Love, Chocolate, and Beer (Cactus Creek #1)(72)

The whole thing could’ve been scripted for a family vehicle commercial.

At the end of the night, when she’d let her guard down enough to try and ‘thank him’ properly for coming to her rescue, he’d hopped off the couch and somehow talked her into letting him spend the morning with her in the shop today. Then with a chaste kiss goodnight, he left…taking with him all hopes of the first good night she would’ve had in years. And if what she’d felt prominently through his jeans had been any indication, it could’ve been really good.

The man was so odd.

And now he was asking her odd questions.

“So you’re saying a spa package isn’t something you’d enjoy?” pressed Rylan as he filled another bag of chocolate bonbons and passed it to Quinn for ribbon tying.

Though even the words ‘spa package’ were a temptation to all her tired muscles, Quinn shook her head and reached in to remove the excess bonbons from the bag he’d just overfilled. His eyeballing the task was annoying her to no end. While she vigilantly calculated everything, he calculated nothing...and not just when it came to chocolates. “Why are you asking anyway? You couldn’t have entered the random romance challenge because of our conflict of interest.”

He raised a brow. “Are you saying we’re in a relationship, sugar plum?”

“What? No! And for the last time, stop calling me that!”

“Can’t. You can call yourself the Wicked Witch of the West all you want, but ever since you told me how you danced ballet in high school, I see you and get wicked Sugar Plum Fairy fantasies instead.” His slow grin turned seductive. “Want me to show you how well we dance?”

No need. Her mind could vividly replay every cataclysmic tongue tango they’d ever had. She took a wary step back. “What is with you? I practically threw myself at you last night and you said you wanted to help me work today. Now here we are working and you’re being…” She huffed out an exasperated breath. “You know what? Clearly, you don’t know what you want, and I don’t like being strung along. So why don’t we just agree to be friends and nothing more. That’ll put an end to all the questions and the mixed signals once and for all.”

A flash of emotion burned in his eyes before he said in a low, clear voice, “Trust me, Quinn, I know what I want. You and I both know it’s more than just a good time on your sofa.”

She blushed red hot and he immediately turned the heat back down.

“Stop thinking so much,” he murmured, pulling her slowly into his arms. She went willingly. “Let’s get back to my sexy Sugar Plum Fairy fantasies of you instead. Just so you know, I was having trouble picturing the costume—it’s been years since I’ve seen The Nutcracker—so I had to take liberties with it.” He nuzzled her neck gently. “If I’m being totally honest, the costume my mind conjured up consisted of nothing more than you with a snowflake scepter and a smile.”

She struggled not to chuckle. “You’re such a perv. And FYI, the snowflake scepter is from Candy Land, genius, not The Nutcracker.”

“Candy Land?” he played dumb. “Wasn’t she the ruler of the Land of Sweets?”

A giggle was building in her belly. “That’s the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker.”

“Exactly. The one who dances in the snowflakes for Clara—”

“Stop! You’re mixing all the characters up!” she laughed. Now she really regretted telling him she’d taken ballet lessons until she was a teen, and how badly she’d wanted to be chosen as the Sugar Plum Fairy in her final ballet winter recital before she stopped.

“I just love it when you laugh like that, sugar.” He sipped kisses along her jawline. “It happens so rarely.” His lips curved up sexily and moved to her ear.

“Wow, calling me a grouch—you really know how to flatter a woman.” Quinn was more amused than insulted, partly because she heard it all the time, but mostly because it was hard to get upset at any words being used like a feather against her skin.

“Your trigger-happy witchiness is not exactly a national secret.” He upgraded his nuzzling to nibbling. “I think that’s why seeing you laugh or smile is what does it for me.”

Now what was ‘it’ and how did ‘it’ do it for him? Quinn was barely following what he was saying. He could’ve been singing the alphabet song right now and she’d still want to rub up against him like a cat in heat. But she didn’t.

Barely.

He slipped a button of her blouse free from its buttonhole—a methodically chosen one located right above her navel so his thumb could now take advantage and graze the warm skin there. “Every time you laugh, I can’t help but wonder how it would feel to tickle you till you’re breathless while you’re gripped like a glove around me.” Another well-chosen button was set free, opening her blouse just enough to reveal the scalloped edges of her lacy bra.

Her eyes dilated until there was only a thin blue ring around her dark pupils. “You’re impossible,” she managed to breathe, though thinking was still far behind.

“Are you saying you want me to stop?”

She made an inarticulate sound of muffled pleasure when he pressed a kiss to the center of her bra, his tongue teasing a sliver of skin beneath it. “Yes?” she bluffed.