Fool Me Once

by Katee Robert

  “Kind of like me? God, Quinn, how the hell does your neck hold up that big head of yours?”

  “Lots of muscles.”

  She snorted, but then lifted her head. “I just…” A deep breath. “I don’t do the whole sex without attachments thing. It’s not my jam.”

  He wanted to ask for more information, but doing so ran the risk of him spooking her, and that was the last thing he wanted to do. “Then let’s be friends with benefits.”

  “We aren’t friends.”

  “We could be.” He could actually feel her gearing up to argue with him, so he took a step back and grabbed her hand. “Come on.”

  “I will not be coming on anything.”

  Quinn laughed. “That remains to be seen, but that’s not on the books right now.” He towed her into the bathroom and guided her to sit on the edge of the tub. “We could be friends.”

  “You keep saying that. I keep not believing you.”

  Hell, he wasn’t sure he believed it himself, but the thought of never going there with Aubry again wasn’t one he was willing to accept. Not now. Not when they had so much left to explore between them. The thought of never touching her again… Yeah, he wasn’t ready to give that up. So he started the hot water and blocked the drain. “Then I guess I’ll just have to prove it to you.”

  “How? By drowning me in the bathtub?”

  He shot her a look. “Has anyone ever told you that you are paranoid to an excessive degree?”

  “If they have, I’ve ignored them because they’re obviously plotting my demise.” She gave a small smile. “But can you blame me? There are a lot of scary things out there in the world.”

  “Peaches, there are a lot of scary things in your head.”

  “It’s called an overactive imagination, combined with a lovely dose of anxiety that I was born with.” She shrugged. “But even so, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean the world isn’t out to get you.”

  “If you say so.” He tested the water temperature and, satisfied, pointed at her. “Strip.”

  “Strip?” She blinked. “I thought this was some kind of seduction. Aren’t you going to run me a bath and slowly remove my clothes while whispering sweet nothings in my ear and then wash my hair while I bliss out?”

  “What the hell kind of books have you been reading?”

  “Fiction, obviously.” She grumbled under her breath, stood, and took off her clothes. He wanted to ask her about her tattoos, but that could wait, too. This wasn’t about that. While she was divesting herself of her panties, he strode into the room and rummaged through her bag to find her headphones and cell phone. This wasn’t going to solve all their issues, but it would at least ensure she wasn’t calling the whole thing off because of a knee-jerk reaction.

  He refused to examine too closely why he wasn’t willing to just let it end.

  Quinn made it back into the bathroom in time to see her slip into the water. The sight of all her skin wet made his mouth go dry and his body go hard. He almost—almost—threw his good intentions out the window right then and there. But it would mean short-term gain and he’d lose her again in the morning—for good this time. “We’ll talk tomorrow.” He set her stuff on the edge of the tub and walked out of the bathroom, closing the door softly behind him.

  …

  Despite Aubry’s best intentions, they didn’t talk that night. She took her time in the bath and when she walked out of the bathroom, Quinn bundled her up into bed, turned out the lights, and, for all intents and purposes, seemed to fall fast asleep with her in his arms. She lay staring at the ceiling for what felt like the entire night, wondering when her life had gotten so weird.

  Between one blink and the next, dawn came. Or that’s what it felt like. In reality, it was entirely possible the sound of Quinn’s steady breathing had lulled her into a false sense of security and she passed out cold. She’d never admit it, though.

  Aubry sat up and shoved her hair away from her eyes. A quick check of the clock had her panic flying into full throttle. “Oh my God, wake up.” She shoved Quinn’s shoulder and scrambled out of bed. They only had an hour before the demo, and it would take at least half that to find the room and get signed in and… “We have to go. Right now.”

  “What?” Quinn sat up, looking so deliciously rumpled that she might have reconsidered her decision not to jump back into bed with him if they weren’t already so late.

  She rushed to her suitcase and dug through it. Nothing was right. It didn’t matter that she’d played with some of these guys in the past—this was a first impression kind of situation. I am awful at first impressions. This was why she didn’t meet people face-to-face. She could fake her way through interactions online because she had the comfort of either her apartment or Cups and Kittens. She was in her safe places. There was nothing safe about DeathCon. There would be so many people and some of them would even want to, like, hold down a conversation with her. “I can’t do this.”

  Quinn’s hands settled on her shoulders. “Breathe.” He reached past her and grabbed a pair of her favorite jeans and a black T-shirt that said Dear Nasa, your mom thought I was big enough. Love, Pluto. Then he guided her to her feet and practically shoved her into the bathroom. “Shower. You have ten minutes.”

  That got her moving again. “Thanks.” She slammed the door in his face and rushed to shower and washed her hair. After she was dry and dressed, she pulled her still-wet hair up into a ponytail and threw on some shimmery black eyeliner and mascara. It wasn’t too crazy, but between that and the slicked back hair, it gave a certain don’t fuck with me vibe that she hoped would actually keep people away from her.

  Aubry opened the door to find Quinn taking up the entire doorway. My vibe and the giant by my side. “Did I take too long?”

  “That’s a trap question and I’m not about to answer it.” He nudged her into the bedroom and shut the door between them. A few seconds later the shower started.

  She stared at the door, her fears taken a temporary backseat to the image of Quinn in the shower, the water coursing over his big body. His big cock. She shivered. They hadn’t actually had shower sex yesterday, but he’d more than proven he could toss her around like a sexy rag doll. It would be nothing for him to lift her and pin her against the tile wall and slam home. She’d be helpless to do anything but cling to him as he pounded them both to orgasm. Maybe…

  “Peaches?”

  She jumped. While she’d been fantasizing about him, he’d managed to shower and get dressed. He looked… He looked downright edible. Down, girl. She grabbed her purse. “Let’s go.”

  “Hold your horses.”

  “I know you might have a hard time reading a clock with your cowboy education, but right now it says that we are in serious danger of being late and I can’t be late and walk in there and have everyone stare at me.” She slapped a hand over her mouth. “That was mean. Actually, that was worse than mean. I don’t think you’re stupid. Aggravating as fuck, yes. Stupid, no.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you done yet?”

  She paused, considered, and then nodded. “Yes.”

  “Good.” He pointed at her feet. “You might want some shoes before you walk out the door.”

  She looked down, cringing at the sight of her Marceline socks peeking out the hem of her jeans. “Shoes. Right.” Aubry yanked on her combat boots, the motions of lacing them up calming her down, just a little. “Have I mentioned how nervous I am?”

  “You don’t have to, being as how I’m not an idiot.”

  She winced. “Sorry about that.”

  “No, you aren’t. And that’s okay.” He motioned between them. “This is what we are—we snap and snarl and insult each other. The fact that we also fuck like nobody’s business doesn’t change that.”

  She didn’t see how it couldn’t change that, but if she tried to argue, they’d definitely be late. So Aubry pushed to her feet and kept her mouth shut on that subject. “You ready?”
/>   “I was born ready.”

  She snorted and headed for the door. “Yeah, yeah.”

  It wasn’t until they hit the lobby—and the masses there—that she remembered she’d been anxious in the first place. Aubry rocked back on her heels, her breathing picking up, but Quinn was there, his hand on the small of her back, his voice in her ear. “It will be okay. Take my hand.”

  She obeyed before she had a chance to decide if she wanted to hold his hand. He moved in front of her, their connection a tether he used to tow her through the crowd. As he promised, people got the hell out of his way, leaving a nice little path for her to walk in. She tried not to notice that, though. Instead, Aubry focused on the spot between his shoulder blades. His back was broad enough that she couldn’t see past it without trying, and she had absolutely no interest in trying.

  It occurred to her that Quinn might not know where they were going, but she would have to yell at him or pull him to a stop to ask, and right now the only way she was getting through this was to keep moving. The room changed, the walls much closer together, but there were just as many people. They pressed in on all sides, just beyond the barrier of Quinn’s shoulders, and she huddled closer to him, until she was almost stepping on the back of his heels.

  He walked into a room and instantly the noise level halved. She waited one breath, two, three, and finally gathered the courage to look around. The space was dominated by six big-screen televisions, each with a pair of chairs in front of it. There were probably a dozen dudes there, and they all turned to look at her with interest, some of them more polite about it than others.

  A harried-looking kid who couldn’t be more than eighteen hurried over. “Aubry Kaiser?”

  “Yes.” Her voice was barely audible, so she cleared her throat and tried again. “That’s me.”

  “Great. You’re the last one.” He turned around and raised his voice. “Take your seats. There’s a short video and then you’ll have the opportunity to play through the demo in pairs.”

  She could do this. She’d already done the hard part of getting to the room itself. All she had to do now was walk over and sit down.

  If she could just get her legs to move.

  Quinn palmed her ass, making her jump. His cocky grin was as annoying as it was familiar. “Have fun. When you’re done, we’re going to renegotiate.”

  The nerve. “There’s nothing to renegotiate.” She glared. “I think I made my position pretty damn clear yesterday.”

  “I want some clarification of your…position.” There was enough innuendo laced into the last word that she’d have to be spectacularly oblivious to have missed it.

  “You’re insufferable.”

  He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “And yet it was my cock you were coming on roughly twenty-four hours ago.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Oh, we’ll have a conversation all right. Just you wait.” And then she marched to the empty seat in front of the nearest screen and plopped onto it. It wasn’t until the video started that she paused long enough to wonder if Quinn had provoked her on purpose to help her settle in.

  Chapter Eleven

  Quinn couldn’t care less about some game with alien shooters, but Aubry was into it, so he paid attention. It didn’t seem that different from the other first-person shooters out there with the exception that someone in the marketing department had taken the time to fully customize each of the playable characters to the people here. Aubry’s character was a dead ringer for herself, minus the tattoos.

  Once they started playing, all he could do was watch her. She stared at the screen with a laser focus that was seriously sexy, her entire body still with the exception of her hands on the controls. He glanced at the screen in time to watch her take out two of the other players—guys directly behind them if the curses that rose were any indication. Over and over again, she evaded attacks, turning them around on the other team and racking up a truly impressive kill count. When the final screen popped up, she sat back and cracked her neck with a grin that hit him like a sucker punch. “And that’s how it’s done.”

  This was her element—where she let go of her anxiety and prickly walls designed to keep people at a distance and just let herself be happy. More than happy. She looked downright joyful.

  It was staggering to witness.

  The guy next to her looked like he hadn’t seen direct sunlight anytime in the last decade. His shoulders were hunched and he was thin enough that Quinn would worry about breaking something if he slapped him on the back. He turned to Aubry¸ with hero worship in his eyes. “You’re MistressRed13.”

  “The very one.” Her smile didn’t so much as dim at the human interaction.

  “I don’t know if you remember, but I played backup for you against that evil overlord centipede, Claws. What you can do with an assault rifle is just poetic.”

  As he watched, she relaxed and chatted with the guy. Apparently they’d played together more than once, and the way they talked about the game was completely foreign to Quinn. He liked things he could get his hands on and really dig into. There was nothing about virtual reality that made him feel more alive. He’d never been able to get into any of the games he’d played, let alone on the level Aubry and this guy—Kurt, his name was—were talking about right now. He’d never be able to share that with her.

  What the hell are you even talking about? The only thing he wanted to share with her was orgasms. Who cared if she liked a game he wasn’t the least bit interested in, or that she’d probably eventually settle down with a guy like Kurt—a guy who got her?

  He made himself stop and really consider that. There was nothing overtly wrong with Kurt. Nothing except the fact that he’d never be able to give it to Aubry the way she liked it. And he was so busy kissing her ass, would he really be able to challenge her or help her get more comfortable in a social situation or, fuck, act as a wall between her and her fears?

  Quinn didn’t like the thought of her with someone else. He didn’t like that shit at all. And knowing that it wasn’t what either of them signed on for didn’t change a damn thing. He’d actually enjoyed most of the last few days with Aubry. He wasn’t ready to let her go, and he sure as fuck wasn’t about to do it before his sister’s wedding. A few more days. We’ll figure this shit out after that.

  That didn’t change the fact he wanted nothing more than to throw her over his shoulder and haul her ass back to the hotel room to fuck her seven ways to Sunday until he was all she could think about.

  The lights came up, signaling the end of the demo. Aubry turned to him with a happy grin, and it struck him that this was the first non-sexual situation where he’d seen her truly let go of a lot of the walls she kept around herself. He might not understand the whole gaming community thing, but these truly were her people. So he tried to smile. “That was pretty cool.”

  “Pretty cool? Are you kidding me? That was… There are no words for what that was. They’re using a new processor and so the graphics are next-level shit. There isn’t another game out there on the market that can match this.” She actually wiggled with joy. “Oh my God, Quinn, thank you for this. Seriously, being able to see this game on the ground level of production is something I’m going to remember even when I’m ancient and have Alzheimer’s and have forgotten all my cats’ names.”

  He stared, not sure if he wanted to kiss her or just sit back and watch her be happy and free for a little while longer. “You want to hang out here for a while?”

  “Yeah, you totally should.” Kurt sidled up to her, and Quinn was not a fan of how the guy blatantly checked her out.

  She hesitated and then took a careful step closer to Quinn. “Thanks, but I’ll probably just see you on the interwebs.” It was almost comical how the other guy’s face fell when she stepped up against Quinn’s side and beneath his arm. “See you later, Kurt.”

  They walked out of the room, and her casual embrace turned into something more along the lines of a clinging spider monkey. Quinn
kept them moving because he had a feeling if they stopped he might have to carry her out of here. To distract her, he said, “I think you broke poor Kurt’s heart.”

  “I doubt it. He was blinded by my Deathmatch prowess and it understandably made him fall a little in love with me.”

  He barked out a laugh. “That’s some pretty magical skills that game has if it can make a man fall in love with you.” It was easier to laugh about it and make a joke than face the fact that Aubry no doubt would end up with a guy who’d fall in love with her at some point. His stomach twisted at the thought. “I think it was more the fit of your jeans.”

  “Hardly.” She snorted, keeping her head down, so she was almost half turned to him and away from the crowd around them. It made walking somewhat of a challenge, but Quinn was willing to do what it took to keep her from panicking. If this was helping, he’d walk like a damn crab.

  Aubry’s hand’s fisted around the fabric of his shirt, but her voice was mostly light. “When you play as much as we do, sometimes you forget what it’s like to interact with the opposite sex. I’m female and I like at least one of the things he’s super into, so he understandably glommed onto me.”

  “Understandable, my ass.” He knew his jealousy was completely irrational. Hell, she’d walked away from poor Kurt, but it wasn’t just that guy Quinn was jealous of. It was the future ones that maybe she hadn’t met yet. “He wanted to fuck you, peaches. He wanted to take you back to his mom’s basement, yank off those jeans of yours, and sink between your sweet thighs.”

  She shot him a look. “He owns his own cyber security firm. I highly doubt he lives in his mom’s basement.”

  “The rest stands.”

  “You know, I think you’re just so obsessed with what’s between my thighs you’re projecting it onto everyone around you. One-track mind much?”

  He’d show her a one-track mind. Quinn looked around, caught sight of a hallway leading away from the main room, and practically carried her into it. They turned one corner and then another and stopped at the stairs leading up to the rooms. It was faintly lit, the hotel having decided the environment was more important than being able to see clearly, and he backed her up to the wall beneath the stairs. “My mind is only on one track when it comes to you.” He lifted her arms over her head and pinned them with one hand. “I saw the way he looked at you.”