“Then come.” He nudges me again. “It’ll be fun. DJ Foxx is going to be there tonight. She’s awesome.”
“She?”
“Yeah. I’ll introduce you if you want. She’s from New York City. You’d like her.”
“Oh, yeah? Why?”
“Because. She’s tough.”
I look at him to try and figure out what he’s getting at, but he’s too focused on his cake to notice. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
His fork stops partway off his plate, headed to his mouth. “Nothing.” He’s trying to act all innocent, but he doesn’t fool me. But I’m not in the mood to hear all about myself right now, so I play along.
“Whatever. Maybe I’ll see you. Maybe I won’t.” I don’t know if I can handle seeing him out at the club. It’s hard enough sitting next to him at a family dinner. When he’s in the club all dressed for the night, he’s too much. I know because I’ve seen it once before. And until his brother played super-asshole that night, I was ready to do a serious panty-drop just looking at him.
He shoves the last of his cake into his mouth, stands, and pulls his phone out of his pocket. It’s then that I realize it was buzzing. I’d thought it was my pulse. Being near him is making my system go offline. I quickly smooth my hair down while he’s distracted with the phone call.
“Yeah. Okay, I’ll be out in a second.” He puts his plate down on my desk and wipes his face off with the back of his hand as he slides his phone into his pocket. “Do I have anything in my teeth?” he asks, giving me a huge grin.
I smile and point. “Yeah. Chocolate.”
“Where?” He leans in closer to me.
“Everywhere.” I can’t stop smiling.
He gets even closer. “Get it out for me.”
“Go away,” I say, pushing on his shoulder. I don’t use a whole lot of force because honestly, I don’t want him going anywhere right now. I just caught a whiff of his cologne and he couldn’t be more charming if he tried. I think a little piece of me just fell in love with him. Today’s been a hell of a day.
He moves so quick I don’t even see it coming. Once second he’s grinning chocolatey teeth at me and the next his lips have pressed into mine. A quick smooching sound and he’s gone again, back to standing in front of me. “See you around, Quinlan.”
He’s through the door before I can get my shit together enough to respond. “Don’t call me Quinlan!” I yell at his back.
Jumping up, I run to my window as Mick calls out goodbyes to my whole family. I can hear Jersey banging around and shouting with happiness. He’s obviously had too much cake.
Rebel’s car is parked out front, but I can’t tell if Teagan is inside or not. Dammit. I don’t want to come across as desperate by texting or calling her as he’s walking out. He’ll totally know I’m going all girly on him and trying to analyze his every move, his every breath. Of course I am going to do that, but not yet. Not when he could find out that’s what I’m doing. I’m just going to have to stew for at least an hour before I call a meeting with Teagan and get her insight.
I watch Mick walk down the sidewalk towards the car, admiring the way he moves and the way his lean frame fills out his clothes. His shoulders are broad without looking freakish. He’s smaller than his brother but oh so much sexier in my book. I totally want to see him naked after watching his butt in those jeans. My insides turn to mush as I imagine what it might be like to see him completely nude. To feel his skin on mine…
I’m completely unprepared for him to turn around and catch me gawking. He grins and waves at me, walking backwards down the sidewalk.
I scramble to grab the cord to the blinds. They fall halfway down before stopping again, and I scream with frustration as I catch him laughing at me. My face is totally on fire.
Giving up on the blinds, I stumble away and drop back down on the bed. My cell phone is in my hand a second later and I set my timer. In T-minus thirty minutes, I will be calling Teagan and figuring out what the hell my next move should be and even if I should have a next move where Mick is concerned.
CHAPTER SEVEN
I HEAR THE BUBBLY BEETLE engine outside as I’m brushing on another coat of mascara. Maybe I’ve gone too far, but what the hell. Might as well give Mick a really nice view of what he’ll be missing. I’ve already decided this is not going to work, whatever this is. Even if he was flirting with me and meaning it today, it won’t matter in the long run. I’m a party girl and that’s all I plan on being until I’m old enough that I have to stop wearing underwire bras and thong underwear.