He shrugged. “No…I don’t think so. I didn’t see any ‘help wanted’ signs outside the sheriff’s office,” he said with a grin. “I’m kinda stuck where I am for now, anyway, but who knows?”
That, I was not expecting. “You’d move back? Really?”
He tapped the table again. “Maybe.” His gaze lifted from his coffee to me. “There’s nothing really keeping me in Portland, not anymore.”
I couldn’t say this was a big shock. It had always been Janie who loved city life, not Mase. It would probably be a good move for my brother. I thought about Bull, about having to end what we were doing if Mase came back. “But there are no jobs here for you…not at the moment anyway.” I felt guilty even saying it.
He took a sip of his coffee and shook his head. “Not yet.” He tilted his head to the side. “You don’t sound so keen on the idea.”
The guilt spiked and I laughed. “Are you kidding? You should totally move back. It’ll make my life a whole lot easier not having my overprotective, intimidating cop brother around to scare away every guy that looks at me when I’m back in the city.”
He stood and ruffled my hair like I was eight years old. “Smart-ass.”
I sat there while he grabbed another coffee. I knew one thing for sure: I wanted to spend more time with Bull, and time was running out.
My little detour to Rocktown was almost over.
It had to be.
* * *
Bull
Quinn and Mase were parked on one of the couches in front of the fire at the bar, having a beer. Cal and Cassy had shown up a little while ago and joined them. They were talking and laughing, and I was standing over here behind the bar, watching like an obsessive weirdo.
Any minute now Mase was going to catch me staring at his sister like a slavering beast and shoot me. Shit, I’d deserve it, too. It felt dishonest keeping this from him. Like Quinn was some dirty little secret when that was the farthest from the truth.
I’d do anything for that girl, including keep what we were doing a secret from her brother…my best friend.
I served the guy in front of me, handing him his beer and taking his money. Almost getting through a full sixty seconds without looking at Quinn. Until she laughed.
Fuck, I loved her laugh.
Her head was thrown back, black hair down her back, so beautiful I struggled to breathe. How the hell was I going to get through another night without touching her?
You need to calm the fuck down.
No shit.
I started wiping down the bar. This whole thing between us was on her terms. I saw her when she wanted to see me, I was cool with that. Well, I thought I was. After spending two days and nights without her, with a third looming, and knowing what it was to have her under me, I wasn’t so sure.
That’s the rules. You want her, you need to stick to them.
“Hey, Superman, I’ll have two Jack and Cokes, please.”
My head shot up, heart bounding around in my chest as soon as I saw Quinn standing there in front of me, within touching distance. I grabbed two glasses and poured a measure of Jack in each.
“Having a good night?” I said, trying to keep it cool, trying not to give away how much I missed her. Missing her wasn’t part of the deal, or maybe it was? Fucked if I knew. I was confused and horny and desperate for one of Quinn’s octopus cuddles, where she wrapped herself around me with her arms and legs and passed out.
She leaned forward and the V-neck T-shirt she was wearing dipped, flashing the delicate slopes of her tits. My eyes went straight there without my says-so, and I watched as her sweet little nipples tightened.
“Christ, Logan, you need to stop looking at me like that,” she said under her breath.
I quickly looked up, glancing over her shoulder at Mase. He was deep in conversation with Cal and Cassy. “Sorry.”
She leaned forward some more. “You don’t have to be sorry. I’m just finding it hard to concentrate with you standing over here, and when you look at me like that…”
“What?” I muttered. “Tell me, sweets.”
“Getting aroused while in the presence of your brother is disconcerting, you know?”
“You hot, Quinn?” I said, because I was a dirty bastard, and the way I wanted her right then, fuck knew what would come out of my mouth.
She nodded, color hitting her cheeks. “Yes.”
“Wet?” I gritted out.
“Yes…”
“I’m getting thirsty over there,” Mase said, coming up beside Quinn.
Fuck. What the hell was wrong with me?
I added Coke to their drinks and slid their glasses across the bar. “You want me to give you both a ride home later?”
“Yeah, that’d be good, brother,” Mase said. “If you get a break, come over and join us. Last chance for a while.”
“Yeah,” I said. “When shit dies down a bit.”
Quinn offered me a secret smile before Mase steered her back across the bar.
What was I doing?
The bar stayed busy until right before closing, so I didn’t get a chance to have a drink with them. Maybe I created a few extra jobs for myself, but sitting there with Quinn and Mase while I was feeling so shit about everything, and still wanting Quinn anyway, wasn’t something I should be doing.
Fifteen minutes later I helped carry Mason out to my truck since he was smashed off his face. Quinn tried to help me, though she was definitely tipsy herself.
She slid into the truck first, doing up her brother’s seat belt when I hefted his huge ass in beside her. I shut them in, strode around to the driver’s side, and got in as well. I glanced over. Mason was slumped against the door, eyes closed, snoring, already out cold, and Quinn was staring up at me with an expression that was pure trouble.
“Hey,” she said.
“Shit,” I muttered.
Her hand went to my thigh and she squeezed. “He’s passed out. Why don’t you hang around after we put him to bed?”
I started the truck. “Can’t do that, sweets.”
“Are you sure?” she said as I backed out of the parking spot and headed onto the street.
“Mase could catch us.”
“So? So what if he did? We’re both grown-ups—”
“You don’t mean that,” I bit out.
“I want you…like, a lot,” she said, her hand moving on my thigh, creeping higher. “I don’t think I can wait another night, Bull.”
My cock was so hard from just that touch I thought it would snap off behind my zipper. “Baby, you’re going to have to.”
“Don’t you want me like that? Like you can’t wait another moment.”
“Yeah…fuck. Of course I do, but it’s too risky.”
She was quiet a few beats. “I guess you’re right.”
Then she turned to me and lifted up, planting a sucking kiss to the side of my neck. I groaned.
“But you better take your vitamins, Superman, because come tomorrow, I’ll be hunting you down and riding you all night like a rodeo bull.”
A pained laugh exploded from me. “Woman, you’re not helping.”
“Helping with what?”
“The situation in my jeans. I need to get you the hell away from me before I’m irreparably damaged.”
I glanced at her and she grinned wide.
“You like that, do you?”
“I’m glad I’m not the only one with blue balls,” she said.
I muttered another curse and thanked God we’d finally reached her house. I climbed out and roused Mase enough to get him inside and in bed.
When I came back down Quinn was standing by the door. I walked toward her, and knowing that I had to keep walking was the hardest thing I’d done in a fucking long time.
“Are you sure you won’t stay, just for a little while?”
I stopped in front of her and slid my hand around the back of her neck, massaging lightly. “Yeah, sweets.” I grinned down at her. “Need to go home and have my vit
amins.”
She laughed, and I couldn’t stop myself from leaning down to kiss her. Just one kiss. Just one to get me through the night.
“Are you sure you’re not getting bored…you know, of me?”
Christ, she broke me every time she said shit like that, every time doubt that her prick of an ex put in her head came through. “Not bored. I could never get bored of you, baby. I can’t get enough.”
“You’ll tell me when you do?” she said.
“Not gonna happen,” I rasped, wanting to tear Bevan the fuckwit apart even more when I didn’t think that was possible.
She stared at my throat. “It’s happened four times already, Bull. I won’t blame you if it does.”
I froze. “What?”
Her eyes came to mine, and she looked so vulnerable I couldn’t take it. “That’s how many times I’ve been cheated on.”
What the fuck? “Sweets…”
“They got bored…I guess, I didn’t give them what they needed, so I’m just…you know, letting you know you don’t need to feel bad when it happens.”
I didn’t know if she really believed that shit or if it was the alcohol talking, but I was starting to think she actually might. “Wasn’t you, Quinn, it was them.”
She stared up at me, pain and wariness in her eyes. I had no idea what to say to convince her it wasn’t going to happen with me, so I leaned in and kissed her, not knowing what else to do to make it better and wanting to kiss her so bad I couldn’t stop myself.
As soon as my mouth hit hers, I was in heaven. Yeah, fuck, I’d missed her mouth. The way she tasted, the little moans she made when I slid my tongue in deep and kissed her like the starving man I was. Missed her. How could she doubt this, the heat that exploded between us whenever we touched?
Her arms banded around my neck instantly and she jumped, wrapping her legs around my waist. I groaned. “My little octopus,” I muttered and spun, pressing her into the wall.
I sucked on her sexy lips, fisting her hair and tilting her head so I could slide back in and kiss her deeper still. Fucking heaven. She was heaven.
I ground my hard dick against her, letting her feel how much I wanted her, and she made a little whimpering sound that had me kissing her harder. Her fingers thrust into my hair with one hand, the other sliding up under my shirt, then she started moving her hips against mine.
“Please, Bull, please. I want you inside me.”
Maybe if I get her off quick…
A bang came from upstairs and we both froze. Fucking hell. Mason was upstairs and I was dry-humping his sister where he could walk out and find us at any moment.
I planted her back on her feet, released her reluctantly, and stepped away on shaky legs. “I need to leave,” I said then cupped her face, making sure her eyes were on mine, so she’d see the truth in them. “But I don’t fucking want to, understand?”
Quinn was breathing hard, lips swollen and dark pink, nipples tight, hair all over the place. Beautiful.
She nodded. “I know. I do.”
Yeah, even a little drunk and turned way the fuck on, she knew exactly why her brother couldn’t find us together. Because this wasn’t permanent. She was leaving soon. I was the guy she called on when she wanted to work off steam, the guy to help her get over the asshole who broke her heart.
And I was more than happy to be that guy, to help her through her pain, had volunteered for the position—but somehow, stupidly, that still cut.
I knew I wasn’t the man for her, never had been, never would be.
But goddammit, I wished I was. I didn’t know what it was, maybe the way she was looking at me, the way she’d just kissed me like her life depended on it.
But in that moment, that second, I wished I could keep Quinn Parker, not just until she got tired of me but, fuck, for a lifetime.
Chapter Sixteen
Bull
I stepped out of the shower, rubbing the towel over my head vigorously, finger combed my hair back, and got to work drying the rest of me.
Mase had ended up staying an extra night after realizing the water heater was playing up and the faucets in the downstairs bathroom needed replacing along with a few other things around their family home.
I kind of hated that Quinn hadn’t asked me to do those things. I liked the idea of making sure she was comfortable in her place.
I shoved on my briefs and the jeans I’d bought for Cal’s exhibition and realized I was shaking.
Christ.
Pull it together, Bull.
But my hands were still shaking when I tugged on my shirt. I hadn’t been this nervous since I went to prom. I thought I’d pass out when I pulled up outside my date’s house and saw her father standing there.
Jesus, there was no calming the nervous energy pounding through me.
Four nights I’d been separated from her. Four long hard nights with only my fist and a head full of Quinn. And after having her for a whole night to myself, knowing what that felt like, not to mention the day on the boat, then in my office, then suddenly…nothing. I felt like a fucking drug addict going cold turkey—right down to the shakes, apparently.
I finished dressing, deodorized, and tried to fix my hair again because it was sticking up in odd places. Gel? Did I even own gel? I used to own gel.
It’s not 1982, asshole.
I went to town on it with my comb, which didn’t help much. When did I start caring about my goddamn hair? I never really looked at it, just washed it and left it. Shit. Stop looking at your fucking hair! I forced myself to ignore my reflection and brushed and flossed my teeth.
I looked at my face again. Maybe I should trim my beard a little? I turned my head this way and that. It was kind of scruffy. I got out the scissors and trimmed up the sides.
I swiped my whiskers into the trash can, then rushed to my room to grab some socks…and tripped over one of my boots, catching myself on the dresser before I knocked myself out on it. “Shit.” I turned and tripped on the other boot.
If Quinn could have seen me she’d have laughed her ass off. I was behaving like a lovesick teenager.
But Christ, I was anxious to see her, to kiss her, touch her.
To sink inside her.
I quickly tugged my socks on, shoved my feet in my boots, and headed for the door.
My phone started ringing.
I pulled it from my pocket as I snatched up my keys and glanced down at the screen.
Mase.
Pulling up short, I eyeballed my friend’s name with my gut in knots. It was like he’d sensed all the way from Portland that I was about to head to his family home and do dirty-as-fuck things to his baby sister.
Then I felt even worse because I considered not answering.
I stabbed at the screen with my finger and put the phone to my ear. “What’s up?”
“Hey, maaaan.”
Shit. He was drunk. “Where’re you, Mase?”
“At home.” There was a long pause. “It’s so quiet here, Bull.”
I felt the knot in my gut tighten, pain for my friend making it unbearable. “You seen her?”
“Nah, Janie’s not interested in talking, not anymore.” The sound of heavy breathing came through, like he was fighting not to fucking cry. “We’re done. I fucked up.”
I felt sick. Mase had been in pain and I’d been too busy obsessing over his sister to be there for him. “It’s not your fault—”
“Yeah, it was. I was never here. She said she had a closer relationship with the pizza delivery guy, and she’s right. She needed me, she needed me, Bull, and I wasn’t there for her.”
“The job, being a cop, it—”
“Screw the job. She was more important, and I put her second. I always put her second.”
Hell. What could I say to that? “Maybe after some time? Give her some space and then try talking to her. But not like this, not wasted.”
“No amount of time will make a difference.”
“You need to put down the bo
ttle, brother. Clear your head.”
He laughed, the sound bitter. “You can talk, asshole.”
Yeah, I deserved that. I reached for the bottle far too often when shit went wrong. “Yeah, I know.”
“And, fuck, man, I thought you were gonna look out for Quinn.”
I stilled, the sudden change of subject throwing me. “I have. I am.”
“Well, who the hell’s this asshole she’s sleeping with? You promised you’d look after her, and I find out she’s screwing some random guy? That it’s casual. She shouldn’t be with anyone right now. She’s still getting over her breakup with that fucker Bevan,” he growled.
“She’s twenty-six years old. I think she knows—”
“Casual means this prick is just using her,” he said, talking right over me. “And I swear to God, Bull, if she’s seeing one of your ex-con buddies or some other loser that hangs around your fucking bar…fuck.”
He was drunk. He didn’t mean it. “Mase, you need to—”
“I don’t want your prison friends near her.”
Does that include me? My friends weren’t the only ones who had a prison record. But the few I had stayed in contact with weren’t people who’d hurt her. Did he truly think I’d get close to people who could hurt my family or friends? Did he really think that little of me?
There was a sloshing sound—Mase taking another drink, and by the sounds of it straight from the bottle. “Sleep it off,” I said.
“Fuck you,” he said and hung up.
Awesome.
I walked to the fridge and grabbed a beer, returned to the living room, and planted my ass in my chair.
I felt torn in two, fuck, sick to my stomach.
Mase was right, though, wasn’t he?
Touching Quinn? What the hell had I been thinking? Tainting that lovely girl with my black past and betraying my friend. What kind of man did that make me?
I opened my phone, heart in my throat, and typed a message to Quinn.
Trouble at the bar. Can’t make it tonight.
I downed the beer in my hand and went and got another one. Mase was right about that as well. Like I had a right to judge him for his drinking.
SIN FOR YOU: ROCKTOWN INK, BOOK TWO Page 14
