Chapter Five

Ella was miserable.

Two weeks ago, a gorgeous man grabbed a box from her apartment that, to be fair, belonged to him, and then he just walked away. She had been kicking herself ever since.

She should've asked him to share your fried rice with you. She still had more beer in your fridge for him.

She was still in a fucking dry spell!

That last one? She really remembered that last one. But when Quinn stood there with that shoebox in her apartment, she didn't feel like pushing him for his phone number or asking what his relationship status was now. Maybe she felt sorry for him and the bad memories that his return to that apartment brought up for him.

Ella also had to accept that maybe she didn't know him as well as she thought she did. There was the photo of him, of course, that definitely taught her some things about him.

Then she looked him up and sure enough, he was an actual baseball player, which is why he was wearing those baseball pants. Quinn Thatcher turned out to be a shortshop for the Detroit Sturgeons and had some good stats so far this season. But he was still way out of her league.

It probably didn't matter anyway because she doubted she would ever see him again unless she turned on a baseball game. Even that wasn't the same as having that picture of him.

In the meantime, she had to live her new life in Detroit. Usually she enjoyed finding out new things about the city or getting to know her co-workers. But tonight, Ella had dressed up for an office happy hour to celebrate a new contract for the company that kind of fell flat.

She chose a tight black dress with long sleeves, heels, her hair down and cascading over her shoulders. Hardly her normal work attire, but she wanted to have the bosses notice she made an appearance there. It turned out to be one of those boring corporate nights though where she left with an excuse so she could go home and take her stupid shoes off.

Quinn would've appreciated the work she put in to look good tonight, or at least that's what she was going to tell herself.

Ella trudged up the last set of stairs to her third-floor apartment, feet aching, strapless bra digging into her ribs. She just needed to kick her shoes off, make another boring frozen pizza, and get her ass into bed.

Except there was a man standing in front of her door. His back was to her so she couldn't see his face. All she could see was a black backpack over his shoulder and...

Oh fuck. The baseball pants.

She recognized them immediately with the green pinstripes and the athletic fit that was perfect and delicious.

Ella's steps caused the man to turn around and his piercing blue eyes sparkled when he saw her.

"Ella."

"Quinn."

She walked over to him, a smile spreading across his face as she got closer. She noticed his eyes dip slightly to the low- cut neckline of her dress. Most guys who did that would a sharp tongue lashing from Ella. Quinn wasn't most guys and there were other things Ella wanted to do with her tongue for him.

Quinn smiled at her and seemed happier to see her than last time. Although last time he saw her, he was probably prepared for battle with his ex. Ella's dress tonight probably didn't hurt.

"You look really nice tonight. Date?"

Ella shook her head. "Work thing."

"Sounds like fun."

Ella shrugged. "I left before the food showed up."

"Ah, that kind of work thing." Quinn's smile faltered a bit and he looked her up and down again. "Well, it's a shame that you looked so beautiful but didn't get a proper dinner."

She gave him a small smile for his compliment and started digging through her purse until she found her keys. Quinn politely moved out of the way of her apartment door so she could unlock it. But as she headed in, she paused, trying to decide what to do next. Should she invite him in or leave him in the hallway? And really what the hell was he doing here anyway?

She turned quickly and caught him staring at her ass before his eyes snapped back up to hers. Well, that made her decision easier.

"Would you like to come in?"

"Yeah, that would be great."

She held the door open for him, noticing she wasn't the only one wearing something that made their ass look fine. Because seriously, those baseball pants on Quinn were divine.

She closed the door and watched as Quinn gently put his backpack on her kitchen table and pulled out a white envelope. He turned and smiled at her, and she wasn't sure if she really had hoped he had caught her staring at his pants.

"So I was going through that box I picked up last week and found some photos that didn't belong to me." He held out the envelope for her. "I just thought you would like them back."

Ella stared at the envelope for a moment. Pictures? For her? Oh, right. She put her Polaroids with Nick in the box.

"Thanks," she said as she took the envelope and gave him a tight smile.

He cocked his head to the side and gave her a teasing smile. "You didn't want them?"

Did she want them? Or really, why did she even put them in Quinn's box? Maybe it was her own way of putting them somewhere else and not dealing with them. She didn't even realize that she had given them to Quinn when he picked up the box. She didn't notice they were gone until just now when he handed her the envelope.

The only picture she missed was the one of him. Now that picture was one she wished he would return to her. A Nick and Ella picture? Meh. But Quinn on her bed with those pants unzipped? She missed that photo.

Her eyes briefly fell to his belt buckle before she quickly composed herself, her eyes snapping back up to his. They were the same piercing blue that she remembered, and he had one of his eyebrows up, waiting for her answer to his question.

"I guess I didn't really want these photos," she said. "I mean, I appreciate you bringing them back, but it's just pictures of me and my ex. You probably don't want to remember Jaclyn, and I don't really want to remember him."

Quinn gave her a devilish grin, like he had a secret that he desperately wanted to tell her. He walked towards Ella, stopping so close that her hand was almost brushing the dark green t-shirt he was wearing that matched the color of the pinstripes on his pants.

He slowly reached over and pulled the envelope out of her hands.

"These aren't just pictures of you and your ex." He pulled the photos out and put the envelope down on her kitchen table. "I mean, there's this one and this one."

He dropped two Polaroids down on the table as if he barely wanted to touch them, like they were garbage he wanted to burn.

"But then there's this one."

He held up the picture of her skinny dipping in Virginia. It was one of her favorite pictures anyone had taken of her. The sun setting behind her, the water barely covering her breasts, her hair wet and slicked back as she stared into the camera. She was free and felt wanted in that moment.

"Who took that photo, Ella?"

She gave Quinn a small sad smile. "My ex-boyfriend," she said softly. "I forgot I left it in there."

Quinn gave her a mischievous grin. "Oh, I didn't forget."

He took a step closer, his eyes still on her. This wasn't quite the same Quinn she met two weeks ago. Had her photo changed him? His eyes were wanting, his lips slightly parted. He was looking at her with that gaze from his photo that she couldn't get out of her mind.

"I found it in the box the night I met you and haven't stopped thinking about it since then. I hope you don't mind."

Thinking about it how? Ella didn't really need an answer. The way he was looking at her told her everything. But the idea that he had been using her photo the way she had used his sent a shiver up her spine. She could feel her pulse speed up and her chest tighten as she tried to take a deep breath to control herself.

"I don't mind."

"Good," he said with a deliciously sexy smile. "Because that would be hypocritical, wouldn't it?"

"How?"

There was one more photo in his hand that he held up for her to see. The photo. His photo.

Ella couldn't hold back her small gasp seeing it again in person. She remembered that photo and how it made her feel when she first found it. It still had the same impact on her and it was amazing.

"Jaclyn grabbed my phone one night and took that photo for fun. Foreplay if you will." He shrugged. "I made a print of it for her, thinking it would be something she would like to have around. For inspiration maybe."

Quinn gave Ella a grin that made it very clear that he knew what she had done with his photo. He gently slid it in her hand on top of the other photo she was holding and she couldn't help but notice her hand shaking slightly.

"Can you believe that Jaclyn didn't like it?"

Ella instinctively shook her head, her mouth too dry to actually say anything.

"I can't believe it either," he said mischievously. "But Jaclyn said that she was playing around when she took it, and I watched her drop it in her box so no one would see it."

He sounded a little bitter about that part, and Ella couldn't blame him. It was a damn good photo of him and one that should have been enjoyed by a woman -- at least Ella certainly enjoyed it.

He took another step closer, his t-shirt so close that she could easily put her palm against him if she wanted to. "I was quite surprised when I opened that box and saw this photo sitting there. I thought Jaclyn buried it on the bottom under ticket stubs and keychains. So I had to wonder how it ended up right on top."

He took a breath, a deep one, trying to steady himself. Ella could tell she wasn't the only one who was getting turned on by this conversation. Quinn was trying to control himself, but he wasn't fooling her. It wouldn't take much -- one moment, one movement -- for them to set this whole place on fire.

"Ella." His voice was desperate and pleading now. "Tell me how that photo got to the top of the pile."

She couldn't stop the teasing smile that was pulling at her lips. "I put it there."

Quinn swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing as his jaw flexed with tension. "Did you like it?"

"Very much."

Ella thought he was surprised by her declaration, but she needed him to understand that there was at least one woman who desperately wanted that photo. She gently put the photos down on the table and looked up at him, the blue of his eyes now a sliver as they darkened with desire.

"I've been very frustrated without your photo," she confessed.

"I've been very satisfied with yours and thinking about what your skin would feel like under my fingers, especially right here."

His eyes fell to her chest and his hands came up to gently graze the tops of her breasts exposed by her low-cut dress. She shivered at his touch, making him softly moan in response.

"Ella, did you ever wish I was really there in your bed?"

She nodded her head, her body too on edge to form words.

"Do you want me in your bed now?"

She stood still for a moment, trying to figure out what to do next, her eyes darting around his body to see if he was giving her any sign that he wanted this to stop. But there was nothing but desire from him.

Her hand instinctively grabbed the front of his shirt and she yanked him towards her, her lips smashing his. He seemed stunned for a moment, surprised that she had moved so fast, and she was kind of surprised by her boldness as well. But he quickly caught up. His hands moved from her breasts, running down the length of her body to grab her ass and pull her closer. She moaned with pleasure, her teeth gently tugging on his bottom lip for some release.

But there was no release, no slowing down, not now.

His hands reached down and started pulling up her tight skirt, his fingers teasing the inside of her thighs. Her hands fisted harder into his shirt in response, trying to find some sort of hold on him. But it wasn't enough. She wanted to put her hands everywhere on him.

And then his fingers found her lace panties. She sucked in a breath, the pleasure from his unexpected touch shooting through her.

"Oh, fuck. You're so wet, Ella." His hand teased her again, making her gasp in pleasure. "Do you always get this wet when you think of me?"

"Yes." His fingers moved harder against her in response. "Oh fuck, yes."

She could feel Quinn's moan against her skin, could feel the tension as her hands ran down his muscular arms. She wouldn't be able to take much more, and she suspected he wouldn't either. Her hand grabbed his wrist and she pulled him away from her, her body wanting to protest the sudden absence of his fingers.

But she had other plans. She kissed him some more, pushing them closer and closer to her bedroom. There had been so many times when she had thought about it, had hoped it was real. Now that it was, it was even better than she imagined.

The door hit Quinn's back as they pushed their way into her bedroom.

"Take that shirt off."

He quickly did as he was told, pulling away for only a minute to rip his shirt off and toe off his shoes. He came back to her, and Ella's hands began to slide down his chest, feeling his muscles flex under her touch.

She kept going lower, thinking about the picture she had studied for so long, knowing how that hair trailed down to his cock. She could see the zipper straining with his hardness still confined. Her fingers started to fumble with the belt buckle, trying to get to what she wanted. But Quinn's hand on her wrist stopped her.

"Ella." She paused and looked into his eyes, his face flush with desire and need. "Let me."

He gently let go of her hand and reached into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet and tossing it on her bed. Then he unzipped his baseball pants, watching her as she stared with anticipation. He sat down on her bed, pushing himself up higher, his head propped up on her pillows. He gave her a hungry smile and pulled his delicious dick from its confines. He looked like he did in the picture.

"Is this what you wanted, Ella?"

His voice was dark and intimate and it sent a shiver up her spine.

"Yes," she whispered.

That picture of Quinn was amazing. But to see him on her bed, the real Quinn, with those pants and that look of desire? It was beyond anything she imagined in her fantasies.

"Take off your panties," he instructed.

She slipped her high heels off and reached under her dress to pull off her black lace underwear. He moaned, his head falling back on her pillows, his breath rough and uneven. Then he reached for the wallet on her bed, pulled out a condom, and ripped open the package.

"You have to unzip this dress for me."

He rolled on the condom and quickly kicked his pants off onto her floor. "No."

"No?"

He took off his baseball pants, leaving them crumpled on her floor. Then pulled her down on the bed, covering her, the muscles in his arms straining as he looked down on her with desire and need. Just as she imagined all those nights when she was by herself.

"I like the dress. Keep it on."

He pushed the skirt of her dress over her hips, his fingers finding her wet again, his lips passionately kissing hers. Then he slowly pulled away to stare down at her with a look that made her feel wanted. She couldn't remember a man ever looking at her like that.

"You OK?" She nodded, and he gave her a smile that made her feel sexy and safe. "Tell me what you want, Ella."

"You."

Without taking his eyes away, he wrapped his arm around her waist and buried his cock deep in her. Both of them gasped in sheer pleasure, making Ella almost lose any thought of even who she was as her body adjusted to him. Then he began to move over her, making her feel a kind of pleasure she never felt with a man before.

She opened herself wider to him, moaning as he continued his pace. She needed this, she needed him. He was the only thing that mattered to her right now and the only thing she wanted. But even that wasn't enough for her.

"Harder." Her hand tightened on his arm, her lips brushing against his ear. "Fuck me harder."

He did as he was told, growling almost in pain as he picked up his pace. She was being greedy, but he didn't seem to care. He was going to do whatever she asked because this was also what he wanted.

She was trying to hold on, pulling him closer as his movements became erratic, pushing deeper and deeper as he groaned from the strain of holding himself together. She wasn't going to last much longer like this. She couldn't hold on much more.

He thrust into her, deep and hard, sending her over the edge, her body tightening around him as she took him for all he had. He groaned deeply and his muscles tensed against her as his orgasm followed hers.

Then his body calmed, his head falling into the crook of her neck, his erratic breathing against her skin starting to get some control again. He gently lowered himself on her, his body pressing her into the mattress. She let go of him and slowly ran her fingers along his back, trying to calm both of them after their session.

Quinn finally pushed himself off of her, flopping onto his back on her bed. His hair was sticking up in every direction, his hand rested on his chest, his body glistening with sweat. Even when he was completely spent, he looked divine.

He took a deep breath and turned to look at her. "That was..."

His voice trailed off. It seemed he couldn't find the right words to describe the ecstasy he felt. Ella felt the same way. She put her hand on his chest and smiled at him.

"Yeah, it was."

She could feel his laughter vibrate in his chest before he placed his hand on top of hers. Then he pulled it to his lips and kissed it.

"I'll be right back."

He got up and grabbed his pants off her floor, giving her a little time to straighten herself out. She stood up and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, her dress was still bunched at her waist, and her face easily gave away that she had been thoroughly ravished.

What had just happened? It was strange for her to just let someone in like that -- and then to screw them. But Quinn wasn't a total stranger since he had already been at her apartment once before. And she had seen plenty of him before he showed up tonight in those baseball pants.

She started to rummage around her drawers, looking for clothes that weren't black and tight, finally pulling on some clean underwear and a pair of jeans.

"I'm not a fashionista, but I don't think that dress matches those pants."

Ella turned to see Quinn leaning against her doorway in a pair of blue jeans now. He must've had them in the bag with him and she liked them too. No matter what pants he was wearing, he always seemed to make them look good.

He smiled and started to swagger over to her. "So, I guess you like my baseball uniform?"

Busted. But she was pretty sure she had made that obvious. He just gave her a teasing smile, letting her know that yeah, he knew, and he liked it too.

"Turn around and let me help you," he said gently.

She did as she was told, and Quinn's fingers began to unzip her dress all the way down until his hand brushed against her ass. Then his lips were on her skin again, gently kissing her shoulder.

"Do you want to go to dinner?" he asked.

"When?"

"Now." He kissed her shoulder again. "I thought I could show you around the neighborhood."

She spun around and stared at him. "Really?"

Quinn shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, my intention was to take you out for a drink. But you said you haven't eaten yet, and then you fucked me senseless. So now I'm finally getting around to asking you out to dinner."

Ella gave him a skeptical look. "If you were just here to get drinks, why did you have a condom ready to go in your wallet? And why did you specifically wear the baseball pants?"

He stepped into her personal space and looked down at her. "I was hoping I would get lucky, especially after seeing that picture of you."

Quinn gently kissed her on her forehead, then grabbed his shirt off the floor and pulled it over his head. Then he leaned down to get his sneakers off the floor and she noticed they were dark green and matched his uniform.

"Get a shirt on," he told her. "There's a great Italian place nearby that you need to try."

She watched as he walked his gorgeous ass out of her bedroom before finding something appropriate to wear out in the neighborhood. Her red cabled sweater that hugged her curves in all the right places seemed like a good option. Then she went into her bathroom to brush her hair and clean up the mess of lipstick on her face.

By the time she got to her living room, Quinn had already pulled himself together as well. He looked up to see her walking in, his eyes roaming her body.

"Apparently, you look amazing in anything," he said. "You mind if I leave my bag here?"

She smiled. "Yeah, you can get it later if you want," she said in a teasing tone that earned her a big smile from Quinn.

Ella grabbed her keys and phone from the table next to the pictures Quinn had brought over for her. Would it be too presumptuous to ask him about it? Even after he had his way with her?

"Quinn, can I keep that picture of you?"

He gave her a mischievous smile. "Only if I can keep that one of you." He leaned down and gave her a determined kiss. "Or maybe I could see more of you in person."

"I would like that very much."