Start Me Up. Victoria Dahl
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“Bathroom at a club?”
“Quinn!”
“Well, you know my name and where I work. That’s about it, and I’d hope you’d want to know at least that, even if you picked somebody at random.”
“I just…” God, it sounded so sordid when he described it. Then again, she’d been wanting sordid, hadn’t she? And yet that guy at the restaurant had been cute and polite and interested, and the idea of taking him home had left her cold. “I know a lot more than that about you, Quinn. I know your sister and your best friend. It would be too awkward.”
He frowned at that, his straight brows descending into an angry V. “Not as awkward as being hurt—or worse—by some stranger you decided to experiment with. It would be really, really stupid for you to hook up with a complete stranger. Is that really what you’re planning?”
“Hey!” she protested, but couldn’t think of anything more than that. Just those few words made her flush with embarrassment, because he was right. Risk was fun until it actually got risky. But still…“You sound like your dad when you say things like that.”
Anger simmered in his gaze, but he quickly tamped it down, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, his face flushed with regret. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I just don’t want to think of you putting yourself in harm’s way. Especially when you have a willing victim right here.”
“Victim, huh? That’s flattering. Thanks, but no thanks.” He grabbed her wrist when she pushed back to leave the table. Lori froze, hovering an inch above her chair.
“I didn’t mean it that way. Honestly, Lori, I’m the perfect candidate.”
“Do this a lot, do you?”
“Of course not. Never, in fact.”
She hadn’t realized that jealousy had crept inside her skin until it slunk away. Jealousy over what? Quinn? When her thighs began to tremble from exhaustion, Lori slowly let her body collapse back into the chair.
He watched her with very serious eyes. “I’m no good at relationships, Lori. I work too much and I forget about all the boyfriend stuff and end up carelessly hurting any woman in my life. I’m inattentive and distracted…” He shrugged, gaze leaching from serious to weary. “I suck at being a boyfriend, but you don’t want a boyfriend.
“I like you. I respect you. You know me, but not so well that I won’t fit into your sordid plan. Just well enough to be sure I’m not going to drug you and post dirty pictures on the Web.”
Another point in his favor, though her career as a mechanic didn’t hinge on a spotless reputation. Maybe it would be exciting to be caught up in an Internet sex scandal. Maybe she’d get more customers. Or maybe she’d die of embarrassment.
Quinn’s fingers shifted, and she realized he was still holding her wrist. Her heartbeat jumped as his skin slid against her pulse, heat smoothing against that delicate, beating place usually covered by thick leather work gloves. The nerves in that one square inch gasped to life, then quickly spread the word to their neighbors. Warm prickles tingled up her arm.
She jerked her hand away and shoved to her feet. “Do you want some ice cream?” Not bothering to wait for an answer, Lori rushed to the fridge and yanked open the freezer.
“Plus, I find you very attractive,” Quinn added as if that were the least of her concerns. But those few words froze her lungs as she banged the tub of ice cream down.
Shit. He found her attractive? Very attractive? It could be true, or it could be an attempt to get some free sex from a woman who was offering. Just as she tried samples of things at the fancy grocery store in Aspen. She didn’t particularly want cranberry-flavored waffles, but she’d eat one if it was pushed in front of her.
Just as Quinn would eat her if she lay down naked in front of him.
Her cheeks burned as she scooped vanilla ice cream and thought of Quinn lapping her up. The strength of her yearning shocked her into panic.
“I can’t!” she groaned. “I—” A loud knock stuttered through the house.
Gasping with relief, she darted for the door. Her relief didn’t die even when she opened the door to find Ben standing there, looking for all the world like bad news in a uniform. But whatever he was there for, he was only saving her from having to reject Quinn. Or not reject Quinn. Either prospect seemed terrifying.
“Lori,” he said, hand tipping his Stetson down a fraction of an inch. Lori frowned. An awfully formal gesture from a man she’d known forever.
When she waved him in, Ben’s gaze slipped past her, eyebrows rising for just a moment before he looked serious and official again. “Quinn,” he said with not a hint of inflection at finding his best friend in Lori’s living room. “How’s it going?”
“Great,” Quinn answered. “I think.”
Lori blushed and felt Ben’s eyes noting each shade of pink as it rose up her cheeks. Damn cop eyes. “I apologize if I’m interrupting your evening,” he said.
She shook her head. “No! No, we had something to eat. But we’re done now. Quinn was just leaving!”
“Huh,” he said from behind her. Lori didn’t turn around.
Ben’s eyebrows rose again. “You sure?”
“Yes!”
Quinn cleared his throat. “Well, all right then. Lori, why don’t I give you a call about that bill tomorrow.”
“I don’t—”
“We’ll discuss the details then.”
Oh, jeez. He wasn’t going to drop it. But at least she’d have time to think before then. And, knowing Quinn, he’d forget to call anyway.
“Thanks for dinner, Lori. It was a very pleasant surprise.” He brushed past as she nodded, holding her breath at the touch of his arm against her shoulder. His skin felt so hot…
Well, of course it was hot—98.6 degrees, as a matter of fact. Nice and toasty and no different from anyone else. Unless, of course, he was a werewolf!
“Lori?”
“What?” she barked, trying to pretend she wasn’t staring at the door that had closed behind Quinn a few seconds ago.
“Look, I was going to come by tomorrow, but I was walking past and thought I’d stop by tonight. I’m sorry if I interrupted something.” A tiny question hovered in those words, but she pretended not to hear it.
He cleared his throat. “I have notes on your dad’s treatment in the emergency room, but do you think you could get me copies of any X-rays or scans that were done?”
“Sure. Why?”
“I want to have the medical examiner take a look at those, too.”
She crossed her arms tightly and nodded.
Ben flipped out his notebook and jotted something down. “What about the motive question? Did you think of any possibilities?”
“No. Nothing.”
“Nothing? No rivalries? No bad blood?”
“Not that I know of.”
“And what about girlfriends?”
The idea of her father dating felt as bizarre now as it had two days ago. But maybe the stranger part of it was just how odd it seemed to her. “I honestly don’t know. I asked Joe about it, and he said my dad dated occasionally but there was never anyone serious. I had no idea he even dated. He kept it from me.” She laughed a little. “I’m beginning to think it’s weird that I can’t answer these questions, Ben.”
“No,” he said immediately. “This