Ready or Not Page 7

  She glanced at Maggie. “Let’s change the subject.”

  “Right, one subject change coming up. I have some good news. The customer is still going to pay for Friday night.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Nope. He left a message on my machine. It was really weird though.”

  “Weird how?”

  “Sounded like he was still at the bachelor party. First he called to say there was no way he was paying because you didn’t do the full show. Not too much later he called back saying I was lucky because one of the other guys was going to pay for it. I could hear somebody prompting him on what to say in the background.”

  Brianna straightened. “Quinn.”

  Maggie frowned. “I thought we weren’t going to talk about him any more.”

  “No, Quinn said he’d make sure your business didn’t suffer. I thought he meant your business’s reputation around town, not that he’d pay for it. Although, I guess that makes more sense.”

  “If that’s true, I take it back. I guess he’s not a complete bastard after all.”

  “Well, really, since the whole thing was his fault, it was only right that he fix it.”

  “That didn’t mean he would. At lot of guys wouldn’t have.”

  “True.”

  The strident peel of the doorbell cut her off. At Maggie’s questioning expression she said, “Must be the paperboy collecting.”

  Brianna snagged her wallet out of her purse on the hall table, and swung the door open.

  And there stood the man in question, head down with his hands in his pockets.

  “Hey, we were just talking about you.” Would she never remember to think before she spoke?

  He glanced up, uncertainty clouding his expression. “About what an ass I am?”

  “Yeah, we covered that topic earlier. I think we settled on self-righteous, judgmental bastard.” She called over her shoulder, “Isn’t that what it was, Mags?”

  Maggie’s voice floated over from the living room. “Yup, that was it.”

  Brianna turned back to Quinn. “Just wanted to be sure I got it right. Anyway, now we’ve moved on to figuring out you’re the one going to pay for Friday night’s gig.”

  “That’s the least I could do.”

  “Yeah, we agree. So, what are you doing here? I thought you’d said everything you had to say as you bolted out the door in your haste to get away from my contaminating presence.”

  “I didn’t run. You told me to get out.”

  “That’s right, I did. The request still stands. Now, go away.”

  She tried to close the door, but he stopped her. “We need to talk.”

  “I didn’t much care for our last conversation, can’t say that I want to repeat it.”

  “I have something for you over at my place. Please come with me.”

  He graced her with his most charming smile that no doubt drew birds out of trees, or brought jurors around to his way of thinking. “I don’t know. I think I’ve seen everything I need to and although there were some things I quite liked, others didn’t impress me much.”

  “Just give me one more chance.”

  She took in his pleading eyes, full of sincerity and hopefulness, and she was a goner. She was such a sap.

  Oh, what the hell, he couldn’t make her feel any worse. She hoped. “Fine. One last chance. Although I really don’t see the point. What with me being a flake and all.”

  His solemn “thank you” appeased her somewhat, making her feel a bit less like a stupid fool for going along with him. Not much, but a bit.

  She walked back to Maggie. “He wants to talk, and for some reason it has to be at his place. I’m probably going to regret this, but I’m going.”

  “If your gut is telling you to go, then go. I’ll wait for Kayla to come back and let her know where you are. I can watch one of the movies we took out until then.”

  “I’ll probably be back before you even leave.”

  Maggie nodded, looking a tad concerned. What could Brianna say, she was concerned herself. No doubt she was heading for another one of her outstanding fiascos.

  Shit.

  Chapter Five

  There was a surreal quality to sitting in Quinn’s car while he drove her to his home. Brianna had spent most of the day thinking he considered her nothing more than a fling, an aberration in his life. Something he wanted to get away from and never go near again. Sorta like rancid cheese. And now, here he was, taking her to his place.

  Yep. Definitely surreal.

  “You going to give me some kind of clue as to what this is about?”

  His slow, sexy grin sent her insides aflutter. “Nope.”

  “Just a teeny little hint?”

  He didn’t even answer this time. Just shook his head, with that same mysterious grin on his face. This guy needed to learn how to open up. All this quiet tension was driving her nuts. The only thing that kept her in the seat rather than telling him to stop the car and let her out was that sexy grin.

  That grin promised plenty. Like long, slow, deep kisses and endless sultry nights on silken sheets. Oh yeah, she really needed to know what he was up to.

  They pulled up in his driveway and he jogged around the car to open her door. So old-fashioned, but oh so nice.

  She took his proffered hand and he escorted her to the front door. That’s all she could call it. The way his hand rested low on her back and ever so gently guided her all the way, well, the whole thing was very courtly. And very sexy. Hmmm, there was that word again.

  She could even feel the warmth emanating from his large, strong hand, stirring up feelings better left unstirred.

  If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was trying to impress her. But why would he want to impress her?

  They reached the door and he turned towards her. “Okay, now close your eyes.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t argue, just close your eyes. I’ll guide you inside.”

  What was he up to anyway? “I don’t know about this.”

  “Please.”

  There went the earnest, sexy grin again. He obviously wasn’t going to give her any clues as to what was going on, but her gut told her to trust him. She gave in and did as he asked, but not without a grumbled, “This better be worth it.”

  “If it’s not, you can torment me in any way of your choosing.”

  Okay, this was getting interesting. “I’ll hold you to that.”

  His warm, sweet breath whispered across her ear. “I hope you do.”

  Shivers danced up and down her spine, adding to the butterflies already doing the mambo in her stomach. This had better be leading up to something really, really good.

  His fingers closed around her elbow and his other hand returned to her lower back as he guided her over the threshold and into his house.

  It was a very strange sensation. She couldn’t see anything, certainly not where she was going, and because of it, Quinn’s presence beside her became even more intense, more intimate and overwhelming. His scent, his heat, his energy washed over her in waves and she shivered in suppressed excitement.

  “Are you cold?”

  “No.” Just intensely turned on. Nothing to worry about.

  Yeah, right.

  They stopped moving, and he let go of her arm. She felt him move away and could hear him rustling around. What was he doing?

  Fairly quickly he was beside her again. “Okay, you can open your eyes now.”

  Brianna peeped them open, and was greeted by something she’d definitely not even dreamt of.

  There, laid out in front of her, was a beautifully set table, complete with lit candles and a gorgeous flower arrangement. There were even cloth napkins with gold napkin rings. “This is incredible. Is all this for me?”

  She tore her gaze away from the table to look at Quinn. He actually appeared embarrassed. It suited him. Of course, what was she talking about, everything suite
d him.

  “It’s a token of the huge apology I owe you.”

  Was he serious? He sure looked serious. “Are you serious?”

  His answer was a solemn “yes”.

  Something in her heart eased, but this was so out of the blue she didn’t know if she could trust it. “I agree you owe me an apology, but what changed your mind?”

  “You can thank my brother Mark for that. He made me realize I was judging you based on the way another woman treated me years ago. It wasn’t fair to either of us because it kept me from giving what we have between us a chance.”

  She fought a grin. “Well, we definitely have chemistry.”

  His eyes flared. “We have that in spades, but it’s more than that. The attraction has always been there physically between us, no matter how hard I fought it in the last couple of years. And believe me, I’ve fought it. But in the short time we’ve spent together I realized that I really do like you as a person.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes, and more than that, I’ve come to see there’s a lot to admire about you, too.”

  Quinn’s words were like a balm to her battered feelings. “Even though I’m a flake?”

  He took her into his arms. “You’re not a flake. More like adventurous.”

  “Adventurous! Now that’s a description I can live with.”

  “I need a little adventure in my life. Let’s face it, you’re good for me. You loosen me up, and yes, I do realize I need to loosen up sometimes.”

  Brianna bit the inside of her cheek not to laugh. “Yes, Mr. MacRae, you definitely do need to loosen up more.”

  “That’s not all I need to apologize for. I should never have said anything to Steve. I didn’t know he’d take my comments to heart and break up with you, but that’s no excuse. And now that I know you better, I realize I didn’t even know what the hell I was talking about.” He pulled her closer. “Although I can’t regret that you two broke up, or you and I wouldn’t be here together right now.”

  Quinn’s apology touched her heart, and soothed the old wound. “You’re right. And you’re forgiven. Besides, Steve wasn’t the right guy for me if he could give me up that easily.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.” He gently kissed her forehead, then her cheek. “What I’m really hoping is that you’ll give me a second chance and that this will be our first date.”

  Brianna couldn’t mistake the sincerity emanating from his eyes and she swallowed the lump in her throat. Damned if she’d cry now. “Don’t you think we’ve kind of gone past the first-date thing?”

  Quinn’s laugh was a beautiful thing to hear. “We did sort of do things out of order, didn’t we?”

  “You could say that.”

  “Doesn’t mean we can’t set it straight. You deserve more than a quick tumble in bed. A lot more.”

  Incredulous, she had to ask, “You call that a quick tumble? I could hardly walk when I got up this morning.”

  His eyes heated. “It went by too fast for my taste. But what I really meant was that I should have taken things more slowly. We should have gone out a few times and gotten to know each other better before we jumped into bed.”

  Brianna flashed him a grin. “That’s a very sweet sentiment, but I was with you all the way. I don’t think I would have lasted through a couple of dates without jumping your bones.”

  He laughed again. “That’s one of the things I love about you. The way you make me laugh.”

  She snuggled in closer. “You mean there are other things you like about me?”

  He gently brushed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. “Love. The word is love. And yes, there are a lot more things. Like for instance, the way you want to jump my bones. Very lovable quality, that.”

  Elation winged through her. He was actually using the word love in connection with her. Could this really be happening? She leaned forward and brushed her lips across his. “So, what’s on the menu for tonight?”

  Quinn nipped her bottom lip. “I hope you like Italian.”

  A wicked grin chased across her face just before she wiggled her hips against the huge erection already evident between them. She loved the fact that she could do this to him. “Actually, I think I’m more in the mood for something Scottish. Your last name is Scottish, isn’t it?”

  He groaned and tried to pull away. “You’re undermining my good intentions. All I want to do is push you up against the wall and take you, right here, right now. You’re impossible to resist.”

  She couldn’t suppress the wicked leer. “Then why bother?”

  It was way past what Quinn could stand. Brianna tempted him more than any woman ever had and he suspected she always would. He swooped down to take her lips in a devouring kiss. His mouth ate at hers, seeking her tongue, her unique taste, the very essence of her. Searching out everything she had to give.

  All day, no matter how much he’d fought it, he’d been obsessed by thoughts of her. Of kissing her, of thrusting into her hot, tight body. But despite that, he’d wanted to restrain himself. To earn back her trust and respect before they went to bed again, but there was no way that was going to happen now. He was done with fighting this overwhelming need for Brianna.

  The urgency raging through him was more than answered by Brianna. They fought with buttons and zippers until she finally managed to get his shirt off and his jeans undone.

  Her jeans and T-shirt went next, followed quickly by her bra, freeing her voluptuous breasts for his gaze to feast on. They beckoned his mouth and tongue, and he happily gave them their due. Teasing and taunting, nipping and sucking until she was gasping and begging him to both stop and give her more.

  Somehow they were up against the dining-room wall and he made short work of her panties, giving her clit some much-needed attention with his tongue until she was shivering and whimpering with need.

  When he stood back up, her eyes were almost black with desire. He couldn’t wait a second longer, he had to be in her now.

  Digging the condom out of his wallet, he put it on, hiked her up, wrapping her legs around his hips and thrust home into her tight, wet heat.

  Their groans of pleasure filled the air, and at first he didn’t move, just relished the feeling of her pulsing around him.

  It wasn’t long before she started to squirm. “Please…”

  He didn’t have to be told twice. Quinn pounded into her, faster and faster until he felt her come, thrusting into her one last time, as deep as he could go, to join her over the edge.

  The silence around them was filled with the sound of their heavy breathing. He leaned his forehead against hers. “Damn. How do you do that to me?”

  She giggled weakly. “It’s a two-way street. I’ve never been like this with anyone but you, Quinn. Only you.”

  His heart stopped and raced forward. Just like that, he was getting hard again. It should have been impossible.

  He moved a bit inside her. “I’m ready to go again except for two things. One, I don’t think my legs will hold us both up much longer, and two, we need another condom.”

  Her legs slid from around his hips as he pulled out of her. “Which room is your bedroom?”

  “Second one on the left.”

  “Race ya!”

  He barely got a glimpse of her lush ass before she disappeared through his bedroom door.

  With gusto, he chased after her, skidding to a halt when he reached the room. She was nowhere in sight, but a telltale light under the door told him she was in the bathroom.

  He disposed of the condom and his remaining clothes, calling through the door. “What about the food? Aren’t you hungry?”

  “I’m not hungry for food right now. We’ll eat later.”

  “My kind of woman.” Chuckling, he went over to the bed and lay down, waiting for her to come out.

  The door finally swung open and his breath caught when she stepped into the room. Decked out in her stripper’s costume, she was a vis
ion he’d never tire of. She must have noticed the outfit folded up on his dresser. He’d planned on giving it back to her tonight, although he’d been loath to part with it.

  He sat up to get a better look, reminded of the first time he’d seen her in it. It was no wonder he’d only seen tits and never-ending legs that night. She was something else.

  About halfway to the bed she stopped and speared him with a sultry look that promised things he had every intention of taking her up on. “I never did finish my act for you. I figure you should get your money’s worth.”

  Brianna could see the love sparkling in his eyes, and in the softening of his face. And in his quiet reply. “I already have.”

  Confident of his answer, she batted her eyelashes at him coquettishly. “So, you don’t want to see me strip?”

  He lay back on his elbows, his erection already blatantly evident. “I never said that.”

  “In that case, brace yourself, tiger. ’Cause ready or not, here I come.”

  About the Author

  To learn more about Anara Bella, please visit www.anarabella.com. Send an email to Anara at anara@anarabella.com or check out her MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/anarabella.

  Passion hot enough to melt the slopes…and their hearts.

  Snowbound

  © 2007 Larissa Ione

  Thanks to a devastating medical diagnosis, ski patroller Sean Trenton has endured two years of celibacy. Two long years that have chipped away at his confidence. Now, with the career opportunity of a lifetime on the line, he’s ready to remedy the celibacy situation, and sexy snowbunny Robyn Montgomery is just what the doctor ordered.

  Unfortunately, the last thing reliable, intense radio station manager Robyn Montgomery wants in her suddenly turbulent professional and personal life is a thrill-seeking former Olympic skier—even if he is a total hottie. She’s had it with guys who hog the spotlight and leave her in the shadows. So why is it that even an icy blizzard can’t temper the combustible heat between them?