Chapter 26
TWENTY-SIX
AUGUST
The scene is so similar to the one from a couple of weeks ago that a surge of panic goes through me.
Once again, I’m looking out my window and seeing Quinn in the parking lot, staring longingly at my shop before she turns to walk away.
What the hell?
Is she avoiding me again?
Since chasing after her worked last time, I decide that’s the best route I can take.
“You good on the register?” I ask Marisol.
“Yep. I got it,” she says while fashioning the perfect scoop of Fiery Queen in a sugar cone.
My customers love the flavor. I think it might become a staple for the shop.
Just like the woman who inspired it.
Not bothering to take my apron off, I dodge around the counter and power-walk across the floor and out the front door.
“Quinn!”
My call has her stopping and turning. This time, at least, she doesn’t try that silly shuffle-run to escape from me. When I get closer, I glance at her feet and see she has on those temporary sandals again. Her toenails are painted a petal-pink color. Gods, they look like candy.
“Hey.” The Fire Elemental wears a tight smile on her face and has her hands shoved deep in her pockets.
The posture makes me uneasy, but I try not to read into it without all the facts.
“Hey. Why didn’t you swing by the shop? I think I can get the owner to give you a cone on the house.”
That has her brows dipping in a scowl. “Stop giving your ice cream away for free.”
Her expression clears when a chuckle sneaks out of my throat.
“Sorry. If you come in, I’ll promise to charge you full price.” Another thought occurs to me. “Or you don’t have to get anything at all. I know not everyone is as dessert-obsessed as I am. If you’re tired of ice cream, I won’t guilt-trip you about it.”
“Tired of your ice cream? Are you serious?” Quinn stares at me like I just spoke in a foreign language and expected her to understand me.
“Yeah. I get that it’s a once-in-a-while thing for people. Not a daily treat.”
“Oh my gods. You are serious. How could you think I’m tired of your ice cream? If your ice cream suddenly took on human form, I would cheat on you in a second. And I wouldn’t even feel bad about it. I would suck that ice cream dick on the daily.”
“I …” Words are slow in coming with that imagery in my head. “I’m not sure how to feel about that.”
Quinn glares at me as her arms cross defensively over her chest. “Feel damn lucky your ice cream is not on the verge of being personified.”
“So …” I have to shake my head to get rid of the fantasy of Quinn dripping ice cream onto my dick and then sucking it off. That’s too sexy for a Tuesday lunch hour. “If you do like my ice cream—and want it on the daily—why didn’t you come by the shop when your pedicure was done?”
Quinn’s mouth snaps shut with a click of teeth, and her eyes look anywhere but into mine. “Come on, August. You know why.” Her voice is low. Dejected.
“No, I don’t.” Frustration has me finger-combing my hair. I fight off nausea as I voice the dark thought that I don’t want to be true. “Is it because you don’t want to try dating anymore? You’re done with me?”
The Pyro jerks as if I hit her. “What? No!” Quinn shuffles forward and fists my apron. “We are not done. I just can’t go in your shop right now.”
Relief has my heart rate slowing, but then I focus on her last words. “Do you have somewhere to be?”
The muscle in her jaw tightens before she pushes out a gust of a sigh. “No, I’m working from home today.”
“So, why can’t you come in the shop?”
“Gods, August. Because I’ll just ruin more of your livelihood!”
Ah. Back to this.
“We talked about this. I’ll keep you level. Especially because I’m not asking you to come in for a hookup. I just want to catch up with you. See how your day is going.”
She moans, her forehead dropping to my chest. “That only makes you hotter. And now that we’ve slept together, I know exactly what you’re packing under this.” She gives my apron a tug.
My instinct is to say something flirty back because when Quinn tells me her mind is on my naked body, I don’t want to direct it anywhere else. But turning up her heat is the opposite of my goal. She needs to feel centered and in control so she can come into my shop.
“What can I do to help?”
My Pyro shrugs, head still resting on my pec. “Put a bag over your head? Or maybe one over your whole body?”
The half-hearted suggestion has me fighting against laughter. Trying to soothe her, I stroke my hands up and down her arms.
“Don’t have a body bag on hand. Sorry. Anything else?”
She sighs out her frustration before tilting her chin back. “I’m not going into your shop today. I need time.”
I try not to show how disappointed I am. I don’t want her thinking I blame her. My annoyance is with this whole situation.
“Okay. I won’t force you.”
Quinn nods, then drops her eyes to watch as her fingers trace up the straps of my apron until her arms drape around my neck.
“Kiss me,” she murmurs. “So I can practice some more.”
As consolation prizes go, this one I can handle.
Pinching her chin between my thumb and forefinger, I maneuver her mouth into the best angle for my lips to caress hers.
After the first touch, I almost stop because a buzzing starts up in my back pocket.
But whoever is calling my cell can wait.
If Quinn isn’t coming inside to visit me at work, then this is all I get of her until our next date.
She smells like nail polish but tastes like spice, her lips parting to allow my tongue inside.
Everything around me is hot, and I’m not sure how much can be attributed to the summer day in Phoenix versus the woman in my arms. Either way, my body soaks in the sensation, reveling in what is still new.
Quinn’s hold on me tightens, her grip in my hair an erotic sting. I find myself pushing her back as I kiss her until her body is wedged between mine and the scorching metal of her car. She doesn’t seem to mind.
My back pocket buzzes again just as my hips jerk forward, seeking.
The irritating sensation is as bothersome as a fly in my ear.
I want to swat it away, ignore it. But the distraction reminds me that we’re in a public parking lot in front of my business.
Not the best place for an overheated make-out session that might leave me covered in a coating of frost.
Breaking away, I pant in hard bursts while staring down at Quinn’s freckled nose. She blinks up at me, licking her lips. The sight has me groaning.
My phone pauses its vibration, then starts right back up again.
“Fucking persistent,” I mutter as I reach for my cell, all the while wishing I’d left it inside.
I’m not sure who I expected to see calling me, but the sight of my dad’s number shocks most of the lust out of my brain.
He never calls.
Not that I don’t talk to him. Only it’s always my mom who dials me up, then puts the phone on speaker so the three of us can chat.
The fact that he’s tried to get ahold of me repeatedly in the past few minutes has my muscles tensing as I step away from Quinn and press to accept the call. A sense of foreboding sits heavy on my shoulders.
He doesn’t waste time.
“August. Thank the gods. Your mother is in the hospital.”