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“Tell that to all my lady friends.” He gave her a grin that was just this side of vicious. “Though, if you’re looking for that kind of company, I might be willing to make an exception.”
Aubry went ramrod straight. He did not just offer her a pity fuck. “Over my dead body—but, who knows, you could be into that sort of thing.”
“Hardly.” He made a face. “I like my women warm and willing. But on that note, you’re right. You don’t fit either bill.”
A gasp of outrage slipped free. “Watch your step, cowboy. I know plenty of places to hide a dead body.”
“Sweet cheeks, in my current mood, I almost hope you try.”
A delicate throat clearing had Aubry ripping her gaze away from the smug look on his face to her best friend. “Jules, you’re out of your godforsaken mind if you think for a second we’d last an hour without killing each other.” No matter how good he smelled.
“Actually, that’s why I think it’ll work perfectly.” She grinned. “Quinn needs a date to his sister’s wedding to keep his family’s matchmaking efforts in check, and you need someone to be a walking barrier between you and everyone else at this convention thing.” She motioned to Quinn. “He’d make a great barrier.”
“Only because he’s abnormally large.” A man his size could block out the entire room, which would be perfect if she could guarantee he wouldn’t open his equally large mouth.
“Aw, sweet cheeks, I didn’t think you noticed.”
Jules snapped her fingers at him like she did at her cats when they misbehaved. “Stop poking at her or she might actually try to bury you in the desert.” She sat forward, practically vibrating. “And Quinn, you have to admit that Aubry is very good at repelling everyone in her vicinity—no offense, Aubry.”
“None taken.” She’d worked hard to perfect her resting bitch face so people would leave her alone in public. Of course, in a town like Devil’s Falls, it was just as likely to draw in people who wanted to help. They meant well, and she managed not to hold it against them. Mostly.
“Plus, if you’re worried about one of your lady friends getting the wrong idea, that’s not something you have to deal with if you take Aubry.”
She glanced at him, sure that he was going to shoot Jules down the same way she had, but he had a strange look on his face—almost like he was actually contemplating it. Shaking her head, she said to Jules, “No. How many ways can I say it? No. Nyet. Non. Nein. No.”
It was tempting to get up and storm out, but her computer was here and Quinn was blocking her exit from the table. She turned to him again. “This is insanity, and you’re crazier than I am if you’re even considering it.”
“You don’t know my family, sweet cheeks.”
“Stop calling me that.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He rubbed a hand over his mouth. “What’s this convention thing Jules is talking about?”
She didn’t want to even entertain this idea long enough to explain it, but she could see Jules wiggling in her seat across the table, so it was only a matter of time before she shared the information anyways. Aubry sighed. “DeathCon. I have an invite to attend and test the upcoming Deathmatch: Redemption.”
“Damn.” He sat back, a look of almost respect flitting across his face. It disappeared as quickly as it’d come, replaced by his grin that seemed to charm everyone else—except Aubry. She didn’t trust that grin any more than she trusted the strange pull she felt when he was around. There were no two ways about it—Quinn Baldwyn didn’t fit in any of her neat little boxes she shoved people into.
She didn’t like that. She didn’t like it at all.
She liked it even less when his grin widened. “This plan of Jules’s is starting to grow on me.”Chapter TwoQuinn couldn’t believe he was actually contemplating this, but Jules had a point. A fake date would fit all his needs, and Aubry Kaiser, as vicious as she was dangerously attractive, fit the bill.
He skated a glance over Aubry. She was a little alternative for his tastes, with her tattoos and bright red hair, looking like some kind of exotic bird that had wandered into the legions of cowgirls and down-home belles that were Devil’s Falls born and raised. Pretty in a pixie sort of way, but with a mouth more likely to cause pain than pleasure.
Yeah, she was exactly the kind of girl who could hold her own against his family’s barbs. The woman had skin thicker than an armadillo and a don’t-give-two-fucks attitude that impressed him, despite himself.
She didn’t look convinced, though.
He couldn’t blame her, but the reward might be worth spending more time with her—that and the added bonus of getting a chance to see if he could get beneath her skin.
