She sounded so horrified that he laughed again. Or he started to. The problem with tea
sing her like this was he was now picturing himself between her thighs. Quinn shifted, trying to get his instant physical reaction under control. His cock wasn’t in a cooperative mood, though, and his brain kept serving up images of Aubry’s back arching, her fingers digging into his forearms, her head thrown back in ecstasy he was giving her.
Jesus Christ.
He let go of her hair like it burned him and straightened. He had to get out of this truck, and fast, before he forgot just how bad of an idea hooking up with the woman was. There was a sign up ahead advertising gas in two miles, which might as well have been a signal from God that he was walking a thin line.
…
Aubry was almost pathetically grateful when Quinn announced they were stopping for snacks and to top off the fuel tank. She didn’t know what to do with a flirting Quinn, even if he was doing it solely to make her uncomfortable. She kept wondering what it would be like to be kissed by him—really kissed—and if he actually had a micro penis or if he was in proportion and gah.
She barely waited for him to put the truck in park before throwing open the door and jumping down to the ground. She was so distracted she made it all the way into the gas station before she realized it was a prime place for some The Hills Have Eyes action. There was a thick layer of dust over everything, and she was pretty sure most of the food had seen its expiration date come and go some twenty-odd years ago. She peered at the clerk out of the corner of her eye, but he was just a pimply teenager like the million pimply teenagers manning gas stations across the country. She made a beeline for the bathroom, all the while berating herself for even walking through the door.
What was Quinn thinking, stopping here? There had to be some place closer to actual civilization where they would be less likely to get killed by a family of cannibal mutants.
Once she was done, she stared at herself in the smudged mirror. You can do this. Just remember that you don’t like Quinn. The only reason you’re even thinking these kinds of thoughts is because your hormones are out of control. It could be anyone causing it. The only reason it’s him is because he’s here and he’s healthy and he’s got all his teeth. It doesn’t mean anything.
The pep talk did nothing to help. Less than nothing, because now she was really thinking of what it would be like to go there with him. The universe had created a cruel joke when it formed Aubry. Her sex drive had always been out of control—a direct parallel to how much she hated people. She’d never had a problem keeping the edge off with her variety of sex toys, mostly because the thought of getting naked and sweaty with anyone in Devil’s Falls didn’t appeal to her in the least.
Or so she would have thought before she’d voluntarily locked herself in a truck cab with Quinn Baldwyn.
A banging on the door had her jumping halfway out of her skin. “Come on, peaches. We need to get back on the road.”
She cursed long and hard, flipping off the door for good measure. None of it cleansed her mind, like she’d hoped. It was official—she might not be able to stand the man, but her hormones didn’t hold the same dislike for him. This is so bad.
Aubry washed her hands again for good measure and used a paper towel to open the door. Quinn stood there, his arms braced on either side of the doorway, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Were you touching yourself and fantasizing about me?”
She’d never tell him. His ego might inflate enough to fill the tiny room and suffocate her. She nudged the door open farther with her foot. It was impossible not to notice how he filled up the doorway—or the way his position pulled his T-shirt tightly against his chest. The man was cut. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
“I don’t have to. I know the truth, no matter how much you try to deny it.” He leaned down and stage-whispered. “You want me. That’s why you hate me so much—you can’t stand the fact that you’d lose your fucking mind the second you were in my arms.”
Her face went red hot, and she cursed the German heritage that made every emotion flare across her pale skin. “Nope.”
“Not a missionary girl? I can get down with that.” His voice dropped an octave, making her toes curl. “Maybe you’re down with some oral worshipping, if it’s not done by old Nick Cage.”
She broke out in goose bumps at the thought of sitting on Quinn’s face. No, no, no. She started to push him out of the way, but her hands got stuck somewhere around his pecs and she just ended up staring at him from an inch away. As much as she wanted to claim otherwise, all he’d have to do was lean down and kiss her, and she’d lose it. Her entire body hummed so hard it was a wonder she wasn’t vibrating. It wouldn’t take much. She wasn’t sure if she was ashamed of that or grateful for it. All he’d have to do was slip a hand into her jeans, one stroke, and she’d be there. She knew the signs well enough to know that.
But then he took one large step back, a strange look on his face. “You done in there?”
“What?” She shook her head, trying to clear it. “Uh, yeah.”
What was wrong with her? Quinn had been aggravating her like this since they met. Yes, it was a little more pointed since they’d gotten into his truck, but the truth was that he hadn’t changed the rules of the game. She was the one in danger of doing that. No wonder he’d stepped back and looked at her like she was crazy. She went from being ready to cut him to putting serious consideration into what a Quinn-spawned orgasm would feel like.
He doesn’t actually want to go there with me. He’s just being a dick and trying to make me uncomfortable—like he always does.
She had to remember that. If she threw herself at him in some mistaken conclusion she’d drawn, the humiliation might just kill her. She obviously needed some sexy alone time, because this was ridiculous. She marched down the gas station aisle, decided that a pack of gum probably wouldn’t poison her, and paid for it.
By the time Quinn reappeared and got back in the driver’s seat, she had control of herself. Mostly. Part of her wanted to apologize for making things weird back in the bathroom, but if she acknowledged it, he’d just make fun of her for thinking he might actually be serious about wanting her. Of course he didn’t want her. Quinn didn’t even like her.
For the first time, that thought actually bothered her a little.
Chapter Five
Quinn climbed back into his truck with one thought driving him—he had to get them to San Diego so he could get the fuck away from Aubry long enough to clear his headspace. It had to be the heat, or the stress of the upcoming wedding, or maybe the faint sheen on her exposed skin that made him think filthy thoughts. Something. He’d known the woman for over a year now, and he’d spent more time that day imagining her naked than the previous three hundred and sixty-five days plus. He was out of control.
He checked the clock. Five hours and thirty minutes. That was how long it had taken her to get under his skin. It didn’t help that she’d stepped into him and given him that look. The one that said if he just made a move, she’d be a sure thing. In his wildest imagination, he never would have guessed he’d ever get the green light from Aubry Kaiser.
And he’d been half a breath from backing her into that filthy bathroom and bending her over the sink.
He started the truck without looking at her, but he couldn’t let the strange silence extend between them. It was too full of things that might be his imagination, and he had to put a stop to that shit right this second. “Look, about back there… When I make these jokes, I’m—”
“Not serious. Got it.”
He looked over, but she was staring out the passenger window, her entire body turned away from him, her arms wrapped around herself. As if he’d hurt her. Guilt tried to worm through him, but he smothered it with everything he had. He’d made no promises to Aubry, and he hadn’t been particularly mean since they started this trip. It wasn’t his fault she was looking into shit.
Except I’m looking into it.
He ignored that. “Things are—”
“For fuck’s sake, Quinn, stop. I don’t want
you. My common sense was temporarily high-jacked by my hormones. It won’t happen again.”
He should be glad to hear that—it was what he wanted when he brought up the uncomfortable conversation to begin with—but the easy way she dismissed the attraction between them was like a splinter, poking and prodding at him. There was chemistry there. Maybe they were too smart to do anything about it, but it existed.
Quinn turned up the radio. It didn’t help. He could practically feel Aubry sitting there, and the fact she seemed to be engrossed in whatever she was listening to again only made it worse. She’d dismissed him completely and, though it should make him happy that things weren’t going to be any more weird than they already were, it aggravated the fuck out of him knowing she could turn off the attraction as easily as flipping a light switch.
He wanted his mouth between her legs. He wanted her on top of him. Fuck, he wanted her in every way he could possibly think of. It didn’t make sense.
“What’re you listening to?”
“You know, generally when someone has headphones on, it means they don’t want to talk.”
He knew, which was why he was provoking her—to get them back onto familiar territory. “And here I thought it was because you were anti-social and avoiding human contact in any way possible.”
She didn’t look over. “Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner. If only you could take a hint.”
“Aw, peaches, I can take a whole lot more than that.” Fuck. He hadn’t meant to say that aloud. Quinn tightened his grip on the steering wheel and gritted his teeth.
“I’m sorry, what?” Aubry moved one side of her headphones off her ear and appeared to give him her full attention. “Did you just allude to the fact that you like to be the catcher?”
“What? No.”
“That’s exactly what you did. ‘I can take a whole lot more than that’ were your exact words.” Her mouth curving up into a downright sweet smile. “I never pegged you for a bottom. Do you frequent truck stops and utilize glory holes, too?”