Page 24 of Midnight Oil

"Uh, Quinn, the crowd is yelling for the Red Knight. Are you coming back on the field?"

Quinn's green gaze held mine as he spoke. "Nope, the Red Knight has to help his favorite damsel get to the emergency room. The show will have to go on without me."

Gary seemed hesitant about heading off with the news that the Red Knight was done for the evening. As his damsel in distress, I didn't mind at all.

"Now sit here and don't move," he ordered. "I'm going to head over to the dressing rooms and get out of this armor." With some effort he pushed to his feet.

"I was kind of hoping you'd stay in armor and carry me into the emergency room. I think I'd be the envy of all the other patients. They might even get me into a room quicker if they thought I was important enough to be carried in by a knight in shining armor."

"I would love to fulfill the lady's wishes but I don't think I can fit in my Porsche wearing shoulder plates. You'll have to settle for being carried in by plain old Quinn Armstrong."

I reached for his hand. "There's nothing plain or old about Quinn Armstrong. I heard you gave notice that you were leaving this place. Guess your brother finally talked you into working for Plaything."

He shook his head. "Nope. It was just too hard showing up here every day knowing you weren't going to be coming home with me. I was getting kind of used to you, to us."

"I guess I was too. I haven't been the same since I walked out. Maybe we can revisit this whole thing now. My head is clear and fuckface is entirely out of my life now. Besides, if I keep eating my mom's pancakes and cupcakes, I will not be able to wear this stupid corset belt."

He bowed. "Milady, I shall return." He turned to walk out.

"By the way, what did you say to that jerk to make him fall out of his chair?"

"A knight never reveals his secrets, but I believe I tossed in the phrasebody bagfor good measure."

Twenty

Quinn

Icarried the glass of wine into the bedroom. Suzy was propped up against the pillows, once again wearing my t-shirt. Her sprained ankle, now thickly wrapped, was propped up on a pillow. I handed her the glass of wine, then stretched out next to her and turned on my side to face her.

"Have I mentioned just how fucking right you look sitting in my bed," I said as I pushed my hand under her shirt to caress her skin.

"You might have mentioned it once or twice." She smoothed her palm over the quilt. "And I am rather fond of this bed."

I propped up on my elbow and leaned over to kiss her. "I don't want to be pushy—Nah fuck it. I'm going all in on it. Why don't you pack up your cute, little duffle and move back in with me?"

She rubbed her finger around the rim of the wine glass. "Well, I don't know, my room has this really cool Green Day poster and then there's my Beanie Baby collection."

I laughed as I pushed her shirt up and kissed her stomach. "Bring the poster and the—" I looked up at her. "Did you say Beanie Babies?"

"Oh, please don't tell me that you have never heard of Beanie Babies. We might have to call this off right now."

I pressed another kiss against her belly, then pushed the shirt up above her breasts. "Are you sure about that?" I suckled her nipple lightly and she sucked in a sharp breath.

"Well, maybe I can just teach you about them," she suggested. She took a good gulp of wine and handed it to me to put on the nightstand.

I put the glass down and turned back to her. "Let's see, where was I?" I lightly pinched a nipple. She responded by arching her back and lifting her breasts higher. I lathed my tongue around each nipple.

Suzy reached down and pulled my face up to hers. "Are you sure about this, Quinn?" she asked before kissing my mouth. "Are you sure you want me to pack up my bag so we can try this again?"

"Suzy Q, I've never been more sure of anything in my life." I pressed my mouth over hers.