  That jerked her out of the pleasantly dreamy state the kiss had put her in. “You don’t know squat about me, so don’t you dare make snap judgments!”

  “It’s not a snap judgment. It’s based on a combination of what I’ve heard about you and what I’ve seen for myself.”

  Brianna’s head whipped back as if struck, and she fought the urge to slap him hard. “I repeat. You don’t know anything about me.”

  She spun on her heel and started gathering up her clothes. Tears stung her eyes. Why, she wasn’t sure. She couldn’t decide if she was furious or just wanted to sit in a corner and cry. She hated the fact that Quinn had such a poor opinion of her, but she couldn’t deny she always did somehow manage to do something that made her look foolish whenever he was around.

  The karma gods must hate her and were making her pay for several lifetimes of terrible deeds. “You can leave now. I know you’re not going to let me go back out there to finish the show.”

  Just because she’d been relieved deep down when he stopped her, didn’t mean she’d thank him for it.

  Another thought came to her and she whirled back around. “And that’s another thing, I really needed that money. You had no business interfering. And if Maggie’s business gets a bad rap from this, I’ll find a way to make you pay for it. Now get out. I have to get dressed.”

  He was still leaning against the door and had recrossed his arms in front of him. A lopsided grin played at his full lips. “Since I’ve seen pretty much everything you have, why the sudden bout of modesty?”

  She sighed in frustration with her traitorous feelings. Even when she was so mad she wanted to smack him, she found him almost impossible to resist when he teased her like this. But it would take a lot more than a gorgeous grin to bring her around tonight. No matter how horny she felt. “That was different. Just leave.”

  He studied her closely for a minute, then nodded and pushed away from the door. His hand on the doorknob, he looked back. “I’ll take care of things so Maggie’s business doesn’t suffer.”

  Chapter Two

  It hadn’t been easy, but Quinn had finally managed to get the last of the partiers to leave. Not that he’d thrown them out right away, but when he saw that most of them were drunk and past caring where they were anyway, he called a halt to the revelries and piled everyon
e without designated drivers into cabs.

  The only one left was his younger brother Mark. Quinn watched as he gathered up the porno tapes he’d brought for the party.

  “You gonna tell me why you almost ruined the bachelor party?”

  Quinn leaned back into his favorite corduroy recliner and sighed contentedly. “I didn’t ruin the party.”

  “If I hadn’t brought these tapes you would have. I thought the guys were going to stampede when you dragged Siren out of here.”

  “That wasn’t Siren. I mean it was, but her real name is Brianna. Didn’t you recognize her?”

  Mark’s face wrinkled up in concentration. “Brianna. You mean Steve’s Brianna? No way!”

  “Oh yeah. It most definitely was.” Every luscious inch of her.

  Mark put the stack of tapes down and stretched out on the couch across from him. “I didn’t recognize her. Not that I could see much with your ugly butt in the way. You sure it was her?”

  “Yup.”

  Mark barked a laugh. “Guess I wasn’t looking at her face.”

  Quinn scowled a warning in Mark’s direction, still not happy with the fact that all those guys had seen Brianna close enough to naked to not make any real difference. “I don’t think anyone was looking at her face.” He took a swig of the beer he’d been nursing and wished he could drown out the annoying twist in his gut.

  “It just doesn’t seem like something Brianna would do.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding. It seems exactly like the kind of thing she’d do. She’s always been a bit of a flake.” Just like Celia.

  “Brianna? Are we talking about the same woman here, ’cause it sure doesn’t sound like the one I know.”

  About to take another sip, Quinn stopped and set the beer down instead. Maybe his brain was fuzzier than he thought. “The Brianna that Steve went out with a couple years ago. The one that’s always doing some foolish thing or other.”

  A contemplative grin crossed his brother’s face as if he was remembering some pleasant memory. “Well yeah, she does sorta leap before she looks, but that doesn’t make her a flake.”