Fool Me Once

He opened the door for Aubry. “She means well.”

“So I gathered. That’s why my claws weren’t out.” She flexed her fingers at him like a cat about to strike. “She’s kind of…intense.”

“She likes to make people happy.” He grabbed their suitcases out of the bed of the truck. “I think she’s just forgetting that this wedding is supposed to be about her happiness.”

Aubry shouldered her computer bag. “From what you’ve told me about your family, I don’t think that’s the case at all.”

She was right. He knew she was right. That didn’t mean it sat any better with him. There wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it, though, so he headed for the hotel, hoping like hell he wouldn’t see any more of his family before he had a chance to shower and get Aubry as prepped for it as she could be.

Liar. The only one who needs prepping is you.

That thought wasn’t comforting in the least.

Aubry hesitated. “That’s where you learned how to handle the anxiety attacks.”

“Jenny has had them on and off since high school. I wouldn’t have offered to take you to that convention if I didn’t have the knowledge to deal with it.”

She smiled. “I know that now, it was just a little weird to see it from the outside. Not bad weird, just weird weird.”

“Come on.” He led the way into the hotel and got them checked in as quickly as humanly possible. Their room was on the third floor in a corner, so there were tons of windows. The whole thing was decorated in tasteful wealth, something he knew from having grown up with it. There was no worse insult than “new money” for all that it’s exactly what the Baldwyns were. But since his mother liked to sneer delicately at blatantly extravagant expenses, it made sense that she’d picked this venue—because he had no doubt that it wasn’t Jenny’s choice. His little sister was big on comfort and good food, and this place met exactly one of those conditions, he’d bet.

“Nice.” Aubry set her stuff down on the desk and wandered around. “Definitely a step down from the convention hotel.”

“Hey now, I have a few ideas on how we can make the best of it.”

“I just bet you do.” She stretched her back, drawing his gaze to the way her breasts pressed against her shirt.

His cock went rock hard, right on cue. “Come here.”

“Nope. I know what that look on your face means, and we only have a half hour before we have to be down there. I need a shower.”

He started toward her. “Then I’ll join you.”

“Nope again. Back to the part where I know what that look on your face means, and I know that if you join me, we’re going to be late, so don’t try any lines about conserving water.” She backed into the bathroom.

“Peaches, California is in a drought. It’s practically our civic duty to conserve water.”

“For the third time, nope. Do something useful and hang up our nice clothes.” She slammed the door in his face.

Quinn laughed. She was right, and a perverse part of him really liked that she had no problem telling him no, even though her nipples were peaked beneath her thin shirt and she kept licking her lips like she couldn’t wait to get another taste of him.

Shaking his head, he went about hanging up their nice clothes. The closet already contained his tux for the wedding—no doubt his mother’s doing—but there was still the rehearsal tonight and brunch in the morning. Once his stuff was finished, he turned to Aubry’s suitcase.

There was something really strange about unpacking for her—strangely intimate. Seeing the clothes on her—and off her—felt different than doing this mundane little chore. He cursed himself mentally for letting something so small get under his skin.

His breath left him in a rush when he lifted out a black dress that he highly suspected would hug Aubry’s every curve. He had told her to make a statement, hadn’t he? He carefully hung it up, his hands lingering on the fabric. It was so damn soft and there wasn’t a bit of give—it’d fit her like a glove. He swallowed hard, going back to the suitcase for the other dress. This one was a mix of deep purple, blue, and red the same color as her hair. It was fucking magnificent.

That’s it. I really have lost my mind.

He turned around as the door opened, the fantasy of Aubry in the dresses nothing compared to the sight of her standing in front of him in a towel. He took a step toward her before he caught himself. Throwing her on the bed and ravishing her sounded like the best plan in the world, but it would definitely make them late and he couldn’t do that to Jenny. So he got himself under tight control. “I’m going to shower.”

“Good plan.” She watched him strip his shirt off, the look on her face almost enough to make him change his mind. Quinn stalked into the bathroom before he could. A cold shower was in order, because it was going to be a long fucking night.

…

Things started to go sideways the second they walked into the chapel. A couple in their fifties approached, and Aubry didn’t need for Quinn to tense beside her to know that these were his parents. The man was an older version of Quinn but shaped more like a barrel than the perfectly honed muscles she was used to. The woman didn’t have a dark hair out of place, and she wore a dress styled similarly to Jenny’s. If someone looked up “crazy stupid rich” in the dictionary, Aubry was pretty sure there would be a picture of these two.

She shifted, feeling out of place in the dress she’d previously been really damn proud of. It was like a twilight personified, and she’d done up her hair to add to the affect. There was no hiding her tattoos or her bright hair but, damn it, she wasn’t ashamed of the way she looked. She was good enough to be Quinn’s date, and that was all that mattered.

Quinn’s dad roared out a laugh. “Look what the cat dragged in.”

“Dad. Mom.”

There was no hugging, but she hadn’t really expected it. What she had expected was the way his mom’s eyes went wide behind her tasteful makeup. “And you brought a friend.”

“More than a friend.” His arm came around her waist, pulling her against him. She would have snapped at the move, but the underlying tension in his muscles stopped her. Maybe he needed the contact as much as she’d needed his steady voice in the middle of her anxiety attack. Aubry ran her hand up and down his back, offering her silent support.

When Quinn spoke again, he sounded closer to normal. “Mom, Dad, this is my girlfriend, Aubry. Aubry, meet my parents, Richard and Peggy.”

Even though she knew it was fake her heart tripped over itself in her chest at him calling her his girlfriend. To cover up her response, she smiled at them. Well, she bared her teeth at them. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Peggy looked like she might actually pass out. “Can I speak to you for a minute—alone?”

“Nope.” Quinn’s arm tightened around her. “Anything you can say to me, you can say in front of Aubry.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. Surely his parents would clue in to the fact that it wasn’t real. But Peggy just marched away, and Richard laughed again and clapped his son on the shoulder.

“Sowing your

wild oats. Can’t blame you. I mean, look at her.”

Aubry bristled. Quinn must have known she was two seconds from searching for a candlestick to beam his dad with, because he cleared his throat. “There’s Jenny. We’ve got to go tell her congratulations. I’ll catch up with you later.”

He didn’t wait for a response, steering her away from his dad and toward the small knot of people around his little sister.

“Charming.”

“You have no idea.” He’d spoken so softly she had to strain to hear. “They were on their best behavior just now.”

She didn’t want to know what bad behavior looked like. Aubry hadn’t made a habit of spending time with people so far beyond her tax bracket, and if that delightful little interaction was any indication, she had the right of it. People with that much money thought they could act however they wanted and, for the most part, they got away with it for exactly that reason.

Not that she was a gem, but even she thought trying to marry off a person who wasn’t interested in being married off was gross.

“That offer to flee while cackling madly still stands. This is wine country—there’s got to be another hotel around here attached to a vineyard where we can drink our sorrows away.”

The grin he gave her was downright sunny. “I appreciate the offer, but we’re stuck for the time being.”

It struck her yet again that it was a good thing she hadn’t let him talk her out of this. He actually…needed her. She wasn’t sure she’d ever been needed before, not like this. Aubry straightened. “Just remember there’s an out. I don’t have much practice being a shield, but I could give it a shot if you need me to.” Surely sheer fury could keep her going long enough to find a private place before she started shaking over exactly how many people she’d be willing to face down for him.