Two Wrongs Make a Right (13 page)

Dak nodded. “Texted. Said he’ll be late.”

~~*~~

Kristin clasped Quinn’s hand and pulled her from the chair to the dance floor. Quinn didn’t go all out this time. She kept her movements subdued. No need to spend all her energy. She might need it later. She twirled around toward the door and her heart stopped. Justin had arrived.

For the past few days, she’d propped his picture on her dresser and practiced conversation with him. Now, every thought evaporated. Wearing a plaid sport shirt, jeans starched and stacked above cowboy boots, he was more handsome than the company photo. Her mouth went dry and then Molly reminded her.
Of course we’re turned on, we’re ovulating.

No need to waste time. She should make a move before the band started their set. Catching the bartender’s eye, she nodded toward her victim. Dave knew what to do.

For just a bit of fortitude, she grabbed a shot from the table and knocked it back, hoping tequila and banana mixed well together. Holy crap. The inside of her nose went cold. At least it opened her sinuses. She turned her attention back to Dave as he delivered the drink. Gasping, her eyes widened.
No! Not him…the guy in the plaid shirt. The guy with the dark hair. The guy with the dimples. Holy shit!!!
Her throat closed off. The barkeep gave the drink to the wrong man! The stranger acknowledged her by hoisting his glass as if toasting, then faced his friends again. Her heart sank. Now what? She couldn’t go back and buy another drink. She’d look like a slut buying every guy at the bar a beer. This was a disaster. She had to get out of there.

She leaned closer to Kristen. “I’m not feeling well, so I’m leaving. Thanks for letting me join your party.”

“Are you sure? If you drink some water and skip the next round…”

“No, I need to lie down. Thank the others for me. I had fun.” Quinn didn’t give her a chance to respond, she grabbed her purse and hurried toward the door. In five minutes, she’d be back in her room, and could forget the mistake and her stupid idea.

~~*~~

The bartender set the drinks down. Dak pulled out his wallet, but the barkeep shook his head. “It’s already covered.” Then he tilted his head toward the rowdy party. “Lady in the pearls paid.”

Dak turned to get a better view and so did his friends. He lifted his glass, tipped his head, and an odd sensation crawled across his skin. Her eyes went wide for a few seconds, but then she glanced away. Weird. Bold enough to buy a stranger a drink, but unable to look at him.

“Damn, you’re here five minutes and some babe is buying you a drink? Kudos, man,” Justin said. “You should go over there.”

“Not my type.”

Luke’s head flinched back. “Ready and willing is every guy’s type. Go on. Let me, the guy with two kids and a pregnant wife live vicariously through you.”

Ben nudged his way through the crowd and joined them. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“Help me out here,” Luke said. “That librarian-looking chick.” He jerked his head toward the table. “Bought your brother-in-law a drink and he won’t go talk to her.”

Ben leaned out for a better vantage point. “Kind of hard to see from here, but I can tell she’s not blonde, so not his type.”

“You should encourage him,” Luke said.

“Hey, I’m just saying, he prefers them bleached and anorexic.”

Dak stiffened and frowned at his brother-in-law. “No, I don’t.”

“Uh—yeah, you do. Even from this distance I can tell that woman is way too sophisticated for you. She might have an IQ above seventy. Too much of a challenge.”

“What the hell do you mean? The women I date aren’t stupid.”

“Not according to Sim.”

“My sister’s opinion doesn’t count.”

“Fine. Discussion closed. Now, I need to tall boy up.”

Dak didn’t drop the subject. “So you side with Luke and Justin? You think I should go over there?”

“Too late, man. She’s leaving,” Luke said.

~~*~~

As Quinn stepped into the warm night air, a voice called after her.

“Hey, wait!”

Her heart jumped into her throat and she kept walking. She needed to get away, so she picked up speed, but he called again, this time closer. Louder. When she turned, he stopped a few feet away.

“You’re not leaving, are you? I haven’t properly thanked you for the drink.”

Quinn couldn’t speak, but Molly had plenty to say. She raised her voice an octave, animated her movements for effect, and spewed words at lightning speed. “That’s okay. That was a mistake. Coming to the bar was a mistake. I’m as out of place in there as a priest in a whorehouse.” Her hands flapped the air and Quinn had no control. “But I saw the bar from my hotel window and I thought crap, I’m only in town for the weekend, so why not do something crazy for once in my life. I mean, I never go to bars, so I don’t know what possessed me.” She tried to stop her head from bobbing and weaving, but her evil twin had taken command of Quinn’s motor skills.

“I can tell you’re a nice guy and you’re not interested, so if I stayed in there, you’d feel guilty, and come over out of obligation, and ask me to dance, or offer to buy me a drink, and then I’d feel guilty for putting you in that situation, so it’s better I leave. You don’t want to get mixed up with me, I’m a mess.” Quinn attempted again to shut the Doppelganger down, but Molly wasn’t having it.

“I don’t exercise. I don’t diet. I don’t do yoga, which is proven to keep you limber well into your seventies and possibly prevent osteoporosis. My mother says I’m insane for letting Brad, the attorney, get away. Clearly, I am nuts. I don’t know you and I’m buying you a drink? What was I thinking? You could be a serial killer, although I don’t believe you are, but still, you see what I’m talking about?”

He laughed when she got to the yoga part. He should run away, and Quinn wished he would because now she was having a conversation with him and didn’t know how to end it.

Then he reached out and took her hand, and the parking lot spun. Was he going to detain her until he called EMTs to bring a straightjacket? Probably.

He tugged her forward and smiled with sincere interest in his eyes. “Why don’t you come back inside and buy me another drink?”

Lord Jesus, Molly.

~~*~~

Dak didn’t have a clue why he chased after the woman. Maybe it was the look on his friends’ faces. Like somehow if he didn’t, he’d be admitting they were right about his choice in women. Or the strange feeling he’d gotten when she locked eyes. Whatever the reason, he rushed through the door into the parking lot like a high school boy after his first crush. And before he could stop himself, he called out to her. When she didn’t acknowledge him, he hollered louder.

Intending to tell her it was nothing personal. Explain his no-pickup rule, and thank her for the drink, he hoped to let her down easy. But she turned to face him, brown eyes wide, hands and head kinetic, dark curls flying in every direction, sensuous lips forming words faster than he could listen. Then he felt it. A little skip in his pulse. It only lasted a second, but long enough to get his attention.

Whatever it was, it vanished, and he focused on her again. She was trying to brush him off in some type of reverse psychology. Who was this woman? In a few minutes, he found out more about her than most women on a first date. She had mother issues. Broken up with her boyfriend. From out of town and looking for a good time.

And when he held her hand, there it was again. That missed beat. Longer this time as if the physical contact intensified the symptom. Her hand, small and warm, trembled. He believed her story. This was a woman who didn’t pick up men in bars, or, he wagered, any other place.

He pulled her closer, and she stiffened, so he relaxed his grip. Hell, rules were made to be broken, so he asked her to buy him another drink. Not the best come-on line and he wasn’t sure she’d go for it.

She hesitated and drew a shallow breath. “See, I was right. I’ve shamed you into saying that. I should go back to my…”

Dak yanked her closer and crushed his mouth down on hers. At first, she went rigid, then clutched his shirt to pull him tighter against her. He hung on to the kiss, and the heart blip became a full blown arrhythmia. By the time their lips parted, she’d gone limp. He kept his hands around her waist for fear she might collapse onto the pavement.

She struggled for breath and he pulled her tighter. He’d hold her all night if he had to. “Did that feel like guilt or obligation?”

Head lolled back and eyes half closed, she uttered, “Uh-uh.”

“I didn’t think so. Can you stand without me holding you?”

“Oh. Umm, yeah, maybe. I wasn’t expecting that.”

He released her and grinned wider. “Me neither. Now, let’s get back inside. I want to see this band. I’m Dak Savage.”

“Molly Harper.”

The concert was an interlude for what Dak had planned, and after that mind-blowing kiss, he knew she was on board. No need to hurry. A room waited right across the street and they had all night. If it was breakup revenge she wanted, he was happy to oblige. Either the guy who left her hadn’t been taking care of business, or it’d been a while, because the way she kissed screamed more.

Weeks since his last sex, it was time to end the self-imposed celibacy. Not usually his type, Molly was the exception. Earlier in the parking lot, he liked having her in his arms. All curves, angles, and full rounded breasts that looked and felt natural.

He couldn’t recall the last time a woman affected him this way. Maybe never. Oh, he’d experienced lust plenty of times, but never palpitations.

He held open the door, and she walked in ahead of him, fiddling with her hair. Emory Quinn had already taken the stage and was in the middle of
Holes Through the Windows
. He nodded toward his friends, then ushered Molly to the dance floor. He slipped both hands around her waist. She hooked her thumb in his belt loop, then rested her other hand on his chest and did the strangest thing. She circled one of his shirt buttons with her finger. Around and around, over and over, slow and steady, and his heart lost its rhythm again. About the time normal cadence returned, she worked the button in and out of its hole. He tried to pay attention to the words of the song, but that button action was driving him crazy.

The song ended, and he found a vacant table in the back corner against the wall. He pulled a chair out and she sat, then he leaned down to her ear. “You want a drink?”

“No, thanks.”

“Sure?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Be right back.” He made his way to the bar, placed his order then turned to his friends. “What? Y’all don’t have anything to say?”

Ben raised his brows.

Luke and Justin grinned.

The bartender delivered the beer and Dak took a long pull. “This is a first.”

“I can’t wait to tell Sim.” Ben pulled out his phone.

“Don’t get too excited. It’s a one-night stand.”

“It might turn in to more, depending on how much you like her.”

“Not possible. She’s just in town for the weekend.”

Justin turned to look at her again. “Hell, she’s not your variety. More mine. Want me to take over for you?”

Dak spun on his heel and spoke over his shoulder. “Turns out, she may be my type.”

~~*~~

Quinn couldn’t take her eyes off Dak. Even now, there were parts of her still quivering. Some very private parts. The scene beneath the neon was the last thing she expected and admitted he took her breath away. She thought for sure he’d judge her unstable, and she had been when his hot lips landed on hers. She’d damn near dissolved into a puddle of molten flesh.

And those arms, big and strong, holding her so tight, escape was impossible, not that she wanted to. Clutching his shirt, to bring him closer, she never wanted the contact to end. This kind of passion had never happened with Brad. Never. How could that be? Why stay in a relationship with someone as bland as oatmeal? Well, not tonight. Nope. She planned to release her inner Molly and set the world on fire. If not the world, at least room 207 at the LaQuinta.

For the next two hours, Quinn got to know Dak better, and decided this couldn’t be a mistake. This was fate because she liked everything about him.

He had a close-knit family, an older brother, and a twin sister. Even one of his three friends at the bar turned out to be his brother-in-law.

Like Justin, he also worked at Galaxy, and Quinn wondered why Megan had not included Dak in her suggestions. Maybe she wasn’t sure if he was single or not, but Dak assured Quinn he was. He spoke a little about the possible takeover of his company, and how he rarely went to bars.

When they started across the street, he didn’t speak and neither did she. She figured he had the same thing on his mind.
Horizontal Hoedown
. What else was left? Conversation? They’d spent the last two hours talking. Besides, she’d practically spelled it out in the parking lot. She didn’t understand what the protocol was for jumping into bed with a guy she’d just met. She counted on him to make the first move. The unexpected lip-lock proved he was way more experienced.

By the time they got to the elevator, her nerves were strung tight and all her lady-bits tingled again. She rummaged in her purse for the key card. When she finally laid fingers on it, and pulled it out, she dropped it.

Dak chuckled and picked it up. At the door, he swiped it and turned the handle. She stepped inside first, with him right behind. He didn’t wait for her to get rid of her purse. He clasped her bicep, spun her around into his arms, and took her mouth. She grabbed at him, and he pulled her into his groin which proved he was more than ready.

He broke the kiss and whispered into her mouth. “I’ve been waiting to get my hands on you all night.”

Just as eager as he, she worked his belt buckle.

He kissed her again, this time moving a hand to her breast, and the pressure felt so good, she groaned with pleasure.

From his belt, she went right to the button on his jeans.

He moved his mouth to her ear. “You and buttons, drive me insane.”