midnight.
“I would love to buy my beautiful wife a diamond necklace or at least a big bouquet of roses to celebrate our winnings.” Austin glanced at her with a smile. “What do you say?”
Her lips turned up in a wistful smile that tugged at Quinn’s heart. He wanted to give her the world but couldn’t even suggest it.
“No jewelry,” she said. “But maybe I’ll accept one of those.”
She pointed to a woman carrying a basket of roses, and Austin grinned and waved her over.
“But just one,” April said firmly.
Austin purchased the rose and handed it to her. A soft blush set her face aglow as she pressed her lips to Austin’s cheek in a light kiss. Jealousy washed through Quinn—not directed at Austin but because he wished he’d been the one to give her that small joy.
They reached the elevators that would take them to their floor, and soon they were inside the suite. Austin pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Quinn watched her fingers stroke through Austin’s sandy-brown hair, and his heart ached. Then he heard the sound of her zipper unfastening. Austin’s hands stroked up her sides, and he leaned back to gaze at her lovely body, then eased her strapless gown downward until it tumbled to her feet, leaving her in a stunningly sexy red-and-black lace bra and panty set.
She turned to Quinn and stepped close, then glided her hands over his chest, and around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her and captured her lips. The sight of her exquisite body had caused his groin to tighten, and now with the warmth of her curves against him, his cock swelled.
Once he got her in the bedroom, he could barely control himself. He stripped off her lingerie and stood admiring her naked body. She unfastened his zipper and reached in to find his cock, but when she crouched down to take it in her mouth, he drew her back to her feet.
“No. I want to be inside you. I want to make you come.”
He shed his clothes and backed her up to the bed. Austin was there, too, naked. But all Quinn could think about was being with April. Giving her pleasure.
Their lovemaking was sweet and tender. And absolutely breathtaking. Quinn made her come. Then Austin did, too. The three of them collapsed under the covers in a tangle of limbs, and Quinn watched her in the moonlight as she fell asleep.
* * *
“Maurice?”
April stared at her ex-fiancé, her stomach coiling into knots at the sight of his handsome face, his lips turned up in that charismatic smile of his.
“I want to win you back. I want to start over. I want you to be mine.”
She stepped back. She was a challenge to him. That’s all. He wanted to own her. To control her. She shook her head, continuing to back away from him. Then she bumped into something. She turned to see Quinn standing there, his eyes glowing with love.
“Come to me, baby,” Quinn said. “I’ll take care of you.”
He opened his arms, and she surged into them. They closed around her, and she felt safe in his warm embrace. Protected.
He kissed the top of her head. “I’ll love you.”
She smiled and gazed up at him. “Yes.”
“For a month,” he continued. “Then it’s over.”
Her chest compressed. She stared at him, shaking her head.
“But I love you.” Tears streamed down her face as she stared into the depths of his midnight eyes.
He continued smiling, his eyes still glowing with warmth.
How could he look at her like that, his face filled with love, oblivious to her pain? How could he love her and yet exile her from his life?
Her heart sank as she realized it was because he didn’t really love her.
* * *
Quinn’s chest ached as he stared at April’s face awash in the moonlight. He’d fallen asleep with a smile on his face, watching her. Feeling close to her.
Then he’d awakened to her murmurs. She’d become restless, then she’d shocked him by uttering her ex’s name clearly. She’d shifted and turned in her sleep, then cried out, “But I love you.”
Fuck, could it be that she still had feelings for that jerk, despite all he’d done to her?
His stomach knotted. She had been with the man for two years. The guy might have treated her like crap, but if she had genuine feelings for him, if she actually loved him …
Quinn knew that Maurice was actively trying to get her back. If she