Double Dare (22 page)

He handed one of the extra drinks to Ty and picked one up for himself. He took a long swig. A little too sweet for his taste, but not bad.

“Hey,” yelled one of the men crowding against Quinn. “The drink was bought for the lady.”

Logan looked Quinn up and down and bit back a snort of laughter.
Lady
. Quinn hardly looked like a lady tonight. She looked like a vixen. A sex kitten who knew how to bring a man to his knees.

She had effectively brought both him and Ty to their knees. Their showing up tonight proved it. Not that either were complaining.

Her hair was pulled up, exposing the long line of her neck. A few stray tendrils framed her face delicately. The sapphires at her ears brought out a tinge of blue in her gray eyes. Those eyes that currently held a glint of evil.

She gave him a wicked smile and slipped her left leg out of the slit in her dress, showing off a very shapely thigh. “You like?”

“Very much.” He glanced at Ty, whose gaze was glued to Quinn's leg.

She shifted her leg out of the slit a little more, and Logan saw she wore no panties. He stepped a little closer to her to block the view from the other men.

Not pleased at her display, he leaned in close, murmuring into her ear, “What are you doing?”

“I thought you guys weren't coming,” she murmured back.

“I'll explain later,” he grumbled. He didn't mind her dressing sexy, but she was wearing the dress for the wrong reasons.

One of the wrong reasons just happened to saunter up at that moment.

Quinn quickly pulled her leg back, once again hiding herself before turning to her ex. “Peter! How are you?”

Logan winced at Quinn's overly sweet, obviously exaggerated speech.

When Peter stepped up, the rest of the men melted away. It was as if Peter had come to claim his prize, and they were gracious enough to recognize it.

Bullshit. Logan wasn't leaving her alone with him.

Quinn put a newly manicured hand on Peter's upper arm and pulled him closer. “Peter, I want you to meet some friends of mine. Peter Harrington, this is Logan Reed and Tyson White.”

The shit extended his hand, and Logan was polite enough to accept it. When Peter shook Ty's hand, a look of recognition crossed Peter's face. “Tyson White? As in Tyson 'T-Bone' White of the Boston Bulldogs?”

Don't tell me the little geek bastard knows football, Logan thought. He probably takes part in office football pools. And loses his ass.

“That's me,” Ty answered, twirling the tiny straw in his drink. He was acting as if being recognized as a famous athlete was nothing.

Logan's cock twitched. Quinn in her outfit wasn't the only thing flipping his switch. His dark lover, whose ebony skin shone under the club's recessed lighting, made his gut do a little flip.

“Amazing. I didn't realize Quinn's mother had arranged for two Bulldog stars to be here tonight.”

Both Logan and Ty opened their mouths simultaneously to question Peter, but Quinn held up a hand, stopping them both.

“Two?”

“Yes, Long Arm Landis is here.”

“Long Arm?” Quinn asked, her delicate eyebrows pinching together.

Both she and Logan looked at Ty questioningly.

“Quarterback,” he answered them and sipped his drink.

Logan shook his head. “I know who Long Arm is. Why would he be here?”

And why wasn't Ty concerned about his former teammate finding out Ty was in a relationship with a man? Not that Logan believed Ty wanted to keep it a secret. At least, if he did, he wouldn't have agreed to come here.

Logan figured tonight was a night for discoveries. When they had decided to come show Quinn their support, to prove to her how much they cared, they knew this was the risk.

But shit—

Like it or not, Ty most likely would end up being outed, and if Quinn had her way, so would she. But Ty's outing would be to a former teammate, something he'd managed to avoid all these years. They had both decided being with Quinn tonight was worth the risk to themselves. Even so, Ty still had a chance to back out from this possible debacle; Logan would respect any decision he made.

Seemingly unconcerned, Ty looked at Quinn expectantly. “I don't know. Why would he be here?”

Quinn gave a slight shrug and sipped her own drink.

“The Society Ladies' Charity Club did want to bring in some celebs to sell off some signed memorabilia. Maybe it's that, or he's part of the bachelor/bachelorette auction,” the dweeb answered.

Unexpectedly, Quinn's ex turned his attention to her. Her dress seemed to suddenly draw Peter's attention more than the prospect of having two NFL stars in the room.

“Is that dress new?”

Quinn smiled into her drink. “You don't remember it?”

“I think I would remember a dress like that. Doesn't leave much to the imagination, does it?”

She tossed her head back, her breasts jiggling enough with the movement that they almost escaped the narrow strips of white fabric that barely contained them. “It's not meant to. It's supposed to show off my attributes.”

Peter cupped the large sapphire nestled between her breasts. “Is this your grandmother's stone?”

Logan felt Ty tense beside him. He gave Ty a look that said Quinn could handle herself.

Though he wasn't sure he liked the way she was doing it. Especially when she trapped Peter's hand with hers and pressed his knuckles against the bare curves of her breasts. Her voice got low and smoky. “Familiar, is it?”

“Uh.” Peter yanked his hand away as if he had been burned. “Yes, I thought it looked familiar.”

Logan couldn't believe it. Her ex actually looked uncomfortable, embarrassed that his hand had brushed against Quinn's breasts.

Logan barked out laughter, making the blood rush to Peter's face.

Peter stepped back and stared at Logan for a moment before appearing to gather some confidence.

Logan'd had enough. He slid an arm around Quinn until his hand splayed on the warm skin of her lower back. He picked up the square vibrant blue stone and pretended to study it. “It's a beautiful gem.” He met her gaze as he laid it gently against the delicate skin between her breasts, his fingers lingering against her soft cleavage. “Just like the woman wearing it.”

Peter cleared his throat. Loudly.

“Would you like me to get you another drink, Quinn?”

Before Quinn could answer him, Logan said softly, “We can handle it from here, Pete.”

“It's Peter. Quinn?”

Quinn finally broke their locked gaze. But instead of looking at Peter, she looked at Ty, who gave her a bright white smile. A knowing smile, an unspoken promise of what was to come later. Quinn's hand fluttered to her throat.

“I'm fine. Thank you,” she answered Peter absently.

“Oh. Okay.” Peter tugged at the lapels of his jacket. “Well. I…I'm going to go mingle. I'll see you a little later, Quinn.” He nodded to both Logan and Ty. “Nice meeting you, gentlemen.”

Logan gave him an answering nod and a predatory smile. Ty shook Peter's hand, then gave him a slap on the back as he scurried away.

A band on a stage at one end of the large hall started to play, drowning out some of the noise from the gaming tables. Ty noticed a dance floor in front of the stage, with only few couples dancing.

He offered his hand to Quinn. “Dance with me?”

She smiled warmly and accepted his offer, linking her fingers with his. She handed her Long Island iced tea to Logan as Ty led her toward the parquet-covered dance area.

Once there, Ty pulled her into his arms and pressed his hips to hers. He brushed his nose against her hair. “You smell good.”

Her low chuckle vibrated against his chest. “And you look very handsome tonight.”

“Just tonight?”

“Well, you look extremely handsome in your tux. But honestly, I prefer you naked.”

He smiled into her hair, careful not to wreck all the work she had put into styling it.

“Well, if we are being honest here, you
are
practically naked.”

“I'm covered where I need to be.”

He wasn't the best dancer, but he managed through the slow dance, shuffling his feet. He was careful not to pinch her pedicured toes.

“Ty, what's going on? Logan said he'd explain later, but—”

“We couldn't let you do this on your own.”

“But—”

“But we realized we were being as stubborn as you were by refusing to come.” He chuckled. “I guess we are just not as stubborn as you. We were willing to bend.” He suddenly felt fiercely possessive of the woman he held in his arms. “We want you, Quinn. We care about you. We want you to realize it.”

Her fingers clenched against his back. Hard enough that he could feel them through his tux coat.

He heard what suspiciously sounded like a sniffle. He leaned back slightly to look at her. She turned her face away.

“Hey now. You need to stay strong. Isn't this what this whole display is supposed to be about?”

“Yes,” she whispered against his lapel. “I just don't want you guys to do what you don't want to do.”

“If we didn't want to do it, we wouldn't be here.”

“You don't know what this means to me,” she said as her body melted against him, cementing the fact that he and Logan had made the right decision to come tonight. No matter what it cost them otherwise, Quinn needed to be a part of their lives. Maybe they didn't agree 100 percent with her decisions, but they were hers to make, and he and Logan would be there to help pick up the pieces if need be.

“Do you feel how much I want you right now?”

She pulled back a little in his arms and looked up at him seriously. “Oh, is that you? I thought you had a salami in your pocket.”

Her eyes crinkled at the corners, and he pulled her close once more, his fingers skimming down the smooth skin along her spine. She shivered against him, rocking her hips with an exaggerated motion.

“
Careful
,” he warned her. His balls tightened as his cock hardened even more.

He pulled her hips against him even tighter, making sure she felt every inch of him. A shoehorn would be needed to separate them.

Or not. He noticed the glances they were getting from couples on the dance floor and others who were gathered at the gaming tables nearest the dance floor. Some of the rich biddies were shooting nasty looks toward them; others were whispering to each other.

Ty sighed. He put a little space between him and Quinn.

“What's wrong?”

“Oh. The same old, same old.”

An expression of concern crossed her face. “What does that mean?”

Ty shook his head in disgust. “Never mind.”

“Oh no, you don't. Tell me what's wrong.” Quinn looked around at the surrounding charity participants. “Ah. Never mind. I understand now.”

“I guess your mother's friends are still stuck in the Dark Ages.”

“They are not all my mother's friends, but yes. This country club has a strict membership policy, if you know what I mean.”

He stopped in the middle of the dance floor and studied her face. Logan said that they had to be there for her, no matter what, and he had agreed, but… “Quinn, do you know what you are doing tonight?”

“Absolutely.”

“No. Look. These people don't even like the fact a black man is dancing with a white woman. How are they going to react when they find out you are not only dancing with one but sleeping with him?” He put up a finger to stop her from interrupting. “
And
you are not only sleeping with a black man you are sleeping with his white
male
lover. I don't think they are going to be real open to that concept.”

The band transitioned from one slow song into another.

Quinn grabbed his arms and wrapped them around her. She laid her head against his lapel. “I don't care.”