Double Dare (21 page)

Ty sat next to her, the mattress sinking under his solid body weight. He laid a hand on her bare thigh and squeezed. “The fact you left your front door unlocked.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh. You're lucky it was us coming in and not some psycho. You never heard us in the house. We completely caught you off guard.”

They certainly had. They had caught her in a very compromising position, one in which she had been the throes of an orgasm. As much as Logan had enjoyed watching Quinn get herself off, he had to consider her safety.

“Ty's right.” Logan said. “What if Peter had shown up and caught you in that position? Would you have invited him into your bed? Or if you weren't interested, would he have taken no for an answer?”

“I doubt Peter would have acted upon seeing me all spread-eagle and horny on the bed.”

Her comment caught Logan's attention. “Why not?”

Was she blushing?

“He never seemed that interested before.”

Logan hooked an arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick kiss on her forehead. “Then he's crazy, and it was his loss.” He moved off the bed. He felt sticky, and his skin tightened as the sweat dried. He needed a shower. “But you do deserve a spanking for being so careless.”

Quinn's eyes glittered. “Really?”

“Uh-huh. But right now I'm going to go clean up.” He looked at Ty, who had shifted closer to Quinn. “Did you leave me any hot water?”

“Do you need me to wash your back?” Ty asked him.

The offer was tempting. He wanted to say yes, but he just wanted to jump into the shower quickly to leave enough hot water for Quinn. It was her condo, after all.

“Another time. I'll just be a minute.”

After they'd all taken showers, Quinn went downstairs to make them a midnight snack.

They fed each other grapes and pieces of cheese while cuddling in bed watching a late-night rerun of
M*A*S*H.

Logan lay in the dark later, feeling complete; Ty and Quinn curled up with him in her queen-size bed, which seemed miniature in comparison to their king-size bed at the farm. He listened to the soothing sounds of their breathing and eventually succumbed to sleep himself.

Not a couple of hours later, the alarm jerked them all out of sleep. Logan turned to look at the alarm clock. Five o'clock. He groaned and turned over, pulling a pillow over his head. He didn't realize she had to get up at this ungodly hour.

After a few minutes, the alarm was quiet. He pulled the pillow off his face and noticed Quinn had slipped from the bed.

He shifted closer to Ty, who had fallen quickly back to sleep and was snoring softly. He brushed his hand over Ty's muscular, tight ass before spooning his body and nuzzling his face into Ty's neck.

* * *

Quinn padded barefoot back up the stairs. She had gone down to call her boss, even though it was way too early for anyone to be at work. She had left Frank a message informing him she was taking a personal day. When she got to her bedroom, she stopped to take in the scene.

Ty and Logan were snuggled tightly together. Ty had the sheet all pulled to one side, the fabric clutched in his fists, though none of that sheet covered his dark, chiseled form. He lay facing the wall with Logan's leg tucked between his heavily muscled legs. Logan was pressed against Ty's wide back. She was unable to see Logan's face; his hair was loose and hid his features.

When Logan had showered last night, Ty had gotten really serious while the other man was out of the room. He had gathered her hands within his and given her a crooked smile.

“
Quinn
.” He had squeezed her fingers lightly. “
I've been meaning to talk to you alone, and now may be the perfect time
.”

Her mind had begun to spin, wondering what it was about. It couldn't have been about the simple fact of her leaving her door unlocked. Could it?

“
I'm not sure if you realized it, but I was having some doubts about Logan bringing you
…” He had stopped and grimaced.

It had been her turn to squeeze his fingers, encouraging him to continue. She had no idea where this conversation would be going.

“
I had concerns
.”

“
Concerns
,” she had repeated.

He had looked uncomfortable and seemed to have a hard time getting out what he was trying to say.

Ah. “
About me
?”

“
Yes. Sorry. I didn't really want to bring it up. Felt it wasn't necessary, but Logan said I should say something anyway, just in case you wondered
…”

Quinn had been amazed. She had never seen the man so unsure of himself. She'd caught herself wringing her own hands and flattened her fingers against her thighs to prevent the nervous action.

“
Just spit it out
.”

He had finally grinned, the tension obviously draining away. “
Sorry. I was concerned when Logan first brought you home that you'd come between Logan and me. I could see the attraction between you. I got a little jealous. I love Logan with all my heart
.” He had paused for a moment and cleared his throat before continuing. “
All my heart
.”

“
I know
,” Quinn had murmured.

“
And I was interested in bringing in a third person—a woman—but I also was worried that our relationship might not survive it if it wasn't the right person
.”

“
Okay
.”

“
Quinn, I just wanted to tell you that I really think you are the right person
.”

As she stepped through the bedroom doorway, Quinn smiled, remembering that conversation. Her heart almost burst even now from what Ty had said.

She approached the bed, and when she put a knee on the mattress, Logan brushed the hair out of his face to look at her. He gave her a sleepy smile and made some space between them, patting his hand on the bed. She climbed in between the two and wiggled to get settled. Her bed wasn't nearly big enough for the three of them. It was a tight fit, but she wasn't complaining.

She ended up snuggled against Ty's back with Logan behind her. She felt like she was between a slice of pumpernickel and a slice of whole-wheat bread. This was a sandwich she'd be happy to enjoy anytime.

Logan's warm breath stirred her hair around her ear, tickling her. He murmured something sounding like, “You're ours. No one will win you but us.”

She closed her eyes against the tears burning them. She truly felt wanted.

* * *

Her earlier feeling of being wanted quickly waned.

“So now you are saying you won't go?” Panic rose to the top of Quinn's throat. She set her coffee mug down on the small kitchen table with a
thump.

“I never said we would definitely go. You just assumed that.”

“Like Logan said earlier, you really need to think hard about this. I think you're going about it the wrong way.” Ty pushed his chair back from the table and crossed his arms over his broad chest.

Logan grabbed one of her fisted hands. “I agree. I think it's selfish. You want to use us to get back at your mother.”

Quinn pulled her hand out of his grasp and stuffed both fists into her lap. “My parents. Peter.”

Logan frowned. “Your mother. You've said that your father just follows her lead.”

“Doesn't make it right,” Quinn grumbled.

“Maybe not. But wanting us to go with you as dates—
both
of us—I don't know, Quinn. You could do permanent damage.”

“To what?”

Logan groaned, his frustration clearly shown on his face. “To you. Your relationship with your parents, your friends. Your career.”

“To us. Our business. Possibly my friendships with my former teammates,” Ty added. “I'm not sure if I'm ready to make
our
relationship public.” He waved a hand between Logan and himself. “Not to mention letting the world know about the three of us.”

“You, yourself, didn't want to let your friends know. You didn't want to be the topic of gossip. But now you want to make us the center of attention at a charity event? To embarrass your parents?” Logan shook his head. “That's just fucked-up, Quinn.”

She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut.

The pressure in her chest increased and became suffocating. Her heart squeezed. She should have known better. Men continually let her down. Peter, who had cheated on her. Her father, who jumped when her mother said jump. Now these two. They were no different.

She needed to strike out. For them to hurt as she was hurting. Quinn could only think of one thing to say. “Get out.”

Ty straightened up in his seat. “Quinn—”

“Quinn, you can't be serious.” Logan's eyebrows lowered, anger flashing in his eyes.

He was not used to being told what to do. Too bad for him. “Oh I'm serious. You guys need to get out.” She pointed a shaky finger toward the front of the house. “Last night everything you said made me believe that you would go…”

Logan shook his head. “You are making a mistake,” he warned.

Whether he meant by her throwing them out or by the way she was going to handle Peter and her parents, she didn't care at the moment. She was upset. Upset they wouldn't stand by her side and support her while she was at the benefit.

She had done everything they asked of her. And more. “I've trusted you. I've let you do whatever you wanted to do with me. I put myself in your hands. And now? You can't do this one little thing for me?” Her words were gritty and thick.

“Quinn, this isn't little. This could affect us big-time. We could possibly lose business…”

She closed her eyes to stop the stinging. She did not want them to see her cry.

“Get out!” She sat stiffly, breathing through her nose. Struggling to keep herself together.

She heard the sharp scrape of a chair and then Logan's low, tight voice. “Okay. We'll leave for now. But think hard on this, Quinn. You'll see that we're right. You're going about this the wrong way.”

She had a niggling feeling they were right. That they were looking at it from a better point of view. But she hoped they were wrong.

She didn't move until she heard the last of their footsteps and the soft
click
of her front door.

The silence of the condo became deafening. The fridge powered on, and she started, opening her eyes.

Before that very moment, she had never felt so alone.

Quinn nervously smoothed a hand over her hip. She'd had to suffer through dealing with the highbrow saleswomen in four boutiques before finally settling on the dress she now wore. It was midcalf length, sleeveless, and white, decorated beautifully with sparkly sequins. And it fit very, very snugly, hugging all her curves and framing her cleavage perfectly. Her back was completely exposed, all the way down to just above her buttocks, where the silky fabric draped softly, barely hiding the top of her crease. A silver and rhinestone chain hung midway across her back. It bridged both sides of the dress, keeping it from separating and gaping enough to show her bare breasts.

Just enough fabric covered her breasts; she went without any form of bra or support. The neckline—if it could be called that—went so low, she was surprised her navel wasn't exposed. Her breasts bounced firmly with every step she took in her four-inch heels. Even though she was in her thirties now, her breasts hadn't gone south yet, and she was proud of that. Her shoes were also white, with matching satin ribbon. They laced around her ankles and up her calves. The dress had a slit up the left side to midthigh, making her feel extraordinarily sexy.

She decided to forgo the panties also, since any panty line would be noticeable with the tight fit. Going commando had never been her style, but she felt daring tonight. If not a little reckless.

And very determined to make a point.

A huge square-cut sapphire solitaire, handed down to her from her late grandmother, hung heavily between her breasts on a platinum chain. Two more sapphires dripped from her ears. A twenty-thousand-dollar tennis bracelet sparkled on her right wrist—a present from her father when she graduated college summa cum laude.

She was dressed to kill.

And she didn't look anything like she had in that ugly bridesmaid dress the night she had met Logan. It had only been a few weeks ago, but it felt like months.

She wasn't going to dwell on the fact that she was just as alone tonight as she had been on that night. Even though a lot had happened since then, everything seemed to be back to where it was. No one was going to change that but herself. It was time to take control of her own life. To do what
she
wanted, not what everyone else wanted just because it was expected of her.

Maybe the boys thought that was selfish. Maybe it was.

She pushed the what-ifs and possible future regrets out of her mind. She couldn't worry about them right now…

She pasted on a sexy smile and put an extra oomph into the swing in her hips as she came around her Infiniti. She plucked the ticket out of the valet's fingers and shoved it into her clutch. The poor young valet continued to stand there and stare at her, his mouth gaping. Well, he wasn't staring at her. He was staring at her breasts. She was beginning to think he could see the pink of her nipples through the dress, when he finally snapped into motion, wiping a bit of spit from the corner of his mouth.

Quinn laughed as he scrambled around her car. This was the exact effect she was striving for.

The dress was worth the week's salary she had paid for it.

She snapped her clutch closed and walked through the double doors of the country club.

Her ears were immediately assaulted by the din of the banquet room, which was directly across from the country club's main entrance. Monte Carlo nights seemed to be loud and boisterous as participants got caught up with the games.

She paused at the double doors to the room where the charity event was being held, and surveyed the crowd. She relaxed a little when she didn't spot Peter. It gave her a little time to deal with her parents first. She was sure her mother wouldn't be pleased with what she was wearing.

And that had been another selling point for this particular dress.

She startled when a hand grasped her elbow firmly from behind. Quinn was dragged backward, farther away from the event, and she struggled to keep upright. She dug her heels in and turned to meet her mother's displeased expression.

“You look like a whore.”

Quinn sharply pulled her sore elbow out of her mother's grasp. A bruise would not make a nice accessory. “An expensive one, I hope. I was going for the Julia Roberts in
Pretty Woman
type of look. Did I succeed?”

“Do you think this is funny?” her mother asked, her eyebrows pinned and lips tightly pressed together in displeasure.

“Look, Mother. You want to sell me off to the highest bidder. I might as well dress the part.”

Her mother hissed at her. “This is a charity event. Not a sex-slave auction.”

Quinn lifted a bare shoulder lazily in a half shrug, trying to appear much calmer than she was. She gave her best attempt to drum up the newfound confidence the boys had given her. At least until she noticed her father quickly striding toward them. His face didn't hold the displeasure her mother's did, but more of a shock and disappointment.

Quinn suddenly had the urge to run and hide. She loved her father and did not want to hurt him. But hell, she hadn't asked for any of this. She couldn't forget that. And she had come this far, did she really want to back out now?

As he approached, her father stripped off his tuxedo jacket and extended it to her. “Put this on.”

Quinn shook her head and backed up a step, careful not to catch her narrow heel on the rug. “No.”

“You can't go in there looking like that. You look like a…a…”

“Yes, I know. Mother's already said.”

“You need to go home and change.” Her father looked annoyed, ready to ground her for a week and take away her phone privileges.

She was an adult, damn it!

“No, Dad. I've spent a fortune on this dress, and I will wear it.”

Her mother stepped a hairbreadth away from her and pointed a red-lacquered fingertip into her face. “We'll remove you from the list of auctionees.”

As if
that
would punish Quinn.

“No, you won't. You will reap what you have sowed. This money is going toward a good charity. You can't let the charity suffer due to your uptight attitude.”

“This is not about being uptight. This is about how it looks—” Her mother stopped abruptly.

“How it looks to your friends and peers,” Quinn finished for her.
Anything to keep up appearances.

“Do you think Peter is going to be happy when he sees you dressed like that?”

If he were normal, he'd be hard when he saw her. But then, Peter wasn't normal.

Did she say that out loud?

No. Phew. She needed to get away from them before she said something she shouldn't. As if she hadn't already.

Her father's disappointed and almost-hurt expression sent a sharp pain through her chest. Maybe she should leave and forget the whole thing… Maybe the boys were right.

She moved away from her parents as fast as her high heels would take her. She answered over her shoulder, “I don't care if Peter is happy.” She'd make her decision whether to leave or to stay once she returned to the lobby.

“Well, you should!”

Her mother's comment brought Quinn up short. She spun to face her parents. “Why? When was Peter ever concerned if I was happy?”

If it had been funny, she would have laughed at her parents' stunned expressions. Her mother was actually speechless for a split second… Imagine that!

“That's what I thought,” Quinn said before continuing her escape.

“Peter loves you,” her mother yelled to Quinn's back as she strode away.

Quinn just shook her head in disgust. Peter was a cheating bastard, but her mother still thought he was perfect. Hell, she didn't have to wait until the lobby to make up her mind. After tonight, there would be no doubt in her mother's mind—in Peter's mind—that Quinn wanted nothing more to do with him. She deserved better.

When she got to the banquet room, she took a deep, bolstering breath and sauntered into the crowded room and right up to the bar.

* * *

It was déjà vu for Logan. When he had first spotted Quinn weeks ago at the reception, she had been tying one on at the bar. Tonight she was doing the same thing, only this time she wasn't wearing that ugly pink monstrosity. She was wearing some sleek number that made him as hard as hell.

And he was sure it made every other man in the room as hard as hell too. Well, except maybe her father, who he supposed was somewhere in the crowd.

While that bridesmaid's dress had done nothing to show off her attributes, this one did
everything
to show them off. It actually showed off too much.

But he wasn't complaining. No, sir. All he could think about was stripping the little covering she was wearing off later tonight.
If
she forgave them. He hoped them showing up tonight was enough. If not, he might be tempted to beg.

His lips twitched with amusement at that thought.

At least until he heard, “Mr. Reed! Mr. Reed!”

Every muscle tensed in his body as he heard footsteps rushing toward him.

He turned to face the squat little man who was the general manager of the Mandolin Bay Country Club.

He lifted one eyebrow. “Mr. Lawson?”

“Yes, yes. I saw your helper dropping you off at the front door. The head groundskeeper is not here right now, but he needs to speak to you regarding an issue with the sod.”

“My
helper
was just parking the car. He should be in here momentarily.”

“Then I'm glad I caught you. Again, the head groundskeeper has been meaning to meet with you. He is down at the maintenance shed.”

Logan crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at the man. Was he kidding?

“Do I look like I'm dressed to work on the greens?”

The man's mouth opened and closed like a gasping fish as he finally noticed Logan's attire. Which just happened to be a tuxedo, not coveralls.

After a moment, Lawson sputtered, “Why, no.”

“I'm here for the House to Home Charity.”

Lawson had the gall to step in front of Logan, blocking his way. He put out a chubby hand, as if that could stop Logan from entering. “Sir, it's by invitation only.”

“I've been invited,” Logan growled. His patience was wearing thin.

“By whom?”

“Quinn Preston.”

“But Ms. Preston…” Lawson stopped.

“Yes? Ms. Preston?”

His gaze shot back and forth as if he was trying to avoid making eye contact with Logan. “Uh. Ms. Preston has a date.”

“Yeah? Who?”

“I…I… Peter Harrington.”

“Oh. Well, I brought my own date.” Logan glanced behind him to see Ty approaching. His “date” looked very handsome in his tux. “Here he is now.” Logan slipped an arm through Ty's and gave him a quick kiss.

Lawson turned a sickly shade of pale, and his eyes widened to large circles as he stumbled away from the two of them.

Jeez. You would have thought he and Ty were lepers the way the manager acted.

“Was that smart?” Ty asked as Logan led him into the event.

“Probably not.”

Logan felt a twinge of regret at shocking the man. He didn't want his actions to jeopardize his contract with the club. He'd had it for years, and it brought in a nice chunk of change.

Well, if needed, he'd do damage control later.

Right now he had something more important to deal with.

A group of men gathered around Quinn. Three untouched drinks sat on the bar in front of her as she sipped the one already in her fingers.

“Alabama slammers?”

A quick outtake of breath escaped her gaping mouth before she quickly schooled her expression. Logan was impressed how rapidly she recovered from her shock at seeing the both of them there. But he could still see the question in her eyes.

Her lips turned up at the corners. “No. Tonight's a perfect night for Long Island iced teas. Not quite as potent as slammers, but they will do the trick.”