“Sounds good,” Tristan said as he made his way to the door while Dylan lay there, sighing in relief and-
“I have a few questions,” Quinn said, looking completely relaxed as he made his way to the water cooler and took his time selecting a cup while Dylan lay there, trying not to panic as she watched that muscle in his jaw begin to tick, letting her know that he was pissed.
“And those would be…” Dylan asked, letting her words trail off even as her gaze flickered to the door that Tristan just went through while she debated the odds of making it to the door before he gave in to a lifetime of fantasies and finally spanked her ass.
“This and that,” Quinn said casually as he finished filling the cup with water and dropped a straw in it while Dylan lay there, willing herself to get up and make a run for it while she still could, but her body refused to cooperate.
“Perhaps we could have this conversation with witnesses? Preferably somewhere without the ability to bury my body in an unmarked grave?” Dylan suggested with a hopeful smile.
“I think we’re good where we are,” Quinn murmured as he took a knee in front of her and placed the straw at her lips.
Thankful for the short reprieve, Dylan parted her lips and wrapped them around the straw, gently suckling on it and nearly groaned when the cold water started making everything better as her gaze once again flickered to the door and-
“How did you hide your plans for Blackwood Manor?”
-decided that it was time to make a run for it.
Quinn wasn’t exactlysurprised when Dylan suddenly went still or when she swallowed hard, mumbled, “I’ll just see myself out,” or even when she moved to make a run for it only to end up rolling off the couch, hit the floor, and released a pained groan.
For a moment, he simply knelt there, taking a sip of water as he debated his options only to decide to take pity on the little pain in the ass. With that, he finished the rest of the water, tossed the empty cup in the trash and reached down and picked her up before tossing her over his shoulder with a murmured, “Why don’t we take this to a secondary location?”
“I’d really like to make a run for it now,” Dylan mumbled sadly against his back.
“I’m sure you would,” Quinn said as he made his way to the door, pausing to shut off the lights before he headed outside.
“Why does everyone keep manhandling me?” she asked, releasing a heartfelt sigh as he made his way to his truck.
“Why are you a pain in the ass?” Quinn countered as he opened his passenger side door and carefully dumped her onto the seat.
“It comes naturally,” she said, making his lips twitch as he helped her sit up only to sigh when she slumped over onto her side.
“Something occurred to me this morning,” Quinn said conversationally as he carefully belted her in.
“Oh?” Dylan murmured after a slight hesitation.
“Several things in fact,” Quinn said, double-checking that she wasn’t going to roll onto the floor before he closed the door and made his way around the truck only to sigh when he opened the driver’s side door to find her struggling to release the seatbelt so that she could make her escape.
When she saw him, Dylan stopped mid-struggle to clear her throat and slap a hopeful smile on her face as she said, “You were saying?”
“I’m curious about something,” Quinn said as he climbed into the driver’s seat and started the truck.
“What are you going to tell Brooke?” Dylan asked, trying to change the subject, and for the moment, he allowed it.
“About?” Quinn asked as he pulled out of the driveway and began making his way towards the back roads.
“B.T. Construction working on Blackwood Manor,” Dylan said, moving to sit up only to think better of it and settled for curling up onto her side.
“She doesn’t get a say in what jobs B.T. Construction takes,” Quinn explained, turning onto the road that would take them home as something occurred to him. “What the hell were you thinking when you made that deal with Brooke?”
“I had a feeling she was going to screw me over, but I really didn’t have much of a choice, not if I wanted to live,” Dylan admitted with a heartfelt sigh.
He opened his mouth only to mutter, “Fair enough,” knowing that her father would probably lose his fucking mind if he found out what she was up to. Besides the historical designation that would have fucked her over, making it harder for her to get permits and requiring her to hire specialists that would have charged her a fortune, it would have taken her years and everything that she had to renovate the house and that was only if she didn’t run out of money first.
She would have been lucky to break even in the end.
When their fathers first started out, they got fucked over a few times, lost money on some bad investments, only to almost lose everything on a house like Blackwood Manor. It had taken them three years to renovate the house and that was only because their permits kept getting delayed and rejected at every turn, forcing them to drain their savings to keep up with the loan and the demands the city put on them in order to get the permits. By the end, they’d burned through their savings, lost money on the house, and were forced to start over. It made them determined to make sure that none of their children made the same mistake.
“How did you make sure that your father didn’t find out?” Quinn drawled as he pulled into his driveway.
