Perfect Pairing (15 page)

Quinn gasped when her back met the chilled metal surface.

“Cold?” Hal asked.

“Not for long.”

She snaked her hand down Hal's stomach, felt the muscles contract as she slid lower. She flicked open the button of the loose jeans and inched inside, pushing the zipper down as she went. She used the same tactic when she reached the elastic of Hal's boxers, and her efforts were rewarded with a groan.

“God, Quinn,” Hal said in a heavy exhale.

“You want me to stroke you?”

Hal nodded, her lips pressed together in a thin, white line.

“Good, I won't even make you ask nicely. You know why?”

Hal shook her head, her dark hair falling across her face.

Quinn arched up to whisper in her ear. “Because I want the same thing.”

She splayed her fingers through wet curls and into slickness below. Finding Hal's clit was easy given how hard it was, holding onto it while she bucked above her was more of a challenge. Reaching her free hand around Hal's waist, she grabbed a handful of her firm ass and pulled her down. The weight of Hal's body tapped into something primal, and she ground against her. The friction of their skin set every nerve ending alight, and she lifted her hips to push harder against her.

Hal growled, a low rumble as Quinn slid one hand across her center from the tip of her fingers to the center of her palm, varying contact both for pleasure and to absorb the pressure of Hal's thrusting. There would be no games, no teasing, no patience. She couldn't have shortened Hal's fuse even if she'd wanted to, but she didn't. She wanted almost desperately to please her. The desire was so strong she might've been frightened if she were capable of feeling anything beside the animalistic need controlling her now. Hal's hips drove into her, the force of their rhythm rocking the table. Pots clattered to the floor, utensils shook, and the very surface holding them swayed with the motion of their bodies. Then Hal shouted and threw her head back.

Quinn watched in wonder as Hal's beautiful face contorted in release, brow furrowed, eyes closed, mouth open. She remained like that, suspended with only her hips moving against the slow circle of Quinn's fingertips, until finally her arms gave way and she crashed onto the table beside her.

They lay against the cold, hard steel, gasping for air, too spent to seek something more comfortable. Quinn soaked up the press of Hal's skin, hot and soft against hers. She matched her own shaky breaths to the rise and fall of Hal's chest and noticed their hearts raced side by side as well. Hal shifted, starting to pull her arm away from the place it had fallen across Quinn's torso, but she trapped it with her hand, holding it gently in place.

“Just stay, for now.”

Awareness would overtake them soon, likely bringing with it awkwardness, self-consciousness, even embarrassment. She wanted to hold on to the closeness a little while longer. Pressing her lips to Hal's forehead, she smiled.

Let the complications crash down on them tomorrow.

Tonight they were getting everything they wanted.

Chapter Ten

“Hey.” Sully jumped to her feet as Hal walked through the door. It was well after midnight, but she'd expected Sully to be up. Expecting and being prepared for it were two very different things, though.

“Hey,” Hal mumbled, ducking away from the lone light left on in their living room. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight?” Sully stepped closer, and Hal looked away.

“I'm tired.”

“Come on, man. Scream at me if you have to, but don't shut down.”

“I'm not . . . it's not what you . . .” She didn't even know where to start. Sully thought she was avoiding her because she was pissed, and honestly part of her was. But only the part of her buried deep under confusion laced with satisfaction and confined in screaming muscle soreness. She'd have to unpack a veritable shit-ton of baggage to get down to the memory of her best friend betraying her.

“I know you're mad, but I'm worried about you. I know it was my fault, but I had no idea things would get so jacked up tonight.”

Hal snorted. “No, you still have no idea.”

“You can't even look at me, can you?”

“Sully, I need to go to bed,” she snapped, then lowering her voice a notch added, “we'll do this later, okay?”

“Fine,” Sully said. “Just look me in the eye and tell me you're okay.”

She took a deep breath and tried to lift her shoulders before turning to face her. “I'm okay.”

“Holy fuck.” Sully gasped. “What in the name of all things . . .”

“Do I really look that bad?”

“Bad, good, shaken.” Sully eyed her. “How did your shirt get all . . . wait a second, are those bite marks?”

“Where?” Hal looked around fruitlessly. Why the hell wasn't there a mirror in here?

“Your neck, dude.” Sully grabbed at her collar, pulling it back. “And your shoulder.”

“Ouch.” Hal jerked away, but Sully caught her arm, pulled her to the couch, and pushed her down onto the worn-out cushions.

“Spill.”

“It's nothing.”

“Bullshit. Either you got mugged by a vampire or you did some seriously rough fucking.”

Hal ran her tongue along her dry lips, feeling a small crack. Who would've pegged Quinn for a biter?

“Please, please, please, tell me it was a vampire thug,” Sully begged.

Hal shook her head.

“Okay, okay. Maybe some groupies came by after I left? Or a hooker! Coulda been some hooker you picked up on the way home, right?”

She rolled her eyes.

“So, not hooker groupies.” Sully paced. “Please tell me what angle I'm missing.”

“Things just happened.”

“With Quinn?”

“Yes, with Quinn.”

“You fucked Quinn?” she shouted. “After everything she . . . and the whole pop-up . . . and the games . . . .Quinn? What kind of emotional twattage is that?”

She hung her head. “It's a lot. I know. Obviously we didn't think things through.”

“What are you thinking now?”

“I don't know. I guess I'm trying not to. In case you didn't notice, tonight was kind of a big deal for all of us.”

“Bigger for you than for me.”

“No shit.”

Sully flopped onto the couch next to her. “How did you two leave it?”

Hal closed her eyes and rested her head on the back of the couch.
“Not as awkward as it could've been. We're both grown-ups. We picked up all our clothes, and the pots and pans we'd knocked to the floor.”

“Wait, you did it in the restaurant?”

“The kitchen.”

“Jesus. You couldn't even find a booth or something?”

“I said it just happened.”

“Sorry, I don't know what that means,” Sully said. “I've been laid a time or two, but it generally takes a lot of work on my part.”

“Yeah.” Hal had to admit, nothing like this had ever happened to her before, either. Then again, she'd never known a woman quite like Quinn Banning, and now she had the bite marks to prove it. “We just admitted neither of us planned on what took place.”

“The fucking, you mean.”

“You're not helping right now.”

“I just need to clarify, because a lot happened tonight, and she definitely planned some of it.”

That stung. Of course Quinn had orchestrated all the events leading up to their personal collision. “She may have been responsible for everything right up to the grand finale, but she seemed as lost as I was by the end.”

“Huh, lost. Not a word I'd use to describe her.”

“I'm sure you have an extensive vocabulary of words to use for her right now.”

“I do, actually, but they're not all the kind you would think.”

“What do you mean?” Hal asked.

“Just that I saw a different side to her this week,” Sully said. “Not the side you saw, mind you, but something else. I don't think she's quite as soulless as you first thought.”

“But?”

Sully seemed to choose her words carefully. “But that may make her more dangerous.”

Hal stared up at the ceiling. She couldn't argue that point. The complete emotional meltdown and ensuing loss of control spoke to nothing so much as it did danger.

“She's got some redeeming qualities, beyond the ones you sampled
tonight,” Sully said. “And by the way, when we both wrap our heads around this a little better, I'm going to need details on those.”

Hal elbowed her.

“Right. Back to the point. She's got a lot going for her, and going on with her. She listed a lot of very persuasive reasons for doing the pop-up, and they weren't all about her. She made good points about you, too. And she wasn't bullshitting, no matter how willing she is to let us both think she was.”

“I'm not ready to think about that yet. She goes after what she wants. Tonight she wanted me, in more ways than one, but who knows what it'll be tomorrow.”

Sully shrugged. “I didn't say she wasn't multitasking. I just think there's more behind those corporate suits than we're aware of.”

“I'm aware of a lot now.”

“I guess you are.” Sully laughed. “What are you going to do now? Like, is this a thing?”

“No.” She managed to make that clear before they went their separate ways. “We're done. I'm not consulting for her anymore. Our business relationship is over. We have no reason to even see each other again.”

“And what about the personal side? Any reason to see each other again there?”

Hal took a deep breath and released it slowly, feeling every muscle from her neck to her calves ache in the most beautiful way. “My head says no. My body says not to be so sure.”

Sully grinned and punched her arm. “I wonder which one will win.”

Hal stood, groaning. “That's not a question either of us can answer tonight.”

“So, you're going to get a ride home?” Quinn asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

“Yeah,” Ian said. “They can drop me off when we're done. It's on the way to their place.”

“Okay then, have a good night.”

“Sure. You too.” He opened the door and put one foot on Larkin Square's gravel parking lot, then stopped.

“Are you sure you don't mind me doing this?”

“Doing what? Going to work?”

“No. Yeah. I mean . . . working with Hal.”

“Of course not. Why would I mind?” She feigned nonchalance.

“Just cause you got fired. Or broken up with businesswise, or . . .” He shrugged. “I don't know, whatever happened.”

She hoped her smile didn't look like a grimace. “Don't be silly. It's a good job for you.”

“But you're a good sister for me. You're like a better mom than Mom is.”

“That's not saying much.”

He nodded. “I guess not, but you know what I mean, right? You're more important to me than a job, even a good one.”

Emotion thickened in her throat, and she took a sip of her bottled water in an attempt to clear it. “Hal's and my business relationship ran its course. Time to move on. You, on the other hand, still have a lot to gain from working at Cheesy Does It. It's good interpersonal experience, and don't forget all of those women you still have to meet.”

He laughed. “Yeah, there's always the women of Buffalo to think of, as long as the number one woman in my life is okay.”

She rolled her eyes. “The number one woman in your life? Am I supposed to swoon at that? I think Sully is actually rubbing off on you. Now get out of my car. I have work to do.”

“Are you going back to the office again?”

“I don't know. Does it even matter?”

“I guess not. I'd say have fun, but I know that's not really your thing.”

“Go.”

“I love you too.” He grinned, then shut the door.

How had he turned into such a good man with the upbringing he'd had? She liked to think she'd played a part, but she seemed to have emerged with more issues than he had, maybe even more than she'd previously realized. Her behavior around the pop-up had been
shocking even to herself, culminating with her and Hal's private afterparty.

Her face flamed again as she pulled onto the 190 North. She'd worked hard to not spend too much time thinking about what they'd done, but even the briefest reference to the pop-up sent her body into a type of muscle memory she both craved and dreaded. And the pop-up came up a lot. Between media reports, questions from other investors, and the actual practicalities of wrapping up the business venture, she talked of little else for days. She and Hal were the toast of Buffalo's small but enthusiastic revival set, always mentioned side by side. If only people knew the images they inspired every time a reporter used a phrase like “explosive partnership” or “dynamic duo” to describe them, the interviews may have gone in wildly different directions. Honestly, it might have been more efficient to just have the light shade of blush tattooed on her cheeks these days.

Surely all the attention would fade soon. That prospect inspired mixed emotions too. From a business standpoint, she needed to capitalize on the free publicity, maybe roll it into concrete plans. The logical part of her said she needed to push, now and hard, for a more formal business relationship with Hal, or cut her loose entirely and use her new social cachet in the restaurant world to hook another chef. Still, she couldn't imagine doing either of those things. The latter made her chest, ache and the former? Well, she'd learned that pushing Hal came with a high price for both of them.

The weekend had come and gone with no word from Hal. She wouldn't pretend to be surprised. She hadn't expected flowers in the morning or an invitation to breakfast, and still, she did feel an increasing amount of disappointment with each day that passed in silence. Hal had been adamant, both before and after, that their business relationship had ended, but Quinn would've thought having actually been
inside
of her might qualify their relationship as something more than business.

Her stomach turned as she pulled onto Highway 33. Hal had made it very clear she never wanted to see her again. They weren't in love. She liked Hal, cared for her. She had wanted, albeit a bit misguidedly, to make her happy, to give her something she deserved more
than any person Quinn had ever met. And yet, none of those good intentions had come through. Hal ended up angry and inexplicably hurt, while Quinn ended up allowing herself to be made love to on a table. No. No need to whitewash history, not while alone in her car. They had not made love. She'd allowed herself to be fucked on a table. More than allowed. Encouraged, participated eagerly, hell, she'd begged for it.

Begged.

She exited the expressway and quickly pulled into a familiar parking lot. Her hands shook, and she rested her forehead on the steering wheel. She'd begged, and she'd liked it. Even now the tremors of want could rise up unexpectedly, threatening to swallow her. She'd lost all control and now struggled to rein it back in.

Control was her lifeline, her security blanket. As long as she was in control, she was safe. When she lost control, nothing could be trusted, not even herself. Which was exactly why she should've been thrilled to avoid Hal altogether. Severing those ties was the best option for everyone involved. She needed to pull herself together. She needed to get back to what she knew. She needed to regain control over both her business and her own emotional state. She did not need any more contact with Hal Orion, but as she tried to calmly exit the car and head into Domski's, she wondered why the last thing she needed was the only thing she wanted.