Page 50 of Playing with Fire

“You’re going to have to help me out with this one, Bailey. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“If your ex-wife comes between you, me, and a bed, I will kill her.”

“I followed that part. It’s the convict before girlfriend part I’m having trouble with.”

I frowned. “You just explained it. What don’t you understand? I don’t want to be a convict before I have a chance to be a girlfriend.”

“Bailey.”

“What?”

“I don’t do casual hookups or one-night stands. I present the evidence you were, until yesterday, a twenty-nine year old virgin as proof you don’t either. You’re the first woman I’ve been with since I divorced. You’re a damned beautiful girl, and since I find friendship—even a weird one with lots of yelling and bickering—mandatory for a relationship, I think it’s safe to say you’re my girlfriend. Granted, I really should have talked to you about this first, but you had to open your mouth and beg me to spank you.” His voice turned husky. “I enjoyed every moment I spent making love to you in every room of my house.”

I had seen my face in the mirror enough times to know I had little scars all over my cheeks and nose. Even before a bomb had gone off in my face, I didn’t think I was pretty, let alone beautiful. “Oh.”

He shot me a grin. “You found my weakness and exploited it. Well done.”

I needed him, and I needed him now. “There’s a really seedy hotel less than two miles from your house. We could go there.”

“I know. How do I know? I was home when the call came in you’d been found there in critical condition. For the record, that was when I decided I needed to take extra measures to get your attention.”

I should have known. Crap. I scrunched my shoulders and slouched in my seat. “I really was going to call a cab and take myself to the hospital.”

“You know what? Screw it. Let’s go to a hotel. I don’t do seedy ones, though. Audrey can stalk my empty house for all I care. I’ve got better things to do right now. You, for the record.”

Yes, yes, yes! Score.

“We’re staying at the Plaza?”

A smug Quinn flashed me a grin, turned the car around, and headed towards Central Park. “I don’t do seedy hotels, it’s close to work, and they have really nice beds. They’ll also have dinner ready not long after we arrive. I hope you like steak and potatoes, because I’m going to be feeding it to you piece by piece.”

“You have my attention.”

“All I’d have to do to have your attention right now is unbutton my shirt.”

“I can help you with that.”

“You can wait ten minutes.”

Could I? Maybe, but I didn’t want to. I settled with staring at him, and he chuckled, a low, throaty sound I wanted to hear again. I sat on my hands. Undressing him before we got to the hotel wouldn’t help very much, no matter how badly I wanted to. “Someone like me doesn’t belong at the Plaza, you know.”

Quinn snorted. “Are you referring to your matted, pink, and glittery hair, your pink-stained shirt, or the fact your jeans should be classified as a felony?”

“What’s wrong with my jeans?”

“Nothing. That’s the problem. I’m going to have to peel you out of them. It’ll be like unwrapping a present, but a stubborn one prone to wiggling.”

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

“Me? Tease the incubus-influenced woman I intend to keep thoroughly occupied in our hotel room starting in about ten minutes? Never.”

“You could just pull into an alley, damn it!”

“Is this whole alley fetish a sign of your desperation, or are you actually interested in making out in an alley?”

Damn it. I scowled, pulled my hands out from under me, crossed my arms over my chest, and stared out the window. “You drive too slow.”

“Taking my woman to a hotel so we can stay up all night isn’t a legitimate excuse to run my sirens. You’ll survive for ten minutes. I suppose I should scold those angels for not waiting until we were somewhere a bit more private before dropping their magic. That was a little underhanded of them. Are you being rewarded or punished? Maybe you were right, and I’m the one being rewarded while you’re being punished. I can live with that.”