A Perfect Ten

When I unzipped him, he drew in a breath and grabbed the doorframe of the bathroom with one hand. “I’m guessing that’s a movie quote.”

“Mmm. Very good.” Pulling him, hot and throbbing into my hands, I licked the pre-cum off the head and then kissed his birthmark before taking him into my mouth.

His dry-cleaned suit was so crisp and clean, I didn’t dare do anything that might dirty it. So when he warned me he was about to come, I swallowed until he was done. When I pulled away and looked up at him, he stared at me with a dazed look in his eyes, and he leaned heavily against the doorframe.

“That was...that was...shit, woman. I don’t even know how to tell you what you do to me.” Reaching down, he pulled me up off my knees and into his arms. “Here I was, flipping the fuck out about this interview, and you just...completely relaxed every jittery nerve in me. Now do you see why I had to bring you?”

Honored he felt that way, I cupped his face in my hands and looked him in the eye before saying simply. “You’re welcome.”

He laughed softly and closed his eyes before pressing his forehead to mine. “I’m going to miss you today.” When he pulled back, his concerned gaze was searching. “You going to be okay around here by yourself?”

I nodded. “Oh yeah. Sure. I plan on getting the suntan of a lifetime.”

My day of sun tanning on the beach worked out better than I thought it would. I’d turned a golden brown by midday, so I walked to a nearby cabana, ordered myself some lunch, turned down a drink from a guy watching me at the bar, and then went to my room and fell asleep to a movie I found on TV. And I didn’t worry about Oren once.

Okay, fine. I worried the entire fricking day away, but everything else I did was true.

The ringing of my cell phone woke me late in the afternoon from my nap.

“We’re back,” Quinn announced in my ear. “Ten’s phone went straight to voice mail so I figure he’s still at his interview. Do you want to hang out in our room until he’s back?”

I glanced around the lonely suite. “Yes, thank you.”

“No problem.” He gave me their room number, and I found it a few minutes later on the floor below mine.

Zoey was sitting on the bed, staring at the wall when Quinn opened the door for me. I glanced at her and then back to him as I entered, feeling instantly uneasy. “How did...how did everything go?”

Quinn gave an uneasy shrug. Zoey looked up at me, but the shock in her eyes made it seem as if she didn’t really see me. “Oh. Um...fine.”

I sat next to her and took her hand, glancing at Quinn for an explanation.

He shrugged again. “Her dad offered her a million-dollar trust fund he’d just taken away from Cora, and oh...her sister’s in a nut-house...after trying to commit suicide.”

I looked between the two of them before squawking, “What?”

Zoey waved a hand toward her boyfriend. “What he said.”

Quinn sighed and collapsed onto the bed on the other side of Zoey, lying on his back with his feet on the floor. He looked as shell-shocked as Zoey did. “I guess Mr. Wilder decided to really crack down on Cora and try to get her to behave. He ended up taking away her entire trust fund, and...she didn’t like that. So she went a little...” He sent a worried glance to Zoey.

“Crazy,” Zoey said for him as she turned to me. “She went freaking insane, like tried to kill herself, slit her wrists, took a bunch of pills. She just...she’s a mess. And now she’s at a rehabilitation center, under observation. Oh, but not only do I have that to feel guilty about, but then our father goes and tells me he’s giving all the money he took away from her to me.”

“Wait. What do you have to feel guilty about?” I asked.

“Her dad took her away from Ellamore because of me. I uprooted her entire life. I stole her boyfriend. I—”

“You did not steal me,” Quinn growled, sitting up to take Zoey’s face into his hands and making her look him in the eye. “We fell in love.”

But Zoey’s bottom lip trembled. “None of this would’ve happened if I hadn’t come to Ellamore.”

“Yeah, and she’d probably be dead right now,” I broke in, making both halves of Zwinn turn their attention to me. “You gave her a kidney, Zo. After all the shit she put you and Quinn through, you still saved her life. You did nothing wrong. If Cora cracked, it’s her own damn fault, and I say she deserves everything she gets.”

“Amen,” Quinn said quietly as he kissed Zoey’s temple.