WITH EVERY HEARTBEAT (Forbidden Men #4)

2. Quinn-2

Then she shook her head. “Oh, here. Let me get...” She rushed to shut the door and scurried around me as if to hurry ahead and open the door of the building, but Henry the doorman, beat her to it.

“Evening, Mr. Hamilton. Had another hard night of partying, I see.”

While he shook his head with a fatherly kind of disappointment, I offered him a rueful grin. “Hey, Henry.” I turned sideways to fit Cora’s slumped form through the doorway.

When Zoey followed us in, Henry paused, narrowing his eyes slightly.

I stopped. “This is Zoey Blakeland. She’s Cora’s new roommate.”

“Oh.” Relaxing immediately, Henry’s face softened into a smile. He made a production of taking Zoey’s hand and bowing over it. “It’s a pleasure, Miss Blakeland. You ever need anything, you just ask me, you hear?”

Zoey blushed and nodded before slipping her hand free. “Thank you.”

She followed me to the elevator, where I pushed the button with my shoulder. Once the three of us were closed inside with Cora quietly snoring on my shoulder, Zoey cleared her throat. “Um...which floor?”

I shook my boggled head. Right. I’d forgotten she didn’t know where we were going. “Sorry. Eighth.”

As the floor lifted under us, an uncomfortable silence filled the quiet car. I resituated Cora in my arms because it felt as if she were slipping a little, but that still left me with more time than I liked before we arrived at our destination.

Offering Zoey an overly bright smile, I said, “I can help you carry some boxes in tonight if you need.”

Her eyes went wide as if I’d suggested something scandalous before she shook her head adamantly. “Oh, no. That’s okay. I’ll just...I’m going to wait until tomorrow.”

Crap, I’d forgotten again. She must be exhausted from all her driving. Once more, I came close to asking her why she’d showed up early. Had her father done something to prompt her into leaving prematurely? Was she okay?

The elevator stopped and the door opened. I cleared my throat, motioning her with my head to go first. “Here we are.”

She stepped into the hall and then paused, letting me take the lead and reminding me all over again she had no idea where she was going. I wished Cora hadn’t drank so much. She should be the one to show Zoey around and introduce her to the place. Not inept me.

“This is us.” I slowed in front of the door marked 8E on a brass plaque.

When I sent her an expectant glance, she shifted from one foot to the other and winced. “Umm, I haven’t actually gotten a key yet.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” I flushed, knowing I should’ve realized that. But I hadn’t even thought it through.

Why had my brain turned to mush tonight?

Usually, I tucked Cora’s keys between my teeth when I had to carry her home. Then I’d just drop them into my hand to unlock her door when we reached her place. Tonight, I’d had it stuck in my head that Zoey could get us in, so I’d—

Oh, no.

My stomach plummeted with doom as I met Zoey’s gaze. “Her keys are in my pocket.”

Her eyes went wide and lowered to my hip as we both realized the conundrum of our problem.

“I’ll just...” I tried to readjust Cora on my shoulder so I could hold her with one hand and release the other long enough to pull the keys free. But as soon as I let one hand go, her limp body began to nosedive, so I quickly grabbed hold of her again with both arms to catch her.

Next, I tried to half prop, half squish her against the wall to free a hand, but that didn’t work either. I couldn’t pass her over to Zoey—no way would she be able to hold Cora’s weight. I was about to just sit Cora on the floor against the wall when Zoey let out a loud sigh.

“This is crazy. Just...which pocket?”

My gaze slid her way, and I froze. I didn’t want her hand to go down my pocket...because the very idea affected me. It affected me in ways it totally shouldn’t.

And great, I was already reacting. But it’d probably take me more time than I wanted, stuck out here in the hallway with her alone, with nothing but my passed-out girlfriend between us, when it’d only be hand in, hand out, door unlocked, and we were done, if I just let her get the key. So I exposed my left side to her.

“L...left side.” My voice was hoarse.

She had to dodge past one of Cora’s limp dangling hands. I don’t know why I felt so compelled to watch her face, but I did as she bit her lip and gingerly wedged her fingers into my pocket.

Down, down, down...

I wasn’t the type to wear tight jeans, or even snug denim, so the keys had fallen all the way to the bottom of my pocket. She had to step in closer before she slid her hand even further...down. The warmth of her fingers immediately soaked through the cloth and heated my thigh. Another certain member of my anatomy took notice of how close she was getting to it and it woke up, twitching with interest, which made me grit my teeth.

The moment Zoey finally wrapped her hand around the key, she slid her gaze to mine and froze. Her eyes were so big and green and innocent, I couldn’t look away.

It was only for a second that we stared at each other, but it felt like an eternity. It was certainly long enough for my p***s to go from merely perking one eye open with interest to springing to full attention and ready for duty.

I was so glad I was holding Cora and hiding everything that was going on down there, because this had to be the worst first impression I was ever having on anyone. And to make matters worse, her smell wafted up between us, making me curious all over again what that scent was.

I closed my eyes, trying to block all the senses in my body that were unwillingly going crazy, and then I held my breath.

Zoey gasped. I don’t know if she realized how much she was affecting me, or how much she was dawdling, but she jerked the keys from my pocket, nearly taking a chunk of denim with her in her haste, and then spun away fiddling with key after key until she found the right one.

“The, uh, the light switch is to the right,” I said as the door swung open.

Zoey nodded and disappeared inside. A moment of silence followed before Cora’s front room flooded with light.

“Oh!” Zoey turned from the switch she’d just flipped on. “That feels...strange there.”

“Yeah.” I offered her a stiff smile. “That’s what I always thought, too.” Since the door opened to the left, it would’ve been much more convenient to have the switch on the left side.

Zoey stayed standing by the closed front door as I headed for the hallway. I glanced back at her to find her looking around uneasily like a stranger in a strange place. Heart going out to her because she seemed so uncertain, I cleared my throat.

“So, this is the front room. The kitchen is down the hallway here.” When I turned back and started walking, I heard her hurry after me. “There’s a bathroom here, and then another one at the other end of the hall. And Cora has a personal bath.” I kept walking, tipping my head toward various doorways. “That one is your room. The next is the office and storage, and across from it is Cora’s.”

At Cora’s room, I backed in, using my shoulder to nudge her door open. Then I dipped to flip on the light switch with my elbow. Cora didn’t even stir as I tucked her into bed. I usually put her on top of the bedding first, then made her comfortable before I pulled the sheets out from under her and covered her up. Thinking nothing of it, I slid off her high heels, unbuckling the delicate tiny straps first. Then I worked my way up and began to unbutton the top clasp to her skirt’s zipper when a gasp came from the doorway.

I looked up to find a wide-eyed Zoey in the doorway, gaping at me as if I was trying to take advantage of the passed-out drunk chick on the bed.

My face heated as I jerked my hands away from Cora’s skirt. “I was just...” I cleared my throat and jammed my fingers into my pockets. “I-I’ll let you see to her comfort from there.” I glanced one last time at Cora, restraining myself from the need to strip her down to her panties. She hated to sleep in clothes, and I hated knowing she was going to wake up feeling suffocated.

But a pair of appalled, wide green eyes compelled me to step away from her. Zoey scurried out of the doorway as I approached. In the hallway, I paused and ripped a hand out of my pocket to rub it uneasily across the back of my head. “Do you, uh, do you have everything you need for the night?”

I have no idea what I was really asking, but it felt wrong to leave her here like this in a place that was foreign to her without making sure she was okay.

She nodded and glanced into Cora’s room. “Is she going to be okay?”

“Oh. Yeah.” I grinned sheepishly as I turned back to study Cora. “Sure. She’ll sleep for the rest of the night, and probably late into the morning. Usually water, ibuprofen, and a little breakfast makes her feel best after she wakes up.”

Instead of looking reassured, Zoey shook her head and frowned. “But she shouldn’t be drinking that much. It’s not—”

When she broke off directly and squinted at me as if picking apart my brain and seeing what I was thinking, I tipped my head to the side, wondering what she would’ve said if she’d finished that sentence.

“It’s not what?”

Zoey straightened her back and drew in a breath. “Nothing.” Her eyes were filled with concern as she glanced in at Cora, though.

I felt as if I was being left out of a secret, but I was usually paranoid about people thinking the worst of me and keeping things from me, so I pushed my qualms aside.

Neither of us spoke for a good thirty seconds, so I blew out a breath. “I’m gonna...yeah.” I hooked my thumb over my shoulder and motioned down the hall toward the exit. “I’m going to go then.”

“Okay,” she said and nodded once more. She was big on nodding. Not so much on talking. But then, I was exactly the same.

I stepped in reverse away from her as I sent her a small smile. With a little farewell wave, I said, “Welcome to Ellamore. It was nice to meet you.”

“Thank you. You too.” She averted her gaze as color flooded her cheeks.

At first, I empathized. There was nothing I hated more than blushing, which I did more than I wanted to. It was one of those horrifyingly embarrassing reactions that came when you were caught thinking or doing something you knew you shouldn’t and making matters worse by letting everyone else around you know it.

But then it struck me that she was thinking something she knew she shouldn’t be. All I’d said was that it was nice to meet her. I don’t think even Ten could’ve found a way to turn that into a dirty thought, which meant...her body had just responded in a way she hadn’t wanted it to.

Whew. My sympathy turned to relief, glad she was also feeling the unwanted attraction between us. It’d been awful thinking I was experiencing it all one-sided. But to know it was shared was a relief. Except...wait.

Unease finally struck. Oh, no. This was not good. Poor, innocent Cora was lying mere feet away while her boyfriend and best friend were experiencing vibes for each other? How wrong was that? I needed to get out of here...like five minutes ago.

“‘Night,” I mumbled, stumbling around so I could haul butt for the door.

I hardly ever felt instant attraction to women. I’d grown crushes on girls over the years after getting to know them or watching them for a while, but Cora had been the first to give me an instant punch in the gut the first moment I’d seen her. It didn’t seem possible that her best friend would be able to draw the same exact reaction from me.

While I drove home, my fifteen-year-old truck trying to rattle apart around me, I realized one awful fact. As much as I’d been hoping to connect with someone who’d shared a similar past, I wasn’t going to be able to make friends with Zoey Blakeland after all. I was going to have to keep my distance from her instead.