Chapter 7

7

Desmond

This is my worst nightmare.

If I didn’t love my sisters, despite their penchant for mayhem, I would have already thrown them out of the house. I just want to be alone with Quinn. I want to lay Quinn down in my bed and kiss her until I know every tiny nuance of her mouth. I just want to wrap myself in her smiles and her light scent and make her laugh.

With a groan, I bury my head in my hands.

I’m situated in a chair in the hallway outside my guest room, where my sisters have taken Quinn, and I’m waiting for them to come out. They’ve been in there way too long. It might warm my heart every time I hear the three of them laughing together, but I can’t really enjoy the fact that the woman I love is bonding with my sisters, because I’m terrified of the night to come. A club? A fucking club?

Every man in the place is going to want what’s mine.

The worst part is, she wants to go.

Maybe the lesson she wanted from me is already over. Maybe she’s already realized she’s a gift from heaven and no longer needs me. If I just had some more time alone with Quinn, I might be able to convince her to give me a chance, but tonight is slipping through my fingers.

God help me, I won’t be responsible for my actions if a man hits on Quinn in this club. I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle other men even looking at her. Christ, if I murder someone tonight, it’s going to be on my sister’s heads.

I really need to change the locks on my front door so they never barge in on me and Quinn again. If there’s even a next time.

What if there isn’t?

I stand up and start to pace, calling on my fire training to stay calm. It doesn’t work. I’d rather battle a five alarm fire than bring Quinn to some meat market.

The door opens and I skid to a halt, turning to watch my sisters emerge.

“You ready, bro?”

“No.” I plow my fingers through my hair. “Yes.”

Quinn walks out and my equilibrium wanes. My vision blurs and I shake my head to clear it. She’s not a mirage. She’s still there. In a short, white tube dress, sky-high heels, her mouth painted red. No way. No…way. How did they make the most gorgeous woman in the world even more gorgeous? I mean, I prefer her in white panties and no makeup, but Jesus Christ, like this, she will knock people over from a mile away. It’s not fair to other women. It wouldn’t be fair to a goddess. Fuck, her ass looks so tight and juicy in that dress. If I keep staring at it, I’m going to get an erection in front of my sisters and nobody wants that.

“Well, Des?” Steph prompts me. “What do you think?”

When she cuts me a timid look, I have no choice but to answer honestly. “I think she’s too beautiful for this world.”

It takes me a moment to realize my sisters are dead silent for once.

They might even look a little regretful over the torture they’re putting me through.

Melissa clears her throat. “All right, let’s go get crazy at the club.”

I spoke too soon.

A few minutes later, we’re on the road. My sisters are in the backseat, loudly telling me when to turn, even though I drive a fire truck down these streets and know Queens like the back of my hand. Quinn is in the passenger seat to my right, her sexy legs crossed in such a way that I can tell they convinced her to go commando.

God, is this what I put my sisters through?

I never tried to dangle their boyfriends like meat in front of other women or anything. My approach was more of the have-them-home-before-ten-or-I’ll-rip-out-your-spleen variety. But I’m starting to wonder if I deserve to have this revenge dropped on me like a hundred-ton asteroid. Still, I wish they’d taught me a lesson sooner so I could be alone with Quinn right now. We’d be on our third or fourth round of lovemaking and I’d be laying the groundwork for a relationship. The forever kind.

The timing of this is awful. If I lose the woman I want to marry over it, I’ll never recover.

We arrive at the club and there’s a line out on the sidewalk. I park across the street and skirt around the hood to help Quinn out of the passenger side. When she stumbles a little in her heels and falls against my chest, she thanks me so sweetly, I almost blurt out my feelings, right then and there. But I have no idea what her reaction will be. She wants to be at this club. Hell, she asked me to prepare her for a future of dating other men. Taking it slow was my plan, but now the rug has been pulled out from under my feet.

“Stay close to me, okay?” I mutter, warming up her arms in my hands.

Quinn seems like there’s something on her mind, but she bites her lip and nods. She lets me hold her hand as we cross the street, my sisters bounding in front of us to go speak with the bouncer. They claim he’s letting us skip the line because he knows them from high school, but I see the way his eyes widen when he gets a load of Quinn—and I know that’s the real reason we don’t have to wait in line.

On the way through the door, I bare my teeth at the bouncer and his gaze zips up to the sky. Jesus, we’re not even in the club yet and she’s being coveted.

Already possessiveness is making my blood sizzle and pop, my hand tightening around Quinn’s and pulling her into the protective nook of my arm.

It doesn’t stop men from checking her out as we pass and I growl at them over her head, ready to invite them outside to formally meet my fists.

Jesus.I’m not going to last five minutes.

* * *

Quinn

Desmond hustlesme into a table in the corner, shielding me from the rest of the club with his big body, that flexed line of his jaw ready to snap.

What is the matter with him?

I’m having fun. So far, anyway. I love Desmond’s sisters, as mischievous as they are. The night would be complete is Desmond would dance with me, but he seems too preoccupied with scrutinizing everyone else in the club.

From the other side of the table, Steph and Melissa roll their eyes at his behavior, Melissa reaching out to squeeze my elbow. “Come on, let’s go dance.” They glance pointedly at their brother. “Unless someone wants to ask you…?”

Desmond doesn’t hear his sister over the volume of his own growl, which he is directing at a group of men at a nearby table. What has gotten into him?

I shrug at Steph and Melissa. “Okay, let’s go dance.”

“Wait,” Desmond barks over the music. “You’re going to dance?”

“Yes. She is.”

“Sweetheart…” Desmond says, sounding tortured.

Steph drags me away before and I can answer and next thing I know, we’re on the nearby dance floor—and that’s when I remember, I don’t know how to dance.

“Oh shoot,” I mutter, my arms automatically folding across my middle.

“What?” Melissa asks. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t dance.”

Steph doubles over laughing. “You’re only telling us now?”

“I was caught up in the excitement,” I explain, biting my lip.

The sisters trade a resigned look.

“Dammit, Quinn, you had to be so likeable?”

My brows draw together. “I don’t understand.”

Steph has to talk loudly to be heard over the increasing volume of the music. “We thought it would be funny to make Desmond’s life hell, since he’s done it to us so many times.”

“Yeah, we wanted to watch him turn green with jealousy over you, but, yeah…” She looks at something in the distance over my shoulder. “We’re a little worried we’re breaking his heart instead.”

I turn to see what she’s looking at and find Desmond at the edge of the dance floor, his anxious gaze zeroed in on me like a secret service bodyguard. Once again, I face Steph and Melissa. “I don’t understand. What would break his heart?”

“You, Quinn.” Melissa sounds exasperated. “Dancing or talking to another man.”

“I don’t want to dance or talk to another man,” I blurt. “But if Desmond wants something serious with me, he hasn’t said so.”

“Quinn.” Steph shakes me. “Do you know how many women my brother has given sex lessons to? None. That kind of thing only exists in romance novels. It’s all a cover. We knew the second we saw you two together that he was a goner for you, girl.”

My heart takes flight up into my mouth. “Are you sure?”

“Are we sure?” Steph elbow her sister. “She wants to know if we’re sure.”

“Why wouldn’t he just tell me…”

My question trails off when I realize I already know the answer. It comes back to me in the form of our conversation inside the bodega over coffees.

“You want a lesson from me so you can ask out other men?”

“M-men…” I stuttered, considering his question. “Well, sure, I think that would be one advantage, don’t you? Being more assertive.”

I’m the one who asked Desmond for lessons in confidence and sexiness.

Only now can I remember how he deflated when I confirmed he would be teaching me to be sexy so I could lure other men. My God, why did I say that? Does he really still think I’m just angling for a sensual education so I can use it on someone else?

My fingers cover my mouth. Otherwise, I’m certain my heart will fly out and land on the floor. I have to go tell Desmond the truth. Right this very second.

I have to confess that I love him.

And I will. I now have the confidence to say it without fear.

“Go,” Melissa says, smiling.

Needing no further invitation, I spin on a toe and go toward Desmond where he is still standing on the edge of the dance floor. Before I can reach him, though, another man steps into my path, blocking the man I love from view.

“Hey cutie. Let’s dance.”