Love, Diamonds, and Spades (4 page)

“No,” she replied grudgingly, just as he knew she would. “I can beat Luke without resorting to cheating.” Her furrowed brows lifted with inspiration. “Doesn’t mean I can’t fight a little dirty though.”

With her eyes still trained on Luke, Dani yanked out her phone and started tapping out a quick text, a rather devious grin on her face the whole time.

The fact that Luke almost tripped over his own two feet reading the received text on his end shortly after was reason enough for Rylan to excuse himself. It was clear those two were dating…sort of. And it was equally clear that the pair had the strangest form of guerrilla foreplay.

Speaking of foreplay…

Rylan bypassed the now grinning and texting chocolatier, to head over to Luke’s lovely shop partner.

Quinn Christiansen.

His reaction to the woman that first day up on this rooftop had coldcocked him out of the blue. It had been beyond attraction. Far more intense. Adding her mysteriously short fuse with him to the equation somehow just made the magnetic pull ten times stronger.

And not just for him, apparently.

If he hadn’t felt her eyes on him for the past half hour while they’d been shooting the commercial, he’d have backed off. But he was a mere mortal man. He’d stayed away for three weeks to give her time to focus on the chocolate shop’s grand opening.

The grand opening had been yesterday.

Without another thought, he slid into the spot beside Quinn that Luke had just vacated.

She took a not-at-all-subtle step away from him.

He grinned. Yep, this was going to be fun. “Hey. It’s Quinn, right?”

* * * * *

GOD, THAT VOICE
.

With little more than a civil grimace, Quinn pushed out a terse, “Yep,” in response to the deep, smoky voice that had been torturing her memory for weeks.

Rylan raised a dark eyebrow in amusement, and his glittering gaze showed he wasn’t thwarted in the least bit. “Dare I hope you’re a fan here to watch us perform?”

She gave him her best ‘idiot’ dismissal and her no-fail testicle shrinking glance. “I don’t listen to whatever type of music this is you play.”

Well done. She mentally patted herself on the back. Pinocchio would be proud.

Unfortunately, it seemed the man went for that kind of thing, because his eyes darkened with interest, evidently drawn to the unintended challenge she posed. Great.

“Really?” he replied, shrugging casually. “Huh. I could’ve sworn I saw you singing along to one of our songs during warm-ups, which could only mean that you’ve watched us on YouTube since we don’t have any albums out. My mistake.”

He saw that?
Her lips flattened and she willed the blood to stay out of her cheeks. “I’m just here to make sure things go smoothly for the video. Luke’s been a bit distracted lately.”

An epidemic at the shop, it seemed.

Since first seeing Rylan at Ocotillos a few weeks ago, Quinn had been having her fair share of distracted moments as well, all starring a certain too-hot-for-his-own-good musician.

Worst of all, she was pretty sure he knew it too.

It would certainly explain why he was still standing there despite her trying to ice him out for a good minute now. Probably amusing himself by torturing her.
Bastard.
Irked enough to finally steal a glance back at him—skewer-sharp glare in the chamber at the ready—she was horrified to find him peering
around
her instead.

At the little blond preschooler clutching her hand.

“Hey buddy,” he said in the perfect tone of voice that would pass a five-year-old’s bullshit meter with flying colors.

That threw Quinn way off.

She pulled her son closer. “He’s mine. My kid, that is.”

“Yeah, I figured he wasn’t a rental,” replied Rylan dryly.

With an arctic glower, she added archly, “Yes, well, I wouldn’t normally bring him to work but I don’t have a regular evening sitter; never needed one with my glamorous night life and all.”

Studying her thoughtfully, Rylan leaned in to ask quietly, “Does that tactic work well?”

Confused, she swung a cautious gaze at him. “What tactic?”

“I’m sure you’re aware,” he said, his voice pitched low so her son couldn’t hear, “the big
eff-off
sign you have across your forehead already has neon letters and flashing lights. You really don’t have to use your single mom status to scare off the guys who are interested in you.”

Her mouth fell open in utter astonishment.

He leaned in even more, his lips now almost at her ear. “Luckily, I don’t scare easy. And sugar, you bet I’m interested.”

Now, she was officially tongue-tied.

Of course, the aggravating man had to shock her even further by then kneeling down in front of her son to introduce himself properly. “Hi, I’m Rylan.” He stuck out his hand palm up for a low-five. “What’s your name, big guy?”

“Cooper,” answered the young boy, giggling delightedly as his hand tried over and over to slap Rylan’s now playfully evasive hand.

“Cool name. Played with a guitar guy with the same name once.” Rylan laughed heartily when Cooper finally managed to smack his open palm. “Aw, you got me! Rematch!”

Still thunderstruck silent, Quinn just stared at the now cackling duo.

“So Coop, I saw you bopping around to our music. You’ve got good taste. Since your mom is busy working, why don’t you ask her if you can check out our instruments on stage?”

“
COOL
!” Cooper turned his pleading blue eyes to Quinn. “Can I, mommy? Please?”

She shook off her confounded stupor and managed to nod. “Sure, munchkin. Go have fun. Don’t break anything.” A Texas-sized lump formed in her throat when she saw the rest of the band welcome her son with warm hellos and knuckle-bumps. He was given a new band cap to wear and a pair of drumsticks to bang out some beats.

His squeals of delight filled the air.

Emotions all amuck now, Quinn spent the next ten minutes watching Cooper have a blast with Rylan and the band. Seeing the handsome singer really truly hang out with her son put a titanic crack in the ice blockade she had around her heart. The few men she’d dated in the past had just patted Cooper on the head and asked none too rudely when his bedtime was. Sadder still, they were all princes compared to the jackass noted as Coop’s father on his birth certificate.

But Rylan... He was genuinely enjoying spending time with her son, laughing and teaching him how to strum a guitar while wailing into the muted mic.

It was amazing. In an alternate universe sort of way.

Maybe that’s what allowed the uncharacteristic chortle to escape her when she heard the guys ask Cooper what his favorite song was. The answer, as she knew it would be, was the song from a Disney show he watched religiously.

Quinn’s humor quickly turned to complete shock, however, when the guys nodded and began strumming out the cotton candy pop tune she’d heard far too many times over months of DVR replays. The two older members of the group, the ones wearing wedding rings, each gave Cooper a crinkly-eyed smile before starting to hum a raspy, masculine rendition of the harmony just as Rylan started singing a rocked-out version of the lyrics.

The random folks hanging out on the rooftop deck immediately started murmuring their surprised approval and gathering around to listen.

Elated, Cooper began bouncing around and singing along as well.

When Rylan kneeled down to share his mic with Coop so they could wail out the lyrics in unison, Quinn felt irrational moisture springing to her eyes.

“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” she muttered, grabbing at a nearby chair, “not another musician.”

CHAPTER FOUR

QUINN LOOKED UP
as she heard footsteps approaching her in the alley between Desert Confections and Ocotillos.

“Woman, why the hell are you out here alone?” growled Rylan. “Don’t you know how dangerous it is?”

She looked around at the mini parking lot that overlooked the sunny town square on one side and a senior center on the other. “Yes, clearly, I’m living on the edge,” she replied wryly, tossing the shop trash bags in the dumpster.

He glanced up and down the alley once more and strangely, she was touched by his fierce concern, unused to anyone actually fussing over her like this. “I’m fine, Rylan, really. I only come out here during the daytime, and I always check the security cameras before I do. I’d never put myself at risk and leave my son without a mother.”

He nodded then, noticeably eased by that info.

“Are you here to see Luke?”

“Nope. I’m actually here to see you. I wanted to set a couple of things straight.”

She frowned. “Okay.”

With one more suspicious look up and down the brightly lit alley, he grabbed the door handle back into Desert Confections and held the door open for her. “After you.”

Quinn had to fight back a smile. He was still worrying over her.

It was…nice.

The second they walked into the office, he turned and pinned her with a look. “You’ve been sentencing me for crimes I haven’t committed, sweetheart. So we’re clear, I am not nor have I
ever
been a player.”

Well, that was direct.

“I haven’t been
sentencing
you.”
Just doing my best to ignore you.
“I don’t care how many women you fool around with.”

“
I
care how many women you
think
I’ve been sleeping with. Because that number lately is zero. Has been for a while. The college girl you saw me with outside of Ocotillos is my cousin. She overheard some frat guys on campus calling her fat and she was feeling bad so I gave her a hug while she cried her eyes out.”

Oh no. Quinn had a really bad feeling she was going to be eating crow soon.

“The waitress you saw in this alley?” he continued, gruffly. “Yes, she’s a little handsy, but she’s also not at all into me. How do I know? Because she was attacking my face with kisses to thank me for the back stage passes I was able to get from one of my buddies…for her
girlfriend’s
favorite band.”

Yep. A big ole heaping pile of crow was flapping into her horizon.

And clearly, he knew it too. His brow rose up to
dare
her to continue to be judge, jury, and executioner for his trial.

“Why are you telling me this?” she asked instead, wondering where in the heck he was getting his intel…and if she would in fact have to strangle Luke any time soon for having a big, yapping mouth. Because if so, she was really going to need to get some chocolatiering lessons first.

“Welcome to small town express, sugar. The walls, trees, and floors here have not just ears, but big ole mouths as well.” He made sure she was looking him right in the eye when he repeated, “So like I said, I’m not a player.”

“What about the band bunnies?” she countered, a sore spot for her ego she didn’t like to think about. “They were all over you. And you were eating it up. Signing their bodies…”

Her ex used to get off on doing that.

Rylan sighed. “That has
never
happened before that day. Those girls were doing it for some sorority initiation scavenger hunt. One of them, I recognized. She’s been a fan for years and she kept going on about how their team was behind by so many points. I felt bad. So I signed one of their hips—
not
my fan’s.” He grimaced at the memory. “I’m sure you don’t believe me but I’ve really tried not to think about that incident since.”

She actually did believe him.

“Honestly, the guys and I hardly get requests for autographs. Mostly just girls wanting to party. And I’m way too old for that. As a rule, we never hook up with groupies. My drummer is probably the only one who isn’t uncomfortable with the bunny attention; he kind of digs it. The other two guys, Tucker and Levi are both married. Me, I’ve never liked getting treated like a piece of meat.”

That one was harder for her to believe. Not because she thought he was lying, but because history told her otherwise. “So you’re saying if a bunch of your hottest fan girls stripped and wanted a group thing, you’d turn them down?” Yeah, highly doubtful.

She watched an array of reactions pass over his face: frustration, incredulity, a touch of amused disbelief, but mostly, he just looked offended. “You do realize I’m just a local musician, right? I don’t have wild parties and groupies throwing their panties at me. I have fans, yes, but it’s nothing like what you’re imagining.”

“I know for a fact that even local musicians get caught up in the whole fan orgy thing.”

His eyes narrowed. “You do, do you? Anyone I know?” The question was casual, but his hard gaze was anything but.