But I was confused, and the smile fell from my face.

As I looked down at the woman standing in front of me, smiling faintly, I searched her. She was shorter than average height with soft curves outlined by the classy dress she chose to wear. The colors of the dress worked well with her pale complexion, browns, tans, and off-whites. She didn’t wear pumps, but rather an open-toed ballet flat in off-white. My gaze went back to her face. Her pretty face.

Full lips stretched painfully into a small smile that actually looked more like a grimace, high cheekbones tinged with pink, long black lashes, and big doe eyes the color of melted chocolate.

She was cute. Goddamn it. She was cute!

I looked farther down. A slender neck. Then down farther. Full breasts pushed up like a sweet, tempting offering. Down still. Her stomach wasn’t flat; it pooched a little, which, personally, I loved. A soft woman was all woman. The gospel according to Quinn. Amen.

As she stood there, I looked her over and over, trying desperately to find something wrong with her. Alas, I came up empty-handed. Shaking my momentary shock off, I smiled again. “Maya?”

A pretty flush colored her cheeks. Reaching up, she pushed her long, thick, red-brown hair behind her ear. She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Hi, Quinn.” She said this so softly my gut coiled.

She was nervous. Nervous, I could deal with. I expected nervous. I didn’t expect to feel her internal struggle. She was having second thoughts. Well, she could take those thoughts and shove ‘em!

Before she could say another word, I took her hand, pulled her inside the hotel room, and shut the door. Without permission, I pulled her toward the bed and sat down, tugging her down next to me.

I couldn’t help it; I laughed. This sweet little woman was the person I had befriended. She was nothing like I imagined. I expected awkward, not attractive.

Remembering all those conversations, I narrowed my eyes at her. Reaching up, I took her face in my hands and leaned in, studying her nose. Her eyes widened comically and I fought another laugh. “Hmmm,” I uttered. “No warts.” Pulling back, I released her then sighed. “You lied, Maya.” I did my best to look thoroughly wounded. “I thought we were friends.”

The moment she realized I was joking, she bit her lip then dipped her chin, hiding her smile. I watched curiously as her shoulders bobbed in silent laughter. She finally lifted her face, lips twitching, and shrugged. “I had to talk myself up a bit, didn’t I?”

A chuckle escaped me. For the second time in as many minutes, I gently cupped her cheeks as I studied her up close. Then I muttered to myself, “God, you’re a pretty little thing.”

Her smile fell as she blinked up at me, her eyes impossibly wide. I quickly realized I was making her uncomfortable.

“Oh.” I stood, retrieving the gift bag from the kitchen counter. Standing by her feet, I handed it to her.

Looking adorably surprised, her eyes narrowed up at me. “What did you do, Cap’?” I inclined my head to the bag. She reached inside and pulled out the rubber duckies. Laughing, I could see her shoulders lose some of their tension and she smiled up at me. “You really got me rubber ducks?” Shaking her head, she chuckled holding the pink, blue, and yellow ducks. She looked up at me and uttered a genuine, “Thank you, Quinn. This is the sweetest gift I’ve ever received. I’ll treasure them always.”

Her smile was open and honest. This was Maya. I was seeing her in that smile, and it did something to me. I felt it. My heart skipped a beat at that wide smile. It was the kind of smile you needed to respond to. The kind of smile your own was called to. God, she was pretty as she was, but when she smiled, she was incredible. My cock twitched.

She started to place the bag on the floor, but I quickly added, “There’s one more thing.”

Smiling hard, she stood, reached inside the bag, and bunched her nose. “Something else? What did you get me, Quinn?”

As she pulled the item out of the bag, I replied, “A vibrator.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Mia

I didn’t think; I just reacted.

I threw it.

I threw the vibrator.

I threw it across the room then squeaked, my cheeks flaming. Embarrassment tightened my chest.

Oh God. You’re pathetic!

Both Quinn and I watched the vibrator bounce once, twice, three times, and, of course, it did this in painful sluggishness. Once the pink jelly vibrator landed in the middle of the hotel room, we stared down at the offending item.

I opened my mouth to apologize, but Quinn reacted before I could. Tipping his head back, he let out an unrestrained laugh. Biting my lip, I winced as he laughed loudly. He clutched at his stomach and wiped at his eyes. “Jesus, Maya, I said vibrator, not venomous snake.” Then he laughed all over again.

The longer Quinn laughed, the funnier the situation became. Soon, I found myself chuckling quietly. When I covered my eyes with my hand and murmured, “It scared me,” Quinn laughed harder.

I laughed softly then looked up at him. He smiled down at me, chuckling and shaking his head. The ice had officially been broken.

Opening his arms wide, he uttered, “Come here.”

I didn’t need to be told twice. I needed contact. I needed comfort. This situation was strange and unsettling. It was nice to go through this with a friend.

Rushing to him, I wrapped my arms around him, my cheek planted firmly on his chest. His strong arms settled around me, holding me close, as the fingers of one hand trailed up and down my back. I breathed him in and he settled his chin atop my head. He almost completely enveloped me. I was cocooned. And I loved it.

My arms tightened around him. I was so appreciative of this setting being what it was and not a cold and clinical scene. Pulling back, I looked up into his eyes. “Hey.”

His crooked smile made my belly flip. He settled his hands loosely at the base of my neck, running his fingers over my collarbone. “Hey, dumpling.” I sniffed a laugh. His hands rose, lightly brushing up the sensitive flesh at my neck. “Maya?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m just going to get this out of the way, okay?”

I had no idea what he was talking about. All I could do was look into his eyes and nod my permission.

His smile softened. Leaning down, his lips ascended. Before I could register what was happening, his warm, full lips were on mine. My eyes snapped open in stunned disbelief. His fingers held me gently at the sides of my neck as he deepened the kiss.

Holy…wow! So this was what it was like to kiss Matt Quinn.

My eyes fluttered closed and my body slumped against him. Reaching up, I gripped the front of his shirt for fear of falling, but something told me Quinn would catch me if I did.

His lips moved away from mine and I warned myself not to whimper out loud. Placing a gentle kiss on my cheek, he asked a rough, “How was that?”

I answered with the first thing that came into my head. “It was nice.”

His brow furrowed. “Nice? Just nice?” He looked disgusted, and I tried hard to curb the bubbling laughter in my throat. His eyes narrowed at my twitching lips and he warned, “Don’t you say a thing, Maya. Not unless it’s something sexy-like.”

In an attempt at playfulness, I pulled my body into his and uttered a husky, “Is that a PEZ dispenser in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”

Eyes still narrowed, he slowly reached into his pocket, and in a most calculated way, pulled out an item.

              It was a fucking PEZ dispenser. A Snoopy PEZ dispenser. Lifting it to his mouth, he grinned, then popped a piece of candy into his mouth.

I choked on my mirth. Taking his hand, I shook it urgently and uttered a laughing, “Well, it was nice meeting you, Quinn. I’ll just be finding a hole to crawl into now,” then turned and walked toward the door, on the verge of exploding with hilarity.