Page 81 of Born to Sin

“Well, notyet,”she said. “But what if I do?”

“Reckon you’d better get Quinn to teach you to cook, then,” he said. “And do a bit of reading up on it. Unless you want to eat salad every night.”

She sighed. “It could be healthier for all of us, and you’re justdismissingit.”

“It could,” he said. “Research project for you, maybe.”

“Fine,” she said. “If you don’t even want mysuggestions.”

He was bothered as hell, but he couldn’t help smiling. “Welcome to adulthood.”

“I’m not an adult,” she said. “I’meleven.”

“Yes,” he said. “But extremely mature.”

“Can we watch a movie tonight?” she decided to ask next. “If Quinn isn’t going to be home, it could be family time.Realfamily time,” she added in a meaningful tone.

“We’ve got our project, remember?” he was saying when Quinn came out from her bedroom in a pair of dark, tight, bootcut jeans, a belt with a turquoise buckle, heeled cowboy boots with a swirling cutout pattern, and a short, snug, ribbed pullover in the kind of rich, dark red that got you looking. The pullover revealed a pretty fair sliver of tanned belly as she tipped her head to slide a big silver hoop into her earlobe.

Or you could say sheglidedinto the room, maybe, because she was walking with that hip-forward gait. And she was wearing the scent.

It's the boots,he tried to tell himself.That’s why she’s walking like that.

“Hi,” she said with a bright smile. “How was the game, Janey? And this is my date outfit, Beckett, as promised. Don’t laugh.”

“Fine,” Janey said. “We lost, but I scored a point. And I had a save.”

“Awesome,” Quinn said. She put up a palm, and Janey high-fived her.

“I already told them about the chili,” Troy said. “And how we fixed all the beds, and you showed me how.”

“What are you doing?” Beckett asked. In an extremely non-casual way.

“I have a date,” she said. “Remember?”

Janey said, “That’s good. I mean, that’ll be fun for you, right? We’re probably going to watch a movie. And have family time.”

Beckett said, “We need to talk.” And the doorbell rang.

33

THE BANKER

The doorbell rang again.

Quinn said, “Not exactly how I envisioned this part of the evening going, but oh, well,” closed the sun-porch door behind her, and opened the front door. If Beckett had wanted her to … what? Stop her pseudo-dating? Become a couple? He could have said. And he’d said exactly nothing.

You didn’t say anything, either,her brain tried to tell her. Which, yes, was true, but she was bad at this and he wasn’t! He wanted to chop the wood and deal with fire? Well, what could be more of a man job than … than …

Oh, wait. Hehadsaid something. Hadn’t he? Something like, “I wish you’d ring that bloke up and tell him to bugger off.” She’d been a bit distracted at the time, but she was pretty sure he’d said that. She hadn’t done it, because whatever he’d said in the heat of the moment, how would that look to him? Like, “I know IsaidI was going out tonight, but I figured you’d want to spend every night with me from now on. So when are we getting married?” It wasreallyawkward to already be living with the guy and navigating the start of a … relationship, or whatever. Probably why most people didn’t do it in this order. Relationships also weren’t necessarily exclusive, but she could barely sleep withoneman, the ramifications were so awkward in a town this small. She couldn’t imagine how she’d manage more than one.

Oh, wait. Friends with benefits.Discreetbenefits. That was probably what it was, and that was fine, right? People did that all the time, too, and Beckett had obviously had plenty of casual sex. You didn’t get that good at first times without a lot of practice.

She had to stop thinking about it then, because here the guy was. George Vandergriff, the banker. Pretty nice-looking, and about her height, which meant she was a little taller in her boots, but that was OK, because she didn’t have to bow to society’s outmoded gender norms. He was wearing dress pants and what was probably a polo shirt under a Patagonia jacket. Not looking all that built, or one bit rough around the edges—he barelyhadedges—but she was ajudge.She wasn’t going to get a guy like her dad! Not who actuallylikedher.

What about Beckett?her sneaky mind tried to ask.

You don’t get to fall in love. Not after one night. You knowhe’snot in love. It’s friends with benefits!

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