Accidentally in Love With the Biker (What Happens in Vegas) (3 page)

Chapter Four

“I’m sorry,” Kellie said, embarrassed that she’d stereotyped him. “I shouldn’t have assumed. People have made assumptions about me my whole life, and it…peeves me off sometimes.”

“It’s cool,” Quinn said, pushing his sex-deity hair back from his forehead.

She got lost in his smile, wh
ich seemed to say, “It’s not only cool, but I still like you, and you’re kinda cute.”
Oh, jeez
.

“Did you just say ‘peeves me off’?” Brae cut in.

“Yes. Yes, I did,” Kellie said, turning to look at her.

“Kellie doesn’t swear,” Brae, ever helpful, told Quinn.

“I just try to avoid it,” she mumbled. “I was an English major. My grandma always said if you couldn’t find a nice word for something, you didn’t need to say it.” What a great start this fake date was getting off to. First, she made a fool of herself by assuming Quinn was uneducated, then she enhanced that impression by looking like a prude. Gee, maybe she could make sure there was a stick up her backside next.

Fortunately, Brae filled up the next few minutes with the story of meeting Toby when he accidentally barged into her trailer on the set of
Lustful Lovers
and invited her to share her perspective on how a few key scenes should be acted out.

“And things just went from there,” Brae said meaningfully.

Toby looked up from his phone and dutifully leered, then went back to his social media.

The waiter brought a half dozen plates of food that were too pretty to eat.

“Here, try this,” Quinn said, picking up something colorful, but otherwise unrecognizable, and holding it toward Kelli’s lips. His eyes followed the food, but when she opened, he transferred his scrutiny to her mouth, watching her take a bite, keeping his gaze on her lips as she chewed, then moving down in the vicinity of her throat while she swallowed, and then back to her face. He left a trail of heat everywhere he’d looked at her.

The low-cut top suddenly felt too tight.

“Did you like it?” he asked, his voice deeper than it seemed a minute ago.

She had no idea what she’d just eaten, or what it tasted like, because Quinn’s dark eyes held her captive. “Uh huh,” she said, taking a moment to lick her lips. He watched her do that, too.

“Oh, you two are so cute!” Brae cooed. “Aren’t they just so cute?”

Breaking away from Quinn’s gaze, Kellie cleared her throat. It was all for show. She had to remember that. There wouldn’t be any follow-up tasting after the raw fish was gone. No Badass Dessert on the menu.

“So. How’s engaged life?” Kellie could give as good as she got. Well, maybe not, but she could try.

“Oh, wow. Better than we ever imagined, isn’t it?” Brae leaned into Toby, nuzzling his neck. He looked up and kissed her, then went back to his phone.

“He’s working on some business,” she whispered. “He took a break after
Lustful Lovers
, you know…” She giggled. “For the pre-honeymoon. So now it’s time to get back on the horse. So to speak.” Another giggle.

Ye gads
. Kellie tried not to think about the horse scene that she’d been unable to convince Brae to cut from her book. There was just no way two people could do what she’d written, not on horseback. Could they?

“Did they put that scene—the horse scene—in the movie?”

Quinn sat forward a little when she asked that. She elbowed him with a snort. “Figures you’d pick up on that.”

“Darlin,’ you know me so well already,” he rumbled into her ear, as Brae launched into a complicated explanation of why that scene had been rewritten for the silver screen.

A shiver ran down Kellie’s spine—one that was only partially from the vibration from Quinn’s voice along her nerve endings. She felt like she did know some things about Quinn already. He had a dirty mind—in a fun way. And he was smart—and funny. He didn’t mind that she was one giant faux pas, and he was a rebel with a clue. She found herself wanting to know more.

She wondered if she could interest him in an after-date drink once Brae and Toby went up to their room.

…

After another hour of listening to Kellie’s friend—and he was beginning to question that “friend” label—describe how her career was soooo busy, without once asking about Kellie’s own work, Quinn was ready to drag Kellie off for some nuzzling and groping.

Except then the evening would be over, and there would be no mak
ing out, or hot and heavy petting, because this wasn’t a real date. He’d enjoyed this one a lot more than many nights that included way more than heavy petting and didn’t involve conversation monopolized by self-absorbed…people.

And even though the double half of the date was excruciating, he really wanted to prolong his half of it—the part that he was spending cuddled up on a banquette with a sexy, funny writer.

Wait. Hadn’t he sworn off women? Well, he’d sworn off relationships, anyway. Casual dinners with strangers who picked him up after minor fender benders were okay.

His right hand heaved a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, Toby rose and shoved his phone into his pocket. “Babe, I’ve got an early appointment. We should hit the hay.”

“Oh! Of course!” Brae was on her feet in an instant, clinging to Toby like a barnacle with separation anxiety.

Finally
. Quinn didn’t want the night to end, but he was looking forward to a few minutes alone with Kellie. He’d made up his mind to ask her out for real before she left for home. Maybe he could take her on a tour of his shop and show her some nightlife away from the strip.

Kellie smiled at him, a spark there that gave him the impression she might like to spend a little more time with him, too. Without the un-dynamic duo.

“Come on, you two. I have a surprise.” Brae actually jumped up and down and clapped, while still draped around her fiancé. It wasn’t an attractive move. “I got you a room
right next
to ours! Isn’t that awesome?”

Kellie wouldn’t be winning any Academy Awards for her improvisational acting, but Brae didn’t seem to notice the look of horror that crossed her face. Quinn did, however. Why wouldn’t she want to be near her friend?
He
couldn’t stand her, but then he wouldn’t have to spend the rest of the conference—

Realization hit him upside the head with a wet slap. They’d told Brae that he was here
with
Kellie. Kellie had used his presence as an excuse to skip some sort of workshop that Brae was presenting on writing sensual scenes with a natural bent—emphasis on bent. She didn’t want to leave Quinn alone in the room all weekend, she told Brae over dinner, so she’d have to pick and choose which events she attended.

“Well, come on. Let’s go get your stuff, and we’ll walk up together.”

Quinn took Kellie’s hand and pulled her toward him. He nuzzled her neck, inhaling her scent as he whispered, “We’ll work this out. Just play along.”

She smiled, giving trust that he wasn’t sure he deserved. He hoped he didn’t screw this up for her. For some reason, it was really important to her to impress this friend. And it was becoming important to him to impress Kellie.

Perry, the slimy concierge, assured the ladies that Kellie’s bags had been taken to their room.

The ride to the top floor of the hotel was long and excruciating—because Quinn and Kellie were treated to the Brae and Toby lovefest for all twenty-nine floors. Pretty impressive that Toby could grope with one hand and text with the other.

And since there was so much gross lovey-dovey happening on one side of the elevator, Quinn felt like he should engage Kellie in something on their side. At least they wouldn’t be standing there staring at two grown people making out like teenagers in a giant glass tube.

So he backed her against the glass and looked down at her. Let them think he was going for the several-dozen-feet-high club. “You having fun?” he murmured. Her hands rested at his waist, probably to hold him at an appropriate distance, but it felt more like she was keeping him close.

She snorted softly. “It’s been an interesting date, that’s for sure.” But it was said with a smile.

“Yeah. For me, too.” And he meant it. Both the weirdness of spending the evening listening to one egomaniac ramble about herself while the other ignored everyone else, and the pleasure of meeting this sweet, sexy, smart woman. How about that? She was
both
vixen and nice girl. A dangerous combination, and yet…

“Sorry you can’t escape right away,” she said softly, looking at his chest. Her hands tightened fractionally on him—was that because the elevator had lurched, or because she wasn’t really sorry that he couldn’t leave?

“I’m not,” he told her. And he meant it. “I don’t suppose you—”

“Oh, here we are.” Brae dragged Toby behind her as the elevator doors slid open on their floor. “Come on, you two.” She pulled a key card from her little purse and handed it to Quinn. “You guys have a great night. I hope our
snoring
doesn’t keep you
up
too late.” She winked and elbowed Kellie, who gave a weak smile in response.

Quinn slid the key card into the slot to open the door. He held it open for Kellie and followed her in, while Brae and Toby called good-night from three feet away.

The door swung closed behind them on a nice, standard hotel room with a postcard view of Las Vegas.

“So,” he said, as Kellie turned to him. “What do you want to do now? Poker? Strip poker? Listen to Buddy Holly tunes?”

…

Kellie was trying to figure out how to politely excuse Quinn for the night without sinking to the floor, wrapping herself around his knees, and begging him to stay and hang out with her when the first sex sounds came through the hotel walls.

They were not soft, gentle gasps of pleasure. No, these were groans and moans worthy of the Haunted Mansion at Disney Wo
rld.

She was mortified. Here was this nice guy—a complete stranger who had sacrificed his entire evening to do her a favor—and he was trapped in a hotel room listening to people have sex. The fact that it was people she knew made it so much more horrifying.

So, this was weird. What now? “I guess they’re busy enough—you could probably escape, if you want.”

But then he gave that grin—a grin she bet had gotten Quinn into, and out of, an awful lot of trouble in his youth—and said, “No way. I bet we can have louder, better sex.”

Her whole body flushed at the thought, completely on board with the idea, but her brain was still engaged enough to recognize that she barely knew this man.

Looking right into her eyes, he let out a bellow like a wounded bull. This was followed by a deep, rumbling, “Oh, Kellie,
baby
. I have been waiting for this for
ever
.”

She nearly choked on the giggles that erupted.

“Yeah? You like that, don’t you?” he said—loudly—motioning her toward the bed.

He sat down, hard, onto the mattress, bouncing the box springs enough to creak.

She jumped on next to him and they alternated bounces, making sounds that she prayed she never really made during sex. Although if sex with Quinn was even half as good as it seemed like it might be, she didn’t care what she sounded like or who would hear her.

“Are you ready for me, baby? Are you ready for this? Do you want this?”

“Oh, yes, Quinn. Give it to me. Let me see that big—” She stopped and stared at him. And looked at his crotch—a totally involuntary action. From what she could tell, he wasn’t completely unaffected by their little game.

And he’d seen her look. Well, the hell with it. What happened in Vegas…

“Give me that big porn star cock, you stud,” she yelled. “Oh my God, yes. Oh, I need lube! You’re bigger than my vibrator.”

Quinn cracked up, rolling over on the mattress, covering his face with the pillow to stifle his laughter.

But then he was back in the game. He turned and grabbed the headboard and began slamming it into the wall at a rate of about a million thrusts per second.

Watching the muscles of his arm work, she couldn’t help but imagine the muscles of his ass and thighs straining to pump into her and figured she probably wouldn’t need lube if the real thing was coming at her even a quarter that hard and fast. Just the idea was making her feel a little slippery.

But as impressive as Quinn was, Kellie wasn’t going to let him be the master of her domain just yet. She stood on the bed and began to bounce, letting out vigorous “unh, unh, unhhhhhs.”

Quinn turned to watch her and said, “Faster, baby, faster.” Then he leaned back against the headboard with his arms crossed behind his head, legs stretched out on his side of the bed.

So she jumped faster. And higher. And realized that she had on a skirt, and was jumping up and down right above a hot guy that she barely knew, and he was—yes, he was looking up her skirt. When he wasn’t watching her boobs bounce.

And from the looks of things below his belt, he was enjoying the show.

Recognition caused her to lose her footing. One foot slipped off the bed, and with a cry she flew forward—toward Quinn’s reclining self, landing on him—and coming to rest with her face inches from his.

“Hi,” he said, after he caught his breath.

“Uh, hi.”

There was silence next door.

“Think we impressed your friends with our virility?”

“Oh, yeah.” Kellie was impressed with the hot, hard body beneath hers. Her legs were intertwined with his and his leg pressed against the hem of her skirt. His thigh wasn’t quite all the way between hers, but with a wiggle or two—

She froze. The air-conditioning wafted over her slightly sweaty skin, cooling everything that wasn’t touching Quinn. Her hands rested on his solid shoulders, and he had one palm on her waist and one on the back of her thigh, where her knee was bent outward in that almost-straddle position.

She was in a hotel room staring into the mesmerizing eyes of a stranger in a very compromising position. If he wasn’t honorable…or if
she
wasn’t— And she was beginning to doubt her good-girl status.

He let her go just as she squirmed off him and to her side.

Could you say
awkward
?