Locked & Loaded (Ricochet 1)

At the click of the other door opening, Quinn opened her eyes. Rick slid gracefully into the car and within seconds they were pulling out of the lot and onto the main road. They drove in relative silence for a few minutes, Quinn quietly taking in the sights of the Buckhead neighborhood that surrounded the gym.

Rick was the first to break the silence. “You know Mack.”

He didn’t ask it as a question.

“Yes. He served in the Marines with my dad.”

Quinn was careful to keep her eyes forward. Looking at Rick was hazardous to her wellbeing. She was in no place to have any kind of relationship with anyone, and staring at his beautiful face was not a good way to keep her distance.

Relationship, yeah right. Who said he would even want a relationship? I don’t want a relationship. No way.

Rick grunted in acknowledgement, one hand casually draped over the steering wheel. “You grew up in Georgia then.”

Again, not a question.

“If you know all of this about me already, why are we discussing it?” Quinn was becoming irritated that Rick seemed to know everything about her. She had no intentions of telling him about the tiny rural town she grew up in, how she fled the state to go to college in Texas, and when her dad died, she hooked up with Travis and ruined her life.

“Just making conversation, doll.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Quinn could see Rick smiling. Great, now he was making fun of her. She decided to let the “doll” comment go since Rick was blatantly ignoring her requests to stop using it and it was growing on her. Instead, Quinn decided to turn the conversation around.

“Well, since you know so much about me, why don’t you tell me how you know Mack?”

Rick paused a minute before answering, drumming his thumbs on the steering wheel at a red light. “Mack was my C.O. in boot camp.” He turned to look at her briefly before the light turned. “My commanding officer. Put me through two months of hell.” She saw the corner of his mouth quirk up as he spoke of Mack.

“That makes sense. My dad said that after he had to retire, Mack stayed in the corps.”

“Here we are.” Rick stopped the car in a busy shopping center. It was overflowing with cars as their owners bought their groceries.

Rick strode around the car to open Quinn’s door and once again, she marveled at the fact that men still did courteous things like that. Especially big, hard-assed, narcissistic guys like Rick.

“Share a carriage or go separate?” Rick had a shopping cart in hand, ready to push it into the store, just waiting on her answer.

Quinn debated the intimacy of sharing a shopping cart, then cursed herself for being so stupid. It was a cart, not an engagement ring. “I only need a few things, we can share if you want.” She shrugged so Rick wouldn’t see the serious thought she gave to such a stupid non-issue.

Rick nodded, directing the cart through the door. Quinn wasn’t positive, but she thought she caught another glimpse of a smile on his face.

Hmmm, huge, muscly, egotistical fighters who open doors for women and push shopping carts. Who would have thought that would be my type?

Wait, is that my type?

Quinn pondered the question as she watched Rick weave up and down each aisle, waiting patiently for her to choose each item. Not once did he rush her or yell at her or call her stupid. His electric blue eyes found hers every once in a while, sending goose bumps down her arms and a heavy dose of straight-up lust racing through her veins.

When they reached the checkout and Rick helped her load her items onto the conveyor belt, the sinewy muscles of his arms and back flexing in front of her, she realized that unfortunately, yes… he was exactly her type.

Chapter 5

“HEY SUGAR, NEED company?”

Rick sipped his beer slowly, turning towards the woman who slid onto the barstool next to him. His gaze lazily swept up her body to her face.

She was pretty but had an unnaturally curvy figure and wore too much m

akeup… things that never bothered Rick before. He wasn’t called Ricochet for nothing. Hit it and skip out. That was what he did.

Tonight, however, he was off his game. This was the third woman to approach him, offering up exactly what he came here to find. Each time, he found something about the woman that turned him off. All he could think about was a certain innocently seductive brunette. One with a quick wit and a fuck ton of secrets.

Great, she’s only been here one week and Quinn somehow managed to break my dick.