With a groan, I bury my head in my hands.
I’m situated in a chair in the hallway outside my guest room, where my sisters have taken Quinn, and I’m waiting for them to come out. They’ve been in there way too long. It might warm my heart every time I hear the three of them laughing together, but I can’t really enjoy the fact that the woman I love is bonding with my sisters, because I’m terrified of the night to come. A club? A fucking club?
Every man in the place is going to want what’s mine.
The worst part is, she wants to go.
Maybe the lesson she wanted from me is already over. Maybe she’s already realized she’s a gift from heaven and no longer needs me. If I just had some more time alone with Quinn, I might be able to convince her to give me a chance, but tonight is slipping through my fingers.
God help me, I won’t be responsible for my actions if a man hits on Quinn in this club. I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle other men even looking at her. Christ, if I murder someone tonight, it’s going to be on my sister’s heads.
I really need to change the locks on my front door so they never barge in on me and Quinn again. If there’s even a next time.
What if there isn’t?
I stand up and start to pace, calling on my fire training to stay calm. It doesn’t work. I’d rather battle a five alarm fire than bring Quinn to some meat market.
The door opens and I skid to a halt, turning to watch my sisters emerge.
“You ready, bro?”
“No.” I plow my fingers through my hair. “Yes.”
Quinn walks out and my equilibrium wanes. My vision blurs and I shake my head to clear it. She’s not a mirage. She’s still there. In a short, white tube dress, sky-high heels, her mouth painted red. No way. No…way. How did they make the most gorgeous woman in the world even more gorgeous? I mean, I prefer her in white panties and no makeup, but Jesus Christ, like this, she will knock people over from a mile away. It’s not fair to other women. It wouldn’t be fair to a goddess. Fuck, her ass looks so tight and juicy in that dress. If I keep staring at it, I’m going to get an erection in front of my sisters and nobody wants that.
“Well, Des?” Steph prompts me. “What do you think?”
When she cuts me a timid look, I have no choice but to answer honestly. “I think she’s too beautiful for this world.”
It takes me a moment to realize my sisters are dead silent for once.
They might even look a little regretful over the torture they’re putting me through.
Melissa clears her throat. “All right, let’s go get crazy at the club.”
I spoke too soon.
A few minutes later, we’re on the road. My sisters are in the backseat, loudly telling me when to turn, even though I drive a fire truck down these streets and know Queens like the back of my hand. Quinn is in the passenger seat to my right, her sexy legs crossed in such a way that I can tell they convinced her to go commando.
God, is this what I put my sisters through?
I never tried to dangle their boyfriends like meat in front of other women or anything. My approach was more of the have-them-home-before-ten-or-I’ll-rip-out-your-spleen variety. But I’m starting to wonder if I deserve to have this revenge dropped on me like a hundred-ton asteroid. Still, I wish they’d taught me a lesson sooner so I could be alone with Quinn right now. We’d be on our third or fourth round of lovemaking and I’d be laying the groundwork for a relationship. The forever kind.
The timing of this is awful. If I lose the woman I want to marry over it, I’ll never recover.
We arrive at the club and there’s a line out on the sidewalk. I park across the street and skirt around the hood to help Quinn out of the passenger side. When she stumbles a little in her heels and falls against my chest, she thanks me so sweetly, I almost blurt out my feelings, right then and there. But I have no idea what her reaction will be. She wants to be at this club. Hell, she asked me to prepare her for a future of dating other men. Taking it slow was my plan, but now the rug has been pulled out from under my feet.
“Stay close to me, okay?” I mutter, warming up her arms in my hands.
Quinn seems like there’s something on her mind, but she bites her lip and nods. She lets me hold her hand as we cross the street, my sisters bounding in front of us to go speak with the bouncer. They claim he’s letting us skip the line because he knows them from high school, but I see the way his eyes widen when he gets a load of Quinn—and I know that’s the real reason we don’t have to wait in line.