Chapter 23
Sparky Blows a Fuse
Quinn tried to hold his jaw in place so it didn’t swing open and smack him in the chest. Because goddamn!
Sarah cleaned up really, really well. Not that he’d suspected she wouldn’t clean up or that she wasn’t gorgeous in her natural state.
But still, seeing her like this stole the breath from his lungs. And he hadn’t counted on that.
Women who caught his attention were typically either beautiful or hot. Sarah was beautifully hot. Or hotly beautiful. He couldn’t decide because he couldn’t put two words together, let alone muster a coherent string. So he just stared at her. And stared at her.
“What?” she snapped, bringing him out of his fog.
“I just … You’re not wearing one of your goofy T-shirts.”
“No, Sparky. I’m going on a grown-up date.”
“Dressed like that?” Oh Christ, could I sound any stupider?
Glancing downward, she ran her hands over her flat stomach and curvy hips, smoothing her clothes. He covertly made a thorough perusal of his own while her attention was drawn to her self-examination.
Fuck. Me.
He stood rooted in place by indecision. Should he follow her? Not let her leave in the first place? Throw her over his shoulder caveman style and haul her … into his bedroom? Or let her walk away?
She raised her hazel gaze to his, which was when he noticed she’d gone to the trouble of putting on makeup. Not a lot, but enough to brighten her eyes and skin. “What’s wrong with how I’m dressed? I thought the outfit was rather classy.”
Classy. Yeah, that was one way to describe the silky, form-fitting purple top and dark skinny jeans.
Though it was modest, as in it covered everything, something about the outfit was also incredibly sexy.
Maybe it was the way it made her smoky eyes pop.
Or maybe it was because the fabric draped what it covered and put it on display, hinting at the skin beneath without revealing it.
Maybe it was the damn stilettos. Really high, really shiny, really black. With a little bow on them.
He was grinding his back teeth so hard his jaw ached. He plastered on a fake smirk. “Isn’t that a little over the top for a guy you don’t know?”
Those beautiful eyes flashed and narrowed. “What are you? My second brother now?”
He tilted his head side to side, faking indifference. “I told Gage I’d look out for you.”
She snorted. “I don’t need him doing that, and I certainly don’t need you taking over for him, Junior.”
Junior? How could such an innocent word sting so badly and reduce him to a squawky-voiced, barely shaving punk?
He’d ponder that later. Right now, he was fixated on Sarah and her date.
He’d done his intel on Drew. He knew the guy was a few years older than Sarah—one of those mature men she was so fond of.
Not to mention he was some sort of damn consultant in the tech field, which made him smart.
Fuck! And the guy played hockey—strictly beer-league stuff, but still, he had to be in shape, right?
“What time will you be home?” He sounded like his mother.
Sarah narrowed her sexy-as-fuck eyes at him. “What’s it to you?”
He mustered all the nonchalance in his arsenal, barely keeping his voice in neutral. “Things are a little crazy in the world right now, Sunshine, and I want to be sure I know what to expect in case … Well, I just want to know when to start worrying if you don’t come home.”
Now her sexy-as-fuck eyes widened. “Oh my God! Now you sound like my mother.”
I know. But he wasn’t about to back off. “So? When do you think?”
“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation,” she grumbled. Her eyes slid to the ceiling, and she seemed to count off. “Eleven? Midnight? I guess it depends on what we do after dinner.”
WTF? A flare ignited in his stomach. “What do you mean, ‘what we do after dinner’?”
“Like if we play a game or watch a movie or … whatever. Do you want me to text you when I’m on my way home so you know I haven’t been captured by aliens or slave traffickers?”
“Yes. Yes, I do.”
“Okay, Sparks. You got it. Now if you’ll excuse me.
” She bent down to rub Archer’s head and cooed, “You take care of Sparky, okay? He looks like he’s about to detonate.
” As she leaned over, Quinn caught a flash of creamy flesh being held in place by a black bra.
Yeah, he was about to detonate all right.
After she’d left, he couldn’t scrub the image from his brain. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be giving Drew the same view when she bent over to pet T.J. and Natalie’s dogs, which brought to mind her bending over for Drew in an entirely different way. His heart rate skyrocketed.
He paced, thoughts and emotions colliding and wreaking havoc inside him. He waited all of about half an hour after she’d left before he texted her. Did you get there OK?
When she didn’t answer right away, he texted T.J. Sarah get there OK?
T.J.: Yep.
Quinn: So what are you guys doing?
T.J.: Talking. Chilling. Drinking beer. The orgy hasn’t started yet.
Quinn resisted the urge to tell T.J. what he could do with himself. Instead, he typed: Gage wanted me to keep an eye on her since he’s in the mountains.
T.J.: She’s in good hands tonight.
Quinn chuffed, looked at his phone wondering whose hands, set the device down, picked it up, chuffed some more. Are you still pissed at me?
T.J.: About what?
Quinn: Press conference?
T.J.: WTF?
Quinn: Sorry, man. Thought you were still mad.
T.J.: No, but if you apologize for that little stunt one more time, I will be pissed. Same goes if you keep texting me. I want to enjoy myself tonight. Later.
Quinn let out a growl of frustration. Maybe he should drive over—
“Quinn?”
His mother’s voice startled him. She was leaning against a wall, giving him a tentative look. “Everything okay, son?”
A long, slow breath deflated him. “Yep. All good, Sassy. Ready for me to make you some dinner? A cup of tea?”
Her face lit. “And play Parcheesi?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, but you’d better not cheat.”
“I never cheat.”
“Pretty sure you do.”
“Quinn Anthony Hadley, I swear, if I could put you over my knee …”
“No swearing, Momster.” Without thinking, without knowing what he was doing, he walked toward her and pulled her into a hug. She sighed against him, and his arms wrapped around her frail frame. As natural as you please. Like they’d been doing this forever.
She disentangled herself and, with a tender smile, ran her slim fingers through the hair hanging in his face. As she pushed it back, her light blue eyes sparkled. “She’s just out to have some fun. We’re all a bit frayed around the edges right now, and it’ll be good for her. And you.”
“Uh, yeah. Sure.” He didn’t want to delve into understanding what his mother was implying, and it seemed easier to play along. He ran his hand over the shaggy hair at the back of his head.
Her eyes darted there. “I can give you a trim, if you like.”
The floppy strands had been driving him crazy. No visits to the hairdresser’s meant they’d gotten long and unruly. “Actually, yeah, that’d be nice.”
They gathered up what she needed, and he obediently took a seat on a stool in his bathroom. Like old times.
“How short?” she asked.
He stared at himself in the mirror, and for some reason the word “junior” played tricks in his mind. “I’m ready to ditch the flow, Mom.”
Her eyes widened. “You sure?”
“I’ve been wearing it this way to impress the ladies, which suddenly seems like a really stupid reason, especially since it’s a royal pain in my a—rear.” He nodded at her in the mirror. “Yeah. Let’s do this.”
“Okay, son,” she giggled. “No more lettuce for you.”
He winced with the first few snips, watching each strand float to the floor, but then he relaxed. He was a little kid again, and he reveled in the feel of her fingers working over his scalp. “You like your blue hair, Mom?”
She paused to check herself in the mirror. “Yes. It’s fun. Like Sarah. She’s fun. I like having her around. How about you?”
Confusion swirled inside him. Did he like having Sarah around? She made him crazy in so many ways—some good, some not. He merely hmphed in response.
After several beats, his mother said, “You two remind me of your father and me.”
The scissors nearly flew from her hands when he swiveled his head to look at her. Somehow he managed to avoid getting his eye poked out. “What does that mean?”
“Trying to out-challenge each other. It was the same for your dad and me. Never knew a man who could push my buttons so easily. I loved it.”
“So why aren’t you together anymore?”
Her eyes stayed focused on her work. “We’re just taking a very long break.” A wistful smile curved her lips. “But oh, I miss the teasing! He gave as good as he got, and we fed off each other. It was exhilarating for a long time.”
Quinn cleared his throat. “So why did you guys … Why the long break? Could he not deal with the Parkinson’s? Was he …?”
She caught his eyes in the mirror. “Unfaithful? Not before he left. Since then? I hope not, but I don’t know. Three years is a very long time.”
Her tone told him the separation had been a long one for her too. “Yeah, but you haven’t …”
“No, I haven’t.” She flashed him an unreadable look.
“I think our being apart has more to do with how convoluted our lives became after the accident, how little we communicated, and how hurt and angry we both were. Between our demanding lives, my disease, the trouble with Ronan—” Her eyes went wide, and she came to a standstill.
Suddenly, she had all Quinn’s attention. “What do you mean, ‘the trouble with Ronan’?”
“Nothing. Forget I said anything.” She bent back to her work.
“No, Mom. What about Ronan? I know he’s your favorite—it’s no secret. Dad wanted him to break into the NHL, but then he got hurt. I know Dad was disappointed it ended up being me instead, so you won’t hurt my feelings by talking about it.” I’m a big boy now. I think.