Fool Me Once

“Breathe, peaches.” Quinn took her hand, his engulfing hers. “I won’t let them get you.”

She spoke out of the side of her mouth, pathetically grateful for the distraction from her intense issues—as if she had any other kind of issue. “What if one of them is infected and we have to run?”

“I’ll scoop you up, throw you over my shoulder, and we’ll bust out that big window into the back grounds. We can escape into the vineyards—there are miles of them.”

Even though it was a silly theoretical plan, and not one that would make a lick of sense in the real world, her next breath came easier. I am being crazy and irrational in worrying that Quinn is going to dump me like an old pair of boots at the first opportunity. “If anyone can manage it, it’s my trusty steed.”

“Damn straight.”

And then there was no more stalling because his little sister caught sight of them and waved. She wore a tasteful cream cocktail dress that would have looked at home on a woman twice her age, but maybe that was Aubry’s prejudice showing. She didn’t do tasteful and she didn’t do…pretty much anything to do with events like this.

Just another way that I don’t fit into this world.

Quinn didn’t have that problem. He wore his tux like he was born to do it…probably because he was.

Jenny’s eyes went wide when she caught sight of Aubry, and she couldn’t exactly blame the woman. Wearing a black cut-out dress that showed off her tattoos to perfection had sounded like a great plan when she was packing and planning to aggravate Quinn as much as possible, but actually walking into a room of pastels in it was something else altogether. What the hell was I thinking?

Quinn’s sister approached, her smile firmly back in place by the time she was in front of them. “Right on time!”

“I’m making a habit of it this weekend,” Quinn said. “Consider it a one-time thing.”

“Yes, well. I appreciate it. And I’m sorry again about this morning. I didn’t know they were going to ambush you like that. It’s wonderful to see you again, Aubry.” Someone called her name and Jenny’s smile faltered before she made a visible effort to reclaim it. “I’ve got to go. We’ll talk later, though.”

“Can’t wait.” The words didn’t come out nearly as chipper as Aubry meant them to.

This whole event was just a reminder of how different she and Quinn were. It didn’t matter how often he claimed they weren’t his people, she knew damn well that a person never truly escaped their past. She might be successful in her own right, but she’d always be that freak from a trailer park in the back of her mind. Being here only brought that feeling home. Again and again and again.

She felt Quinn’s warmth at her back a second before his hands settled on her hips, his thumbs dipping into the cutout that exposed her sides. “Have I mentioned that you look ravishing?”

“Ravishing. That’s a big word for a cowboy.” That’s it. Remind yourself that your lives aren’t that different now. You both love Devil’s Falls. That’s something.

Except…

Enough. Worrying about things now wasn’t going to do anything but stress her the hell out.

“I have a few more up my sleeve.” His voice dropped into a rumble she could almost feel. “The first chance I get, I’m going to take this thing off you, strap by strap.”

Her knees shook as she pictured him doing exactly that. His hands skated down just a little, to cup her hips. “No panties. Naughty, peaches. Very naughty. I like it.” He leaned close enough that his chest pressed against her back. “I don’t know if we’re going to make it back to the room. Maybe after the ceremony, I’ll drag you out into the vineyards and fuck you right there in the dirt.” His laugh had her biting back a moan. “I could bring you around to the outdoors yet.”

With that kind of motivation, he might just manage it.

She opened her mouth to tell him exactly that, but he made a startled sound and then his touch was gone, leaving her leaning against something that was no longer there. Even worse was the shock in his voice. “Hope?”

The woman who approached, a slight limp in her step, looked at home in the crowd, her pale pink dress with its delicate beading, exposing just enough cleavage to be classily sexy and making Aubry feel like a second-class hooker. Her long blond hair was pulled back into an elegant up-do and her lipstick was as perfectly pink as her dress…and currently stretched wide into a smile that seemed for Quinn alone. “Hey, stranger.”

She was beautiful. More than beautiful. Like a goddess who’d wandered into their midst.

He stopped in front of her, his hands at his sides like he’d forgotten how to move properly. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Jenny and I never lost touch.”

Which seemed to indicate she and Quinn had. Aubry looked from one of them to the other, her heart sinking. They looked like a pair. Like Barbie and Ken, except more attractive and a whole hell of a lot more real. This wasn’t like Rochelle last night. It had been clear from the start that she was his father’s pick, but Quinn had never been interested in her in any way. That wasn’t clear with Hope. In fact, Aubry got the feeling that not only was he interested, but this woman would be one that every single judgmental asshole in his family would approve of. They’d probably roll out the welcome mat as soon as they saw these two talking.

Those are my issues, not Quinn’s. Any second now, he’d prove her wrong and put this woman in her place or do something to remind her that they were here together. Not him and Hope. Him and her.

But he just stood there, like he wanted to sweep Hope into his arms but wasn’t sure of his welcome.

She seemed to sense the same thing. Her smile turned a little bittersweet. “So I don’t warrant a hug anymore?”

“Aw, honey, of course you do.” He wrapped his big arms around her and lifted her off her feet, eliciting a laugh that sounded like honest-to-God bells. It made Aubry want to crawl back up to their room and virtually shoot something.

Hope’s gaze landed on her, and she gave a perfect frown, a tiny line appearing between her brows. For fuck’s sake, I bet she even cries prettily. “Who’s your friend?”

“What? Oh.” He turned around as if seeing Aubry for the first time. “This is Aubr

y.”

She tried not to be offended that he didn’t correct Hope’s assumption that they were friends. Why would he? They weren’t dating, not really, and she obviously wasn’t among the women he’d feared dealing with when he agreed to this in the first place. Hurt, jagged and deep, sliced through Aubry. That feeling, at least, she could deal with.

She was used to not measuring up. Why did she think Quinn would be any different, no matter what he said?

She’d let herself forget, for a little while, that she hated people because the second they got the chance, they’d disappoint you. She’d forgotten, too, that she barely liked Quinn on the best of days. It was the sex. It messed with her mind, just like she’d been afraid it would. She moved across the distance between them, reclaiming her armor with each step, until she felt more like her old self than she had since getting in the truck with him that first day. Broken and bitter and well aware of what the world had to offer her—nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Aubry laid her hand on his arm, her smile feeling like it would shatter her teeth. “Now, don’t be polite, Quinn. We’re not friends.” She turned to Hope. “We were fucking, but that’s over now. He’s all yours, sweetie.”

She turned around and marched out of the room, bypassing the elevator because the thought of being closed in with herself was nearly as awful as being surrounded by strangers. Outside. I just need some fresh air. She veered right, heading down the hallway and out the side door. The cool night air did nothing to calm the stinging of her cheeks, and she hated that she was blushing furiously, even if it was in anger.

This was her fault. She’d let herself get caught up in the fantasy of Quinn and his big, sexy cock, and she’d compromised all the defenses she’d spent years perfecting. It was so unbelievably stupid. And even when she knew she was being stupid, she’d let him say all the right things and make her feel like maybe, for once in her life, her instincts weren’t right and there were more than a handful of people out there who actually gave a damn.