For a long stretch, they just breathed. Tangled limbs. Damp skin. Hearts racing.
Then Tool shifted just enough to kiss her shoulder, her jaw, the corner of her mouth.
“You, okay?” he asked, voice quiet now. Bare.
Brandi turned her head to meet his eyes. “Better than okay.”
He exhaled a laugh, pressed a kiss to her temple, and pulled her into his chest. For a man who fought his own instincts so hard, he held her like he never wanted to let her go.
Chapter Ten
The ladies tossedtheir overnight bags into the back of Quinn’s SUV. With all of them heading out for the weekend, they were taking two vehicles.
Brandi laughed when one of Quinn’s sons handed her a walkie-talkie. “What’s this for, Gabriel?”
“Walkie-talkies, babe,” he said matter-of-factly.
Babe? Brandi looked around, wondering if anyone else caught that. She got her answer when she spotted Tool a few feet away, chuckling. Narrowing her eyes, she pointed the walkie-talkie at him like a weapon. “Thanks, kid,” she muttered, trying not to grin.
Tool just smirked, shaking his head as he walked off.
“Ladies, the weekend’s gonna be over before we even make it out of the driveway,” Sloan called out, twirling her finger in the air as a signal to get moving. Wick was standing nearby, trying—and failing—to bite back a laugh.
Yeah, Quinn thought. She was anold ladynow. Closing the hatch, she turned to find Gypsy watching her. “I’ll call when we get there,” she told him.
Gypsy wrapped his arms around her, his voice low. “Quinn, I want you to have a good time. You deserve this. Just enjoy your weekend with your friends.”
“I know,” she replied, still a little miffed at him for reasons she hadn’t quite let go of yet. But she still went up on her toes, kissed him, and when she pulled away, she made sure to tell him she’d left the itinerary on the counter—whether he actually needed it or not. He could easily track her spending, but she chose to offer it anyway.
Gypsy opened her door for her, and just before she slid in, she murmured, “I love you.”
“Love you too,” he said as he shut the door.
Just as she started the SUV, a tapping on the window made her pause. She rolled it down, arching a brow. “Something wrong?”
“No.” Gypsy handed her a Glock through the open window. “You know how to use it. Keep it close.”
She took it without hesitation, tucking it into the console. “I’ll keep it close,” she promised.
He winked. “Love you.”
She smiled. “Love you too.”
As they pulled out of the driveway, Quinn half-expected to see a tail—whether a bike or a truck—but nothing followed. A weekend without the club hovering over them sounded perfect.
“Okay, ladies, if anything goes wrong, we keep it to ourselves. I don’t want this to be my last outing without chaperones.”Quinn’s voice crackled through the walkie-talkie.
Laughter erupted on the other end.
Echo had claimed shotgun, making her the de facto DJ. She hit the search button on the radio until the speakers blastedPour Some Sugar on Me.
Brandi’s voice came over the music. “Where are we staying?”
Quinn shrugged. “We don’t have a place yet.”
Brandi turned in her seat, frowning. “Echo said you reserved a B&B.”
“That’s because Itoldher I did.”
