Chapter 4
Leo
I took a sip of the amber liquid in front of me and grimaced as the fire caught at the back of my throat and burned all the way down. Fuck. I hadn’t been lying earlier. The whiskey at Lucky’s really was as caustic as motor oil. But it got the job done. By the second round, I was starting to feel the sweet buzz as the liquor got to work.
It didn’t seem to matter though. As much alcohol as I drank, it still didn’t help to banish the thought of her. Quinn. All I had to do was think of her name and her image appeared in my mind like a ghost.
Blond hair that curled like strands of sunlight past her shoulders. Those green eyes of hers that reminded me of searching for a lucky four leaf clover in the grass when I was a kid. Freckles were scattered carelessly across the bridge of her nose and swept onto her cheeks. And her mouth.
My body tightened at the memory of her mouth. Sweet and sinful all wrapped up into one. A devil in angel’s clothing. It was almost enough to have me drooling right there on the old wooden bar top.
I shook off the thought, trying to ignore the twinge of warning in my gut. I was used to women running through my life like water, but something about this girl had me coming back again and again. And it was starting to drive me crazy.
Just one more night. One more night with her to get her out of my system. Then I’ll be back to normal. I nodded my head firmly at the thought. That was all I needed. One more night. But I didn’t even have her number. She had mine.
But that thought wasn’t much more comforting. Who says she’d even call? Who says she’d want to see me again?
What the fuck am I doing? Worrying about if some random hook up is going to call me back. Like a fucking teenaged guy with a HUGE crush.
And that wasn’t even the worst part. I’d gone and broke one of my hard and fast rules. Always use a condom. What the fuck was I thinking? I shook my head. That was the problem. I hadn’t been thinking.
One taste of her and I’d lost my mind, everything demanding that I take her hard and fast until she was screaming my name and then to do it all over again. My body still demanded, rising to attention at the memory.
“Fuck.” I shifted on the bar stool, trying to get more comfortable and to get my body back under control but it was pointless. One thought of Quinn and it was all downhill from there.
Resolutely, I turned my back to the bar, scanning the crowd at Lucky’s. It was a Thursday night, and pretty busy. Most of the tables were full, many of them with women that I’d seen at the bar before. Some of them I’d seen up close and personal in my bed before.
My gaze landed on a brunette by the Jukebox who was shooting me glances beneath mile-long lashes. There, what about that one? But mentally, I was already shaking my head. Not blond enough.
That one? No, not her either. Her eyes aren’t green enough. Over and over, I looked but no one else even caught my interest. That inkling of worry grew but I pushed it back down. It was just fun, that’s all it was, I told myself. But it was a different matter altogether making myself believe it.
“Can I get a shot of Jack?”
I jumped at the angry tone of the voice that suddenly sounded on my right but relaxed when I glanced over and saw Jonah sliding onto the stool next to me. Thank fucking god. I needed the distraction.
“Hey, Leo.” He nodded in my direction, glancing down at the drink in front of me, “You do work here, right? Or do you just drink here?”
“A little from column A, a little from column B.” I shot him a shit-eating grin that he matched. I hadn’t lived in Coral Springs long before I met Jonah Moore and recognized the kindred spirit.
We were both restless, more than a little wild but while I could pack up and move on to the next town whenever the urge struck, Jonah was tied here. Something to do with money and his sister. He’d never quite told me the whole story but I knew enough. He’d never leave. Not unless his little sister was settled somewhere, and maybe even not then.
“Mostly column B.” Stella interrupted with a good-natured eye roll in my direction as she slid Jonah the shot. He tipped his head back, downing the whole thing before waving for another.
“Rough night?” I asked, noticing that Jonah looked even more haggard than normal.
“Yeah. Something like that.”
I waited for Jonah to say more but he didn’t. “Me too,” I spoke into the silence, my thoughts drawn inexorably back to my mystery girl. “I met someone.”
“Of course you did.” Jonah snorted into his third shot. “When are you not meeting someone.”
“No, I mean, it was different. Something was different about her.” I shook my head, still not quite able to understand it myself, “I can’t stop thinking about her.”
“When did you meet her?” Jonah asked with a droll look in my direction.
“This afternoon.”
“And you slept with her?”
“Well, yeah.” I shrugged, glancing back at my whiskey.
“So you haven’t been able to stop thinking about this girl for…five hours? Congratulations. I think that’s a record.”
I gave Jonah a punch on the shoulder just for good measure. "I'm serious."
“So am I,” Jonah rolled his eyes. “Just wait. Some hot chick will roll in here tonight and you’ll trip her into bed and then you won’t even remember the other one.”
“I don’t trip women into my bed.”
“Really? A lot of them seem to fall into it.”
“It’s called charm, asshole.” I sneered at him but there was laughter underneath it, “You wouldn’t understand.”
“I don’t need charm.”
“No, you just ignore women into bed with you. How’s that method working for you anyway?” I said the words jokingly but I didn’t miss the way Jonah flinched.
“Aw, fuck, man. I’m sorry. You and Sabrina still–.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
I nodded sagely, “So that’s what’s got your panties in a twist? Sabrina still bringing you down?”
“It’s not about Sabrina.” Jonah snapped, sweeping his hair back with a restless movement that had me holding up my hands.
“Hey, sorry. It’s none of my business.”
“You're right. It's not.” Jonah knocked back half of his fourth shot before giving in with a sigh, “It's about my parents.”
“Oh, shit.” I knew a little bit of Jonah’s history but he rarely talked about his parents, rarely talked about his past at all. I knew that they were addicts. I knew that they had split when he was a teenager and he’d basically raised his little sister who was away at school or something. Other than that, I didn’t need to know. Over the last couple of years, Jonah and I had become close friends. The past didn’t matter.
“I don’t want to get into it,” Jonah was saying, shaking his head, “But now I’ve got this fucking property dumped in my lap and knowing my parents it’s all going to be some sick joke. And I’ll be the punchline. And now that my sister is back in town, I just…I needed to get drunk, okay?”
“I’m not judging,” I held my hands up again, “You know I’m the last person who gives a fuck about other people’s shit. I’ve got enough of my own.” I turned to Stella, “Another round, on me.”
“Thanks, Leo.”
Stella came over, sliding two drinks in front of each of us before shooting me a pointed stare. “You do know this all comes out of your paycheck, right stud?”
I just shrugged as I tipped back the drink.
“Work hard, play hard. That’s my motto.”
Stella and Jonah both snorted out a disbelieving laugh. “More like play hard, and then play harder, man.”
I just shrugged, not even bothering to defend myself. It was the truth. I made it my mission in life to squeeze as much pleasure out of the bastard as I could. I wasn’t about to apologize for it.
“So, what are you going to do about it?” I finally asked, glancing over at Jonah. He just shrugged.
“Do about what?”
“That property you were talking about.”
Jonah gave him a long, bleary-eyed look before choking out a bitter laugh. "Fuck if I know. Seems like everything I do is wrong these days."
“Hey, man, at least your little sister is back, right?”
“Oh, yeah. That’s just great.” Jonah snorted before rising to his feet. “Listen, Leo. Thanks for the drink but I got to go.”
"I called you a cab, Jonah," Stella said, somehow knowing even though her back was turned and she looked absorbed in wiping down the glasses. "It'll be here in a minute."
“Why don’t you wait till it gets here? Have another drink with me? I’ll tell you all about my mystery girl.”
But Jonah was already shaking his head, "No. I have to go. I'll wait outside. See you, Leo." Jonah started walking backward as he tossed back a wave, "And good luck with your mystery girl!"
I watched him leave with regret. Jonah had been a welcome distraction but now that he was gone my thoughts were once more caught up in the green-eyed, blond haired siren. Her song was impossible to ignore. And I had the sinking suspicion that if I wasn't careful I'd end up drowning before I even knew the water was up around my head.
“Damn it.” I muttered, “I didn’t even get her number, Stella.”
The veteran bartender shot me a less than sympathetic look.
“Don’t worry, stud, I’m sure you’ll get a few more numbers tonight. Just keep up that wounded animal act you’ve got going on. Women love that.”
I threw a glare at her but she’d already turned away, waiting on the other regulars that lined the bar at Lucky’s. I felt my phone vibrate in the back pocket of jeans and for a moment, time seemed to stop as I looked at the unfamiliar number.
“Hello?” I said hesitantly and then the breath rushed out my lungs as her voice hit me from the other end of the line.
“Leo? Hey, this is Quinn. From…from earlier.”
“I remember.” I grinned at the hitch in her voice.
As if I could forget.
The memory had been haunting me non-stop since she’d left my apartment earlier that afternoon.
“I was wondering if you wanted to grab a drink or something?”
“Or something, huh.” I muttered, my voice dropping an octave, “I like the sound of that. I’m at Lucky’s.”
“Great. See you in a bit.”
A wave of recklessness swept through him. What am I doing? I never sleep with the same woman twice. And I certainly never wait for them. They wait for me.
“I’m just having fun. That’s all.”
“What was that, stud?” Stella asked, one thin eyebrow raised in question.
“Another drink, Stella. I have some waiting to do.”