Page 18 of Hooking Up

Quint nodded and they set her on her feet. She started to tip over.

“Oh no you don’t. Face-planting on the asphalt isn’t good for your pretty face. C’mon, sassy pants.” Carter whipped her over his shoulder and started walking. Quint strode ahead, and in no time they’d reached their motel. The slightly greenish glow of the overhead light illuminated their door.

Carter wished they had someplace nicer to take her, but she probably would have no recollection of anything but the toilet anyway. He had a feeling as soon as the alcohol hit her fully, she’d become intimate with the porcelain throne.

Her weight over his shoulder felt just right, and he longed to cradle her against his chest. But the minute he made this less about getting her safely into a bed was the minute he lost control. As it was, her tormenting ass riding high in the air had him as hard as steel.

Need pounded him as her sweet scents filled his nose. By the time Quint got the door open, he was burning.

“Take her,” he grated out.

“Too heavy for you?” Quint quipped, drawing her into his arms.

“Who you calling heavy?”

“You’re not heavy at all, sweetheart, but you are driving me crazy.”

Quint shot him a look that said he understood exactly what Carter was experiencing. Yet he carried Bella to the bed and gently lay her down. She popped up immediately, her eyes fever-bright. The alcohol was definitely keeping her rowdier than usual.

Quint pressed a hand on her shoulder and guided her back down onto the mattress. “Just rest, darlin’. Let some of that tequila wear off.”

“What about the whiskey?”

“Jesus, how much did you drink?” Quint scrubbed a hand over his face. Carter felt the same—as if he’d been smacked over the head with a fluff of angel wings. Bella stared up at them each with a cherubic expression on her face.

“Not much. People kept putting them in my hand. What was I supposed to do?”

“Turn them down. Here, lie back.” Carter propped up two pillows and Quint eased her down on them. With her hair spread over the cotton and her lips looking as if she’d just been kissed for half an hour, Carter was at his snapping point.

“I can’t stay in this room tonight,” he choked.

“Then don’t.” Quint sounded all too cheerful.

“On second thought, I’ll be fine.”

“Asshole.”

“Dickhead.” Neither of their insults held any heat. Quint sank to the edge of the bed as if prepared to force Bella to stay there.

But she made no move to get up. In fact, she snuggled down and curled on one side. God, how was Carter going to get any sleep when she was in his bed looking like a goddess? When her eyelids closed, each dark lash seemed to stand out.

“She was sexy as hell on that bull.” Carter sounded as if his throat was a size too small.

“Christ, she did.” Quint rubbed his hand over his face again, his shoulders slumping.

“I did great,” she murmured.

Carter and Quint reached for her at the same time. Carter smoothed the hair off her brow and Quint stroked her cheek. Forsome reason it felt as natural as breathing, and not a hint of the green-eyed snake reared its head.

Another sort of snake wanted to come out and play, though. Carter rubbed a tendril of her silky hair between his thumb and forefinger before stepping back. If he touched her for another minute, he didn’t trust his primal instincts not to take things further.

He crossed the room and dropped into the hard chair. Quint got up too and pulled out the other chair surrounding the small table. It wobbled as he sat, sending an old bottle of water rolling. Quint caught it and set it carefully on the surface.

Both of them stared at the sleeping woman for a long minute. A small stuttering sigh left her, and Carter’s chest felt too tight. He swallowed hard. “How are we supposed to deal with this attraction we both have for her?”

“I don’t know, man. It’s apparent she likes both of us, but rather than choose, she’ll walk away from us both.”

Carter watched her chest rise and fall, an unbelievable tenderness weaving through him and winding up around his heart. Time ticked by. A few doors down, someone started having noisy sex.

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