Page 22 of Sin for You

I lowered Quinn to the floor, my body shaking with need, with shock, with anger at myself for what I’d just done. “Christ, I’m sorry,” I rasped. “Shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have—”

“You don’t need to be sorry,” she said, looking so beautiful with her flushed cheeks and kiss-swollen lips I thought I might snatch her back up and have her anyway, despite the reasons I shouldn’t. “I wanted it, too.”

I realized I still had my arms around her and quickly let her go, taking a step back. “It should never have happened. It was a…a mistake.” She was my best friend’s sister, was nursing a broken heart, was so damned fragile. I knew this—I fucking knew this, no matter how okay she tried to make everyone think she was.

I’d seen her when she first came home. God, she’d been so broken, lost, fucking shattered. She wasn’t ready for this.

She stared at me for several long seconds then folded her arms around herself. “You truly believe that?”

“Yes,” I said, though the word felt torn from me. Hell, it felt wrong.

She dipped her chin. “Right, well, if that’s how you feel, I better get going,” she said, offering no resistance, no argument.

That’s a good thing, asshole.

Then why the hell didn’t it feel that way?

Quinn picked up the picture of her mom, slid it carefully in her back pocket, and looked up at me. “Thanks for the new ink. I love it.” Then she strode out without looking back.

I heard the door close softly a short time later.

When I could finally make my feet move, I walked out and found she’d left money on the counter.

I shoved my fingers through my hair and bit out a curse.

What the fuck had I done?

Chapter Five

Quinn

I stood in Morning Glory, Rocktown’s only clothing store, and stared at the racks like they were about to sprout legs and run away.

Me and shopping—not a great combo.

Add in that our little town had zero options, and things got a whole lot harder.

Yes, I loved this place with its rustic-looking storefronts and sense of history. No, it wasn’t as pretty as Springhaven—well, not to a lot of people. The buildings hadn’t been lovingly restored like they had there, but they were looked after and had their own kind of charm.

I thought Rocktown was pretty in its own way, kind of quirky.

I just wished when it came to necessities, like an outfit for Cal’s exhibition at Cassy’s gallery in a few days, we had a couple more stores to pick from.

I slid several hangers aside and sighed. Nothing here felt right. God, I didn’t feel right, honestly. I hadn’t for months. Not since Bevan had stomped on my heart and screwed our neighbor. I felt wrong in my own skin. I was sure being cheated on for the fourth time by the man I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with had a little to do with it.

But it wasn’t just Bevan. I guess I’d been wanting a change for a while, and now this stuff with Bull made me want to shake off the old me even more, leave every part of that girl who had been all but broken when she came home behind and start again.

Clothes were a good start.

The problem was, I had no idea where to begin.

I wasn’t doing it to try and get Bull’s attention. I doubted he’d even notice, and he’d made it clear he wasn’t going there with me, even if he was attracted to me as well. I mean, he’d kissed me, and not just any kiss—he’d hauled me off the floor, pressed me into the wall, and owned my mouth.

Electricity shot through my belly.

Don’t think about it!

I most definitely needed to stop thinking about it. Anyway, I had serious doubts Bull would be interested in a casual friends-with-benefits kind of arrangement with me. And that’s all I had to give these days.