Start Me Up

by Victoria Dahl

  “We’re from two different worlds.”

  That struck close to home, so Lori just shrugged. “I am sorry. I’m walking into The Bar right now if you want to meet us here tonight.”

  “Are you insane?”

  “Should I tell Juan you said hi?”

  Helen screeched. Then she huffed, “I hate you,” and hung up. Poor girl. She had it bad. If only she could relax and embrace the hot sex as Lori was doing.

  After checking to be sure the phone was still on that lovely vibrate setting, Lori stuffed it into her pocket and tugged open the heavy oak door. The thick odor of beer drifted over her, happily lacking the stale cigarette stench of years past. Stepping into the dim room, she idly wondered if there were any states where you could smoke in bars these days. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud inhalation.

  “Lori,” Molly barked from a few feet away.

  Lori squinted toward the bar, waiting for her eyes to adjust. Just as she picked out Molly’s blond hair, her friend sprang to her feet and pointed.

  “Lori Love, who are you having sex with? And don’t you lie to me!”

  The whole bar froze—of course it did—and all eyes turned toward her. As she looked around in horror, one of the gentleman had the courtesy to tip his cowboy hat, but the rest of them were too busy smirking or ogling her body. “Molly, are you crazy?” she hissed, rushing toward the stools.

  “Me?” Molly countered. “Ben hinted you’d been on a date last night and I didn’t believe it. But look at you!”

  Panicked, Lori looked down to be sure a boob wasn’t hanging out again. “What?”

  “You’re practically…dewy!”

  “Dewy?”

  “You’re all aglow. You think I can’t see that? No wonder you canceled yesterday. You probably still had rug burns on your knees. Oh!” She gasped, pointing toward Lori’s legs. “That’s why you’re wearing jeans!”

  “You’re insane, you know that?”

  Molly threw her hands in the air. “Who is he?” she demanded just as the jukebox faded to a new song. The bar watched, collective brow rising higher.

  “He?” someone whispered from the vicinity of the pool table.

  Great. Just great. Lori collapsed onto a stool and glared at her best friend. “Either keep your voice down or I will go home, pack up my things and leave this town without telling you anything, ever. Got it?”

  Molly blinked and then glanced toward their observers. “Oh, sorry. My bad.” She raised her voice again. “Nothing to see here, people! I was just kidding around.” Then she plopped back into her seat, leaned close and waited.

  Clearly, her best friend was a lunatic.

  Lori tried to rub the embarrassment from her face. “I need a drink.”

  Molly gestured frantically for Juan to hurry, then tapped her shoe against the footrest of the bar. Ping, ping, ping. Juan grinned and waved before he started mixing Lori’s favorite: a green apple martini with three maraschino cherries crowding the bottom. Molly crossed her arms and chewed her lip.

  “You’ve got the patience of a two-year-old,” Lori observed, leaning nonchalantly against the bar just to annoy her friend.

  “Whatever.”

  “What did Ben tell you?”

  “Not enough.”

  Lori smiled. “Do you remember last year when you wouldn’t tell me anything about your job except that it was secret? You even asked for my advice about breaking it to Ben and you still wouldn’t give me a hint.”

  Molly’s eyes stayed on Juan as he carried the brimming glass over and gingerly set it down on the bar. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she muttered.

  “I’m talking about secrets. Naughty, sexy secrets.”

  Molly’s gaze swung back to Lori and locked on. “Drink your drink already, woman. I need details.”

  Grinning, Lori idly picked up her martini glass and sipped at it.

  Molly’s eye twitched. “I should’ve known something was up when I saw Miles’s latest column.”

  “What did it say?”

  “Oh, it was just another dig about you being seen in dress. Miles wants to know why you’ve taken a sudden interest in fashion.”

  Lori cocked her head. “I wondered why Miles showed up on my caller ID. Must be a slow news month.”

  Molly growled.

  “Okay.” Lori finally relented. “I can’t give you any details, but I can tell you I’ve been seeing someone.”

  “‘Seeing’ someone? As in having someone over for tea or as in making the beast with two backs?”

  “Your imagery is less than pretty, but I have, in fact, been getting down and very, very dirty.”

  “I knew it! My God, you look like your joints have been lubricated. Whoever he is, he’s good. So who is he?”

  Lori took another apple-tinted sip. “I’m not at liberty to say.”

  “Oh, yes you are.”

  “Am not.”

  Molly glared. “Don’t be childish. Just tell me who’s puttin’ it to you.” Her glare narrowed as Lori happily sipped from her drink. Then her friend’s face sprang from suspicion to utter shock in the space of a millisecond. “Ohmigod. Oh, my God, it’s Quinn, isn’t it?”

  Crap. “What? No. Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “It is!” She jabbed a finger at Lori’s chest bone. “It’s Quinn. You’re doing my brother!”

  Well, at least she was screeching in a sort of whispery shout that probably didn’t reach farther than the first few tables. “Shut up already! You’re going to get Quinn’s name in the Tribune. And it’s not him,” she added halfheartedly.

  “You’re the worst liar in the world. And I can’t even believe you’re dating my brother and you didn’t tell me. Worst liar and worst friend.”

  Lori sighed and finished off her drink. “I couldn’t tell you. It’s weird.”

  “Weird because he’s my brother or weird because he likes to dress in latex or something?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Because he’s your brother.”

  “Hmm.” She pursed her lips. “Yes, I knew this could be a problem. Damn it. Okay, so no details, just tell me what led up to this shameful, disgusting state of affairs.”

  Juan whistled his way over with the next round of drinks, dark brown eyes twinkling.

  “What’s he so cheerful about?” Molly whispered when he moved away.

  “Helen gave him some of the good stuff.”

  “I thought they’d broken up.”

  Lori cringed. “So did Helen, so don’t say anything to Juan to get his hopes up, just in case it doesn’t work out.”

  “Yikes. Awk-ward! But enough about them…back to you.”

  Lori smiled. “All right. Quinn came by to ask me out. I thought you’d talked to him and I told him in no uncertain terms that I wasn’t going to use him for sex. Needless to say, he was intrigued with my outburst.”

  “I guess!”

  “So, you know…it developed from there.”

  Molly’s face scrunched up. “I can’t get details. Damn it, I wish you were sleeping with someone besides my brother.”

  “Sorry. There’s nothing to be done about it.”

  “Fine. So what happened at your shop last night?”

  Groaning, Lori swirled the liquid in her glass before taking a generous gulp. “Somebody trashed it. Busted out lights and rammed into the bay doors. One of them will have to be replaced.”

  “How much will that cost?”

  “Too much. The guy’s coming out tomorrow to take a look, but I checked online. Whatever it will be, I can’t afford it.”

  Molly cursed under her breath. “Well, what the heck? Who would do that to you?”

  Apparently Ben had said nothing about what he suspected, so she kept her mouth shut and shrugged. “Whoever it is, I doubt we’ll find them, and I doubt even more they’d be the type of people who can afford to pay damages, so I’m screwed.”

  She was staring down at the scarred wood of the bar, thinking she should
tell Ben about James Webster, when she realized that Molly was uncharacteristically silent. When she looked up, her friend studied her face and then glanced down to the drink in Lori’s hand. “What?” Lori pressed.

  “Nothing. I’m just trying to decide if you’re tipsy enough to broach the subject.”

  She straightened and frowned. “What subject?”

  “The subject of you moving. Why don’t you sell, Lori?”

  Her mood plummeted. “Not you, too.”

  “Oh, I’m not the only one who thinks you need to move on? I wonder why. Maybe it’s because you’re stuck.”

  Lori set her jaw. “I like Tumble Creek. It’s a great place. You came back here.”

  “It is a great place. I know you love it. So do I. But you had dreams once upon a time. Goals that had nothing to do with Tumble Creek. You were going to Europe, weren’t you? You planned to travel the world. I remember, because in high school it sounded kind of scary to me.”

  “Plans change,” Lori muttered. “Life goes on.”

  Molly crossed her arms and eyed her intently. “Oh, really? Is your life going on? Because it looks like you’re standing in place. Sell the damn garage, sell your dad’s land and get the hell out of Dodge.”

  “I can’t get rid of the garage.”

  “Why not?”

  She didn’t want to talk about this, damn it. Talking didn’t do any good, it only made the truth more inescapable. But Molly didn’t look as though she would budge on the issue. Fine. “It’s not that simple, all right? The damn garage isn’t worth that much, and once I need to sell it, it’s worth even less. The old dump out back is probably a fucking Superfund site, because I’m pretty sure there was no oil recycling program when my grandfather opened this place. They certainly didn’t bother sending the old tires away. Anyone who bought it would want it cleaned up first, because the grandfather clause ends once it’s sold. Shit, it would probably cost me money to get out of here!”

  Molly blinked. “Oh. I didn’t know.”

  “And I can sell my dad’s land, but with all the damn bills, it won’t bring in enough to make much of a difference, so what’s the point of getting rid of something that made him so happy?”

  Lori felt a warm hand close around hers and realized she’d closed her eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” Molly whispered.

  Shaking her head, she swallowed hard. “Hey, I’ve got a house and a job and a tow truck, right? That’s more than some people ever have. In fact, some people leave everything they know to come to this country and have a life like mine. There’s no reason to feel sorry for myself.”

  Molly’s hand squeezed hers.

  “And I’m good at what I do, so fuck it.”

  “Yeah,” Molly echoed. “Fuck it.”

  Lori raised her drink to that, and set it back on the counter empty.

  “Let’s get one more round,” Molly suggested. “And talk about something else, huh?”

  She had to nod, because she was afraid she’d start crying if she opened her mouth. She was stuck and going nowhere. Her life was complete shit, and she was still afraid to throw it away and start all over. She wasn’t eighteen anymore. She just couldn’t do it.

  Molly squeezed again. “I didn’t mean to make you into one of those sad, drunk women who sits at the bar and weeps into her drink until she passes out.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Hey, maybe Quinn could get you a discount on a new door. He knows lots of suppliers and contractors.”

  “I haven’t told him.”

  “What? Why not?”

  Lori sighed and rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to argue about it. That man’s got a nasty temper.”

  “Uh…what?”

  “Your brother. He’s just like your dad when he gets mad. Blustery and—”

  “You’re kidding, right? My brother is one of the most laid-back guys around. Some might even say removed.”

  “Well, not with me. We get in an argument every time we see each other. It’s ridiculous.” And hot.

  Juan approached, wiping his hands on a towel, biceps flexing. He’d lost weight since he’d begun dating Helen and was starting to look more like the star football player he’d been in high school. But his smile still looked like a happy five-year-old’s. “Another drink, ladies?”

  “Just one,” Lori said, then added, “I mean one for each of us, of course. Let’s not be ridiculous.”

  “Got it.”

  Lori glanced over at Molly, and her smile froze. Molly’s mouth was hanging open, her eyes glued to Lori’s face. “What?”

  Molly shook her head and then blurted, “Quinn is totally falling in love with you!”

  “What?”

  She leaned forward and rested both hands on Lori’s knees. “Quinn doesn’t argue with anybody. He’s too caught up in his own thoughts to get involved in the problems of mere mortals. But he argues with you all the time? He’s falling for you, Lori.”

  “No! Are you insane? He’s not my boyfriend. We’re not even dating.”

  Molly blew a disgusted sigh past her lips. “Use your brain. You read romance novels all the time. What are the most obvious signs of true love? Drama! Arguments! Tension!”

  “Those are also the most obvious signs of domestic abuse. Those books are fiction, which you should know since you write them.” Lori tried her best to beat down the shocked panic bubbling up in her chest. “We have chemistry, all right? It’s the sexual tension making us fight. Quinn is not in love with me.”

  “Not yet.”

  “Not ever. He’s not my boyfriend. We’re not dating. It’s sex. Just sex. I’m using your brother for his body and that is it. He absolutely understands that.”

  Molly squinted. “This is so weird. I feel like Bambi just morphed into a raging nymphomaniac.”

  “Well, Bambi was a boy, so I’m not sure what you’re trying to say—”

  “Bambi was a boy?”

  “I think so. Didn’t he grow up to be king of the forest or something?”

  “Huh.” Molly shrugged.

  “Anyway…” The fluttery pain had finally left her chest, thank God. “I’ve only been seeing him for a few days. There is nothing deep going on. So let’s drop it.”

  Molly dropped it and only gave Lori a few pointed looks through the next hour.

  The idea turned out to be sticky, however, and kept clinging to Lori’s mind despite its utter ridiculousness. She had to forcibly pry it off, but finally succeeded at about one in the morning when she drifted off to sleep.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  This was wrong. So very, very wrong. And she was enjoying every second of it.

  The tight cords bit into her wrists each time she pulled or shifted against the rope that held them to the headboard. Her ankles were tied also, though not together. No, they were spread wide, tethered to opposite bedposts, leaving her sex exposed and open. Caroline dug her heels into the sheets and lifted her hips, struggling…and offering her lover an even better view. His dark eyes gleamed from within the black mask that covered most of his face.

  She’d never seen his face, had no idea who he was, and his anonymity only made this wickedness sweeter. Nervousness drove her blood harder against her throbbing clit, and Caroline moaned.

  QUINN NEARLY MOANED, too, thinking of the story he’d read three times the night before. He glanced over to Lori’s legs framed against the dark leather of the passenger seat. Did she really want those legs spread apart and tied down? Did she really want him to have complete control over her body?

  The book he’d stolen from her bedroom had been fairly well used, clearly read more than once. But that story…that story had fallen open naturally, the spine broken into submission.

  He shifted in his seat, drawing Lori’s eye. She smiled. “So tell me what you were working on today.”

  Quinn cringed. “Did I mention how sorry I was about being late?”

  “Yes, and I believe I mentioned that I knew you’d be late, so it’s
no big deal. Heck, I wasn’t even going to call for another ten minutes, so you beat expectations.”

  “Sorry. I was actually ready too early, so I sat down to look over some plans and…Well.”

  “It’s not a problem.” She laughed. “Quinn, you were like that in junior high, for God’s sake. I’m not taking it personally.”

  “I don’t want you to think you weren’t on my mind or—”

  She put a hand on his thigh and effectively shut him up. He stopped worrying about his tardiness and started wondering if her hand was going to slide a little higher. He had a one-track mind after all, and architecture had been run off the rails the moment Lori Love had opened her door and smiled at him. Sex with Lori was currently the only engine building up steam.

  Her blue dress was even more lovely than he remembered, probably because he knew he’d be unzipping it later, letting it fall, exposing her smooth, snowy skin. Was she naked under there? Or was she wearing a pair of demure white panties like she’d been wearing the first time they’d had sex? If she was, Quinn thought maybe he’d tie her up before removing them, leave her looking innocent and sweet as he stretched her out on the bed.

  Oh, crap, he had to stop thinking like that. His dick had jumped past pleasantly interested to throbbing. The little circles she was drawing against his thigh weren’t helping, either. Her hand slid higher.

  “Lori—”

  “My, my,” she purred as her touch slipped sizzling heat against his erection. “What do we have here?”

  “Don’t encourage me,” he ground out.

  She laughed, the husky sound like shot silk against his skin. “Oh, but it’s fun. What are you thinking about over there?” She traced his cock, sending bright shocks through his gut.

  Quinn pulled into an empty space on the street, thinking bitterly of the underground parking garage on the other side of town. If he were parked there, he’d happily show her exactly what he was thinking of, with only a small chance of being arrested.

  Throwing the car into Park, Quinn turned to face the woman torturing him. “I was thinking that after the party, I’d take you back to my place. I have a whole drawer full of ties, and I understand they’re quite effective at keeping wicked girls like you under control.”