“We’re fine.” Even if her body was still quivering inside from the best kiss she’d ever had.
* * *
Quinn left like the flames of hell were licking at her heels, and Austin didn’t blame her. What the fuck was he doing, acting on his deepest desire and kissing the best assistant he’d ever had? Even in the short time she’d been working for him, he knew she could handle him. His demands. His clients. Their tantrums. He couldn’t afford to lose her.
“Bro, damn, what were you thinking?” Braden sauntered into the room and slid into the chair Damon had occupied earlier.
“I wasn’t,” he muttered.
“Oh, you were, all right. Just with the wrong head.”
Austin rolled his eyes. “Shut the fuck up,” he said without heat.
He missed his brother when he was abroad, working for Doctors Without Borders, and Austin was glad he had Braden home for a brief time now.
“Holy shit, are those Tim Tams?” Braden flew out of the chair and planted his ass next to Austin, grabbing the cookies from beside him and opening them without asking.
“Hey! Those are mine.”
“And you can share them unless you want me to run off with them, leaving you with none. It’s not like you can chase me.” Braden rolled a shoulder.
Austin shook his head. Jesus Christ. Siblings.
His brother pulled open the crinkly package and snagged a couple of biscuits, handing the rest back to Austin. “She must really like you if she gave you these.”
“She works for me. What you saw was a slip. It won’t happen again.” It couldn’t happen again.
His brother chuckled. “Keep telling yourself that. I saw how you two looked at each other.”
“What are you, the expert on relationships now? I thought you were single.”
Braden was the sibling closest in age to Austin, so they were tight. Always had been. “Let’s say there’s someone with possibility.” His eyes gleamed and Austin knew his brother was in deep.
“I’m happy for you. As for me, I’m going to heal and get back to playing the field. After all, it’s what I do best.” He would put Quinn in the off-limits zone and keep her there.
He had no other choice.
Chapter One
One Year Later
Quinn sashayed out of Austin Prescott’s office, sweet curves encased in a tight black skirt with high fuck-me heels completing the outfit.
“Stop staring at your assistant’s ass, or at the very least, don’t be obvious about it.”
Austin cupped the back of his neck in his hand and let out a groan.
“You’re right,” he said to Marcus Powers, an agent in his office and a close friend. “It’s not cool.” Quinn was the best executive assistant ever and Austin didn’t want to lose her.
She’d proven herself to be extremely intelligent, could keep up with negotiations, handle the wise-ass players Austin represented, and on the times they went out for meals, make small talk with their fancy wives. Oh, and she tasted like the sweetest treat he’d ever had.
He knew because they’d had one slip. A slip he couldn’t get out of his head, even a year later. The fireworks that had exploded between them were vivid even now. But they’d never discussed that moment again.
Quinn was a different sort of woman than the groupies who used to chase him in his NFL days. Everything about her appealed to him, but he did his best to treat her with respect. When he wasn’t inadvertently staring at her ass, that is. It was dicey to have an affair with a co-worker, someone for whom he was directly in charge of her career. And she didn’t strike him as a one-and-done kind of woman, and that was his MO. Not that he thought one time with Quinn would be enough.
“Are you going to Allstars tonight?” Marcus asked of the exclusive sports and cigar bar in South Beach that catered to the elite athlete.
It was a place players and industry people could frequent without groupies and hangers-on bothering them. Which wasn’t to say Austin couldn’t find a woman to hook up with there. Just that there was a higher class of female to choose from than a run-of-the-mill establishment.
He ran a hand over his face. Maybe hanging out with friends and possibly going home with a woman was just what he needed to take the edge off this gnawing desire for Quinn. Since he’d put his rampant playboy days behind him, he was more discriminating and discreet, yet it had still been too long since he’d gotten laid.
“Sure. I’ll be there.”
“Awesome.” Marcus pulled out his phone to check his email.
Just then, Austin’s desk phone buzzed and he picked up the receiver. “Yes?”
“You’re needed in the conference room. You and Marcus both,” Quinn said in her normal voice. But he even found her husky tone arousing. “Can I let your sister know you’re coming?” she asked.