Love, Diamonds, and Spades

by Violet Duke

  What in the?

  “Babe, the Ace of Spades is literally the highest card in the deck.”

  “Says who?”

  “Says everyone.”

  She shook her head stubbornly. “Not in my book. The ace is the same as a one, so it’s the lowest card in the deck.” She jutted her chin out and dared him to argue that logic.

  The little sneak.

  “You didn’t establish that the Ace wasn’t a one,” she continued all business-like, sighing forlornly. “I guess the only fair thing here is to pull again.” Laughing blue eyes blinked innocently at him.

  “You’re lucky you’re cute. Fine, we’ll pull again. But this time, we’re establishing that the Ace is the highest card.”

  “I agree a hundred percent,” she said straight-faced. “Too bad you didn’t mention that earlier.”

  God, he couldn’t get enough of her. “You pull first my pretty little cheat.”

  She picked a card.

  “Queen of Diamonds!” she announced smugly.

  “Uh huh, sure, I can see you really hate gambling,” he teased as he went to pull a card. Glancing at it, he burst out laughing. “King of Hearts.”

  “What?!” She crossed her arms in front of her with a huff, but she couldn’t stop the laugh trickling out of her. “Darn. And I was already planning to make you wash all our comforters and sheets, too.”

  He shuddered. “That’s karma for you, sweet thing. Because of your heinous wager, the universe saw fit for me to win.” Grinning, he tilted his head and studied her now slightly nervous expression. “So...anything I want, no questions asked...” Damn, that inspired all sorts of wicked ideas.

  “Wh-what are you going to pick for us to do?”

  He leaned over to plant one long, hungry kiss on her lips and then whispered, “You’ll have to wait and see.”

  “That’s mean. You’re just drawing this out to make me crazy.”

  He thought about it and gave her a nod. “Yeah, that does sound like something I would do. So let’s go with that.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  QUINN STUDIED Rylan warily, listening to his seemingly innocent question with supreme skepticism. After that epic first kiss that she’d been hoping for an encore performance of for the past week, Quinn had absolutely no idea what was going on in their relationship. She’d yet to even see second base with the man, and lately, he’d been keeping them both firmly planted in the dugout. But today, however, the man was a walking suggestive comment.

  She suspected he was keeping her guessing on purpose.

  Or he was secretly hiding multiple personalities.

  Honestly, she just couldn’t believe this steamy-eyed man sitting before her now was the same knight in shining armor who’d shown up at her home last night armed with dinner for five.

  Yesterday afternoon, her sister Penny had called to explain she needed to stay late at work exactly five minutes before Penny’s usual sitter had dropped Quinn’s twin nieces off on her doorstep. While she loved her nieces to pieces, they were two more crazy preschoolers to watch and make dinner for, and she was out of groceries she couldn’t go out and get because she only had one booster seat in her car. So, Quinn had immediately called Luke for back-up.

  When he hadn’t answered, shortly after the kids had decided to let the dog in and ride him like a horse, Quinn called Rylan.

  A half hour later, Rylan swooped in and placed groceries on the counter along with a kiss on her lips in a honey-I’m-home way before she even got out a hello.

  Then, unjustly, it took him only a second to round up the kids and get them to sit still for a Candy Land battle while she cooked dinner. They ate together at the table, talking all the while about playground politics and current preschool events. And afterward, he played Wii with the girls while she gave Cooper a bath, and then he read them all a story until her sister came to pick the girls up.

  The whole thing could’ve been scripted for a family vehicle commercial.

  And now here they were on their ‘High Card’ date.

  …An early morning at Desert Confections.

  Helping her work.

  The man was so odd.

  And now he was asking her odd questions.

  “So you’re saying a spa package isn’t something you’d enjoy?” pressed Rylan as he filled another bag of chocolate bonbons and passed it to Quinn for ribbon tying.

  Though even the words ‘spa package’ were a temptation to all her tired muscles, Quinn shook her head and reached in to remove the excess bonbons from the bag he’d just overfilled. His eyeballing the task was annoying her to no end. While she vigilantly calculated everything, he calculated nothing...and not just when it came to chocolates. “Why are you asking anyway? You couldn’t have entered the random romance challenge because of our conflict of interest.”

  He raised a brow. “Are you going on record and saying we’re in a relationship, sugar plum?”

  “What? No! And for the last time, stop calling me that!”

  “Can’t. You can call yourself the Wicked Witch of the West all you want, but ever since you told me how you danced ballet in high school, I see you and get wicked Sugar Plum Fairy fantasies instead.” His slow grin turned seductive. “Want me to show you how well we dance?”

  No need. Her mind could vividly replay every cataclysmic tongue tango they’d ever had. She took a wary step back. “What is with you? I practically threw myself at you last night after Cooper went to bed and you said you wanted to help me work today. Now here we are working and you’re being…”

  She huffed out an exasperated breath. “You know what? Clearly, you don’t know what you want, and I don’t like being strung along. So why don’t we just agree to be friends and nothing more. That’ll put an end to all the questions and the mixed signals once and for all.”

  A flash of emotion burned in his eyes before he said in a low, clear voice, “Trust me, Quinn, I know what I want. But what you have to get through your stubborn mind is that what I want is more than just a good time on your sofa.”

  She blushed red hot and he immediately turned the heat back down.

  “Stop thinking so much,” he murmured, pulling her slowly into his arms. She went willingly. “Let’s get back to my sexy Sugar Plum Fairy fantasies of you instead. Just so you know, I was having trouble picturing the costume—it’s been years since I’ve seen The Nutcracker—so I had to take liberties with it.” He nuzzled her neck gently. “If I’m being totally honest, the costume my mind conjured up consisted of nothing more than you with a snowflake scepter and a smile.”

  She struggled not to chuckle. “Pervert. And FYI, the snowflake scepter is from Candy Land, genius, not The Nutcracker.”

  “Candy Land?” he played dumb. “Wasn’t she the ruler of the Land of Sweets?”

  A giggle was building in her belly. “That’s the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker.”

  “Exactly. The one who dances in the snowflakes for Clara—”

  “Stop! You’re mixing all the characters up!” she laughed. Now she really regretted telling him she’d taken ballet lessons until she was a teen, and how badly she’d wanted to be chosen as the Sugar Plum Fairy in her final ballet winter recital before she stopped.

  “I just love it when you laugh like that, sugar.” He sipped kisses along her jawline. “It happens so rarely.” His lips curved up sexily and moved to her ear.

  “Wow, calling me a grouch—you really know how to flatter a woman.” Quinn was more amused than insulted, partly because she heard it all the time, but mostly because it was hard to get upset at any words being used like a feather against her skin.

  “Your trigger-happy witchiness is not exactly a national secret.” He upgraded his nuzzling to nibbling. “I think that’s why seeing you laugh or smile is what does it for me.”

  Now what was ‘it’ and how did ‘it’ do it for him? Quinn was barely following what he was saying. He could’ve been singing the alphabet song right now and she’d still
want to rub up against him like a cat in heat. But she didn’t.

  Barely.

  He slipped a button of her blouse free from its buttonhole—a methodically chosen one located right above her navel so his thumb could now take advantage and graze the warm skin there. “Every time you laugh, I can’t help but wonder how it would feel to tickle you till you’re breathless while you’re gripped like a glove around me.” Another well-chosen button was set free, opening her blouse just enough to reveal the scalloped edges of her lacy bra.

  Her eyes dilated until there was only a thin blue ring around her dark pupils. “You’re impossible,” she managed to breathe, though thinking was still far behind.

  “Are you saying you want me to stop?”

  She made an inarticulate sound of muffled pleasure when he pressed a kiss to the center of her bra, his tongue teasing a sliver of skin beneath it. “Yes?” she bluffed.

  Rylan sighed and looked up at her. “Man, you really are a nutcracker.”

  That did it. She started laughing uncontrollably, her emotions having gone completely bonkers.

  His eyes flared with heat. “I warned you...”

  Oh dear lord, her laughter really did turn him on. She ducked past him and his tempting I-want-you-now expression to the other side of the display counter. Which had no exit. “Rylan, you do know the storefront is not made of one-way glass, right?”

  At the telling blush of…fascination over her own observation, he grinned.

  He continued to stalk her. Until her back bumped into the wall. End of the road.

  “Look.” She tried for stern but failed miserably as the situation continued to evade her control. “Just because Luke is at his home kitchen this morning doesn’t mean he won’t stop by here,” she lied. “And bring-your-sex-to-work day really is a holiday reserved for business owners like Dani and Luke—that company perk is most assuredly not in employee contracts.”

  A twitch of humor tipped his lips.

  “Plus, I need to have all this chocolate packaging done before we open in an hour,” she added primly, proud of her ability to continue reasoning despite her imagination having gone on the attack with images of Rylan stripped down to nothing…her atop the nearest counter…

  And that’s when her brain lost all control of the helm.

  Pirated thoughts of the dirtiest variety soon had her noting the optimal butt-level height of the counters. They really did look to have a sturdy foundation...

  Rylan muttered a silent oath. “You’re killing me. Stop looking at the counters like that. It’s plenty strong to do everything you’re fantasizing. You really want to take a run at the scenario those pretty eyes of yours are begging for? Me taking you right here?”

  Damn him. And damn her eyes for being portals to her mind, or whatever part of her body was currently in control.

  “Sugar, I think it’s time you tell me what you want,” he sighed gruffly. “A no-tomorrows quickie on the counter or the whole package with me?” Stopping a few inches in front of her, he cupped her cheek and gazed into her eyes. “Personally, I want you to pick the whole package,” he whispered against her lips. “Do you know that if I had been allowed to enter Luke’s Random Acts of Romance challenge, I would’ve had a hundred entries in mind? All for you.”

  A flush of pleasure spread across her cheeks.

  “I’ve thought about at least that many ways to win you over.” He trailed his thumb along her jawline. “I figured if I had entered the challenge, odds were I would’ve won the prize due to the sheer volume of my entries alone. So, I went ahead and awarded myself the prize. Well, half of it, at least.” He pulled out an embossed ivory card from his back pocket.

  “You bought a certificate from that spa?” Quinn recognized the ivory card immediately because she’d actually been the one to pick the spa for Luke’s contest. Of course she’d never had the time or money to ever go there as a customer herself, but she’d heard good things.

  “For you. It’s a single certificate because I didn’t want you to feel there were strings attached to it. I know how hard you work and I wanted you to have a day to relax. Even if you don’t want to see where this can lead between us, it’s still yours.” He kissed her gently, silently giving her the promise that there was no pressure to say yes and no guilt in saying no.

  She looked at the spa certificate and then at the sinfully hot man asking her to let him love her in the way she’d always dreamed—two of the sweetest offers she’d ever received.

  “Yes...I’m saying yes,” she replied breathlessly. “I don’t just want a ride on the counter. I want the whole package.” She looked into his eyes. “With you.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  THIS WAS SO not good.

  Quinn watched the video of Dani’s news interview about the chocolate and beer throwdown again, hoping it would sound different the second time around.

  Nope. Still really bad.

  “Knock, knock.”

  Quinn jumped. “Luke! What are you doing here?” She propped her hip awkwardly on her desk and glanced uneasily at her computer.

  His eyes narrowed. “What’s going on?” He bee-lined it to her desk.

  “Nothing!”

  “You’ve always been a bad liar.” Sweeping her to the side, he peered at her computer.

  “You know, I really need to get back to—”

  His look silenced her. Pushing her hands away from the keyboard, he rewound the video back to the beginning and hit play.

  Quinn felt helpless as she watched her best friend watch the video and proceed to get his heart kicked right where it hurt. Especially for Luke. She knew him, she knew he was already in love with Dani. And according to that video, the feeling was one-sided.

  “Luke, I’m sure she didn’t mean that how it sounded.”

  He remained silent, staring at the blank screen long after the clip ended.

  Quinn put a comforting hand on his arm. “Don’t blow this out of proportion.”

  He shrugged her off and headed out the door.

  She ran after him. “Luke, stop. Cool down a bit before you head over there.”

  “I just want to talk to her,” he said quietly.

  Quinn just barely managed to lock up the shop before she caught up with Luke heading into Ocotillos.

  Then they stood there together in silence just outside of Dani’s office seeing the same thing.

  Dani and Rylan together, heads low, voices hushed in deep conversation, arms wrapped tight around each other. Rylan gently smoothing back Dani’s hair, and pressing gentle kisses to her forehead as she spilled her heart out.

  Without a word, Quinn turned and left.

  * * * * *

  FROM WHERE HE’D planted himself so he wouldn’t miss her, Rylan caught sight of Quinn and snagged her elbow, stopping her on the sidewalk just outside of Ocotillos.

  “Leaving so soon, sugar?”

  She stiffly averted her eyes and kept silent.

  He eyed her mutinous expression. “What evil is that busy lil head of yours convincing you I’ve done now?” he asked with forced calm. “Because whatever it is, you’ve got it all wrong.”

  “Let go of me.” She tried in vain to pull herself out of his grip.

  “Not until you tell me why you’re giving me the cold shoulder.”

  “Why don’t you go back to Dani’s office? It looked pretty warm in there,” she tossed out casually, ceasing her struggles, and instead cloaking herself with an air of indifference.

  Oh, hell no.

  Rylan swiftly tugged her against his chest and effectively vaporized the distance she was trying to put between them. “Warm, huh? Is that what you think you saw?” He tilted her stubborn face up to his. “Well then I guess I’d better show you what hot looks like instead.”

  His mouth seized hers in an unyielding kiss that didn’t just burn, it scorched. Igniting new levels of heat he never knew existed, he didn’t relent until he felt her anger finally dissolve. “I’d never hurt you like that,
” he whispered roughly. “What you saw was comfort for a friend, nothing more. You’re overreacting—”

  “I’m not,” she bit out, looking more confused than upset now.

  “Quinn, honey, I swear. We’re just friends—”

  “I’m not jealous!”

  There was an underlying tone of frustrated honesty there that had him pausing. He was missing something here.

  She stared at him, looking almost lost. “I wasn’t jealous. Not really. I was annoyed, of course. And yes, I wanted to pull your arms off and smack you with ‘em for daring to put your lips on another woman after everything you said at Desert Confections yesterday.”

  “I told you—”

  She narrowed her eyes at him then in exasperation. “Oh, please. If you saw me cuddled up with a man the way you were with Dani just now, confiding in him and letting him kiss my tears away, you’d have gone ballistic on his ass.”

  “Damn straight,” he growled.

  One perfectly arched exactly-you-moron brow winged up to make her silent point.

  “Fine,” he conceded. “I get it, okay. You’re right. You have every right to want to yank my arms off and beat me with them. But you have to see it from my perspective. Dani’s one of my best friends, and I’ve always seen her as a little sister. Whereas any man touching you wouldn’t be able to hold onto a single friggin’ platonic thought in his head no matter how hard he tried. Trust me, I know,” he rumbled with feeling.

  Her eyes crinkled at the corners over his grousing but she remained silent.

  “I’m sure it looked bad,” he continued, brushing his thumb over her still-heated cheek. “And I’m sorry if it hurt you unintentionally. But from now on, don’t stomp off without checking if your baseless ideas about me aren’t in fact insane.”

  “I didn’t. Have any ideas about you, I mean. I wasn’t mad at you, honest.”

  “I was…scared.”

  Concern streaked through his veins. “Scared about what, honey?”

  “You and Dani up there. That was an instant replay of one of the worst moments of my past—the night I’d caught Brody having sex with a groupie…when I was pregnant with Cooper.”