Hot in the City Book 1: Send Me Crazy

Quinn

Sure, I could have giggled, batted my eyelashes and flirted shamelessly with the hot dude. Because really, what did I have to lose? But he’d already accused me of one stereotype, and I wasn’t going to give him just cause for a second.

So without taking a full breath I rattled off my coffee order—including Mack’s boring Americano—and whipped out my credit card like I wasn’t secretly intrigued by what the hot guy would do next.

He could walk—bored or offended—and take those delicious chocolate eyes and the rest of him right out the door. It was a big city, and chances of us running into each other weren’t great. Especially since I’d moved here five years ago from New Jersey and it was the first time I’d seen him.

Or he could stay, and see where it took ~us.~

“Cotton panties get such a bad rap.”

So option two it was, and I couldn’t get any more excited as I turned to face him. If his arms folded across his chest where anything to go by, he wasn’t in any hurry to leave either. “I’ve seen some pretty sexy ones.”

He wasn’t wrong, and probably would’ve been interested to know that was exactly what I was wearing.

Information I’d have shared if I were flirting.

Which I wasn’t.

I grinned, pretending to write on an invisible note pad. “Good feedback, I’ll tell you what. I’ll take that little piece of information and put it in the suggestion box for next time.” I folded the invisible note and tucked it into my invisible pocket.

“Riley. Double shot cappuccino.”

My eyes widened as he turned to collect his order.

“Riley,” I repeated, unable to resist using the new intel I’d received. I ignored his drink choice as I watched him wrap his hand around it and bring the cup to his lips.

He took a deliberate swallow before lowering his cup and smiling. “That would be me.”

“Quinn,” the barista called out, three cups placed on the counter. “Americano, decaf soy latte and double shot cappuccino.”

“Quinn.” Riley rolled my name around in his mouth before nodding toward the coffees waiting for me. “Double shot cappuccino? Interesting.”

Interesting was one choice of words, or freakishly coincidental was another. But there we were, two caffeine addicts who’d just learned each other’s names and apparently shared an appreciation for underrated female cotton panties.

We were clearly meant to be.

“How do you know I’m not the one drinking the decaf?” I raised my eyebrow, wondering if he was a people reader like me. We were a rare breed, the skill diminishing with society’s preoccupation with perception rather than fact.

“A woman who sends underwear in the mail isn’t the decaf drinking type.” He smirked, his eyes shifting from me—where I liked them—to the table where Karli was having an animated conversation while Mack looked on slightly confused. “I should let you get back.”

The urge to yell, no, that Karli was more than capable of entertaining Mack while I mentally categorized every part of his body, was overwhelming. But I swallowed the urge—to speak, the categorizing was still happening—and instead nodded as I tried to juggle three cups of coffee and not end up in a burns unit.

“Yep, Mack is probably already regretting his morning. I’ll go put him out of his misery,” I chuckled as I winked.

I freaking winked.

Who even does that anymore unless it’s an emoji? Still my attempt to leave casually had been a bust so trying to salvage it was just going to make it look worse. And I was just about to commit to my shady, awkward departure when I noticed Mack had come up beside me.

“You were going to let her carry all of these by herself? What the hell is wrong with you?” He shot Riley an angry look.

Not sure what surprised me more. That Mack felt the need to be chivalrous, and save me from the weight of carrying three coffees. Or that he accosted Riley with such vehemence, especially since Mack was at least two inches shorter, a few pounds lighter and at least fifteen years older.

Trying to ignore I was both impressed and horrified, I straightened my shoulders. “Umm Mack, I’m fine. More than capable of carrying three coffees. You should see what I can manage at a bar—six beers, two hands—without even breaking a sweat.”

There were a lot of things I could use a man for, and being my drink porter didn’t even make the top ten.

“See, she was fine.” Riley smirked as Mack insisted on taking both his Americano and Karli’s latte out of my hands.

Mack’s eyes narrowed, an inappropriate amount of hostility thrown at Riley. “I didn’t ask if she was fine.”

Whoa.

Maybe my assessment of Mack being a nice older guy had been premature, and he was really some crazy psycho with anger management issues. It wasn’t like I hadn’t experienced more than my fair share of those. Especially from men who liked the gym, the steroid use was usually responsible. Well for that, and the shrunken testicles.

“Okay,” I waved my free hand, the second time today calling more attention to myself than I would have liked. “Not sure what’s going on here but I think we can safely assume it has nothing to do with coffee. Which is such a shame because this is a nice place and the drinks are great.” My cup lifted to my lips as I took a tentative sip. “Mmmm, so good.”

The effort to diffuse whatever the hell was going on wasn’t my best, but it got both their attention. And as long as no one was threatening to take it outside, I think we were fairly safe. I glanced over at Karli who was on her feet, wide eyed and open mouthed, unsure of whether to get involved. She might look like a sweetheart, but her daddy taught her how to shoot a gun and hogtie a steer, so her ability to do damage was a little more than blessing-your-heart.

There was a brief game of eyeball ping-pong before Mack took a much needed breath. “This was a shitty idea.”

“Now, I wouldn’t say that,” Riley responded, an alternate conversation apparently happening both wordlessly and without my involvement.

“You guys know each other.” It should have been a question, but it wasn’t. Because unless there was a serious man rage flu happening in the tri-state area, these two had at the very least a passing acquaintance.

“We’ve met,” Riley answered, offering as little information as possible.

Mack raised an eyebrow, seeming to be surprised by Riley’s admission. “We work together,” he clarified.

Well that just made it a whole lot more interesting.

Karli—who had largely been spectating from the table—decided she’d stayed idle long enough and wandered over. “Y’all just happened to be at the same place?”

God love her, she was ever the optimist, assuming the chances of them being there had been some random coincidence. But I knew better. Or was more jaded. Take your pick.

“No, they’re here together.” I shook my head, annoyed that I’d been so distracted by the hot guy I hadn’t seen it right away.

His lack of hurry, lingering at the counter—he could have ordered, collected his double shot goodness, and been out the door before Mack had even pulled out the panties. But he didn’t. And I was secretly not so mad about it.

“I think it’s sweet of you.” My lips edged into a smile. “You came here to make sure we didn’t kidnap Mack or take advantage of him.”

Mack didn’t share the sentiment, raising his hands to protest awkwardly while hindered by the coffees he was still holding. “That’s not exactly what this is about.”

Riley laughed, amused by his friend’s need to set the record straight. “Oh come on, Mack. I think we should come clean and tell them how I’m here to make sure you didn’t get into any trouble. And it looks like you had the same idea,” he nodded to Karli.

Oh, so not the same. Not that I was angry at the development, oh hell no. I was ecstatic Mack had needed a wingman or Riley was being overly concerned. I didn’t even care which of them was responsible, glad it had somehow worked out in my favor.

“Not really the same, but sure whatever. Since you’ve been discovered and no longer have to lurk in the shadows, why don’t you come join us?”

Another wordless exchange passed between them, Riley not waiting for Mack’s answer—verbally or telepathically—and shot me a smile. “I’d love to, lead the way.”

The four of us walked back to the table and took a seat. Mack handed Karli her decaf—to match the one she already had sitting on the table unconsumed—and took a swallow from his cup, stretching out the silence.

“This is Karli, Karli, Riley.” I offered introductions, my bright and bubbly friend presenting her hand a little too eagerly. “But the panties were mine, I was just trying to get her laid.”

“Quinn!” Karli’s eyes widened as she shook Riley’s hand. “I’d like to tell you that she’s not usually like this, but she is. Keeping up with her is almost like a fulltime job.”

“Well, not sure what Hot Stuff’s problem is,” he winked at Karli, dazzling her a little before smirking back at me. “but it was definitely his loss.”

She swooned.

Right there in her chair in the Beans or Bust coffee shop, her chestnut-colored eyes got all glassy as a huge smile broke out across her face.

“Awww, you’re just the sweetest.” A blush crept up her cheeks as she waved her hand.

Riley shook his head, discounting Karli’s assessment. “Trust me when I tell you that I’m not being sweet. You’re beautiful.”

His eyes momentarily swung back to me, a secretive grin playing on his lips as he surveyed his handiwork. He knew exactly what he was doing.

Cue Karli melting into a puddle of goo. And it wasn’t just her. Every woman within hearing distance—one hot older guy and one scorching, ridiculously gorgeous twenty-something dude were bound to get attention—was heart-eyeing him with intent.

Man, he was good.

Not sure if charming was his baseline or he was just putting some extra effort in for us, but Riley could do nothing but grin and half the female population would volunteer to crawl through enemy territory just to please him.

Not me, though. Because as good looking as he was, I couldn’t be dazzled by a sexy smile or enthralled by a few choice words. No, I’d seen the game too many times, usually staring down the barrel of my lens as I captured it for the masses.

That didn’t mean I didn’t want to smash my mouth against his, and rub myself against that body of sin. Oh hell, given half a chance I’d leap into his lap and unashamedly purr like a kitten. But falling under his spell wasn’t on my agenda.

Karli managed to put her swooning on the backburner and filled Riley in on my diabolical plan to capture poor Brad’s attention. And failing that, how we’d—i.e. me—decided to friend the random underwear recipient—Mack.

“Well buddy, sounds like you won the jackpot.” Riley clapped his friend on the back. “And ladies, in case you’re wondering, he is single.”

Mack shook his head, coughing asshole into his hand before adding, “Thanks.”

I couldn’t quite work out their dynamic but it was obvious they were more than just colleagues. Sure, they worked together, but there was some sort of brotherly connection that needed to be explored.

While his buddy squirmed under the scrutiny, Riley seemed to be enjoying himself, leaning back into his chair and grinning. The fabric of his T-shirt pulled against his torso, caressing his chest and giving me a better hint at what was hiding underneath. Sure didn’t need a full reveal to know I would very much like it. Yum.

Careful not to let my eyes linger too long—or convey any indecent thoughts that were rolling through my mind—I met his gaze to find he had his own ocular exploration happening. He wasn’t even trying to be subtle, checking me out like I was a danish on the menu, and giving me an unapologetic cheeky smirk when it was obvious he’d been caught.

He didn’t even bother to look away, raising a brow like an unspoken challenge for me to say something because he knew I’d been doing the exact same thing.

“So you haven’t told us what you guys do?” I purposely avoided his telepathic dare and went for gathering more information. After all, if we were going to be friends, I should at least confirm they weren’t shady partners in an illegal drug gang or worse—parking inspectors.

“We’re firefighters, in Hell’s Kitchen,” he answered, giving me as little as possible. “Mack’s the chief.”

Holy.

Freaking.

Shit.

Great, because I didn’t have enough trouble keeping my hormones in check, he needed to pour gasoline on the fire. And never had a metaphor been so freaking accurate, his commitment to extinguish blazes admirable considering he was probably responsible for starting most of them.

God I hoped they had one of those calendars for charity, standing half naked, brandishing hoses. I was going to Google it the minute the conversation ended.

“Wow, what a great job. So noble and heroic,” I mumbled out, pretending I wasn’t entertaining dirty thoughts. After all, it was kind of wrong to be objectifying him when he ran into burning buildings and saved people like a smoking hot Medal of Honor recipient. I was still going to get the calendar if it existed, because I might be polite but I didn’t have any saint like qualities.

“It’s not as glamorous as it sounds,” Mack interjected, thumbing in Riley’s direction. “And keeping these guys in line is more time consuming than the call outs.”

From the look of Riley’s grin, he wasn’t wrong, and I imagined it was one hell of a job. I couldn’t help but picture Riley all dirty and sweaty after responding to a fire, that image alone was probably going to feature as my fantasy for the next year, or two.

If Karli had been impressed before, the new intel had elevated the level up by about twenty. Her doe eyes were filled with such adoration as she sighed. “Still, y’all put your life on the line, you both must be so brave.”

Poor Brad.

Not only did he miss out on a fantastic package, but he was going to have to up his game after Karli finished talking to those two. Fireman trumped antique book restorer every day of the week, and was five times hotter.

Mack coughed, clearly uncomfortable with the hero worship. Or maybe he didn’t get out a lot and conversation with relatively strange women wasn’t his thing. His buddy sure didn’t have the same problem, lapping up the reverence as he smugly sipped his coffee.

“And what is it that you do, Quinn, when you’re not sending your panties in the mail and meeting random men in coffee shops?” His smolder hit me with the full weight of its intent, making me swallow a few times as I tried to drink my own coffee and not choke.

Through the course of hearing about Karli, and Brad—and his tendency to make her heart flutter—what Karli did to earn a paycheck had been revealed. Mine had remained a mystery so it was natural for him to ask.

“I’m a photo and videographer. I record and edit people’s life moments for them,” I offered, curious to see if he rolled his eyes or faked enthusiasm.

Look, I wasn’t ashamed of my job. Sure, there was no danger of me winning a Pulitzer, but it was honest work and it paid for my apartment in Brooklyn. But I could see how it looked to a man who had a “real” job.

Curiously, there was no eye roll. No sarcastic smirk or condescending tone. “Sounds interesting. You know, most of the time when someone’s house is burning down it’s the photos and videos that they’re most devastated to lose. Lucky most people save to a cloud now, but the older generation,” he glanced over at Mack, “like this guy, they would risk life and limb rather than watch it all burn.”

Mack clipped him over the back of his head, chuckling. “Hey, I’m not that old.”

It was weird that it wasn’t more awkward.

Hopefully neither he nor Mack could tell that my heartbeat was somewhere south of normal and my hormones were on spring break. But other than that, I’d have assumed it would have been stranger.

I used the opening to talk a little bit more about my work, mentioning I’d just come back from a shoot in Paris—newlyweds, who wanted their Instagram followers to be a part of their honeymoon—and how crazy busy I was. But other than Mack being confused by the idea people paid me to stage what was supposed to be candid shots, it was like I’d known them for months.

While I tried to ignore the logic that potentially I’d never see either one of them again, we fell into an easy conversation. Riley had just started to tell us about their station when Mack looked down at his wrist and tapped his watch. “Ladies, while this has been great, Riley and I are both on shift in an hour. We need to get to the stationhouse.”

Damn Mack, his damn watch and his damn need to be responsible. Even though it was ridiculous, I wasn’t ready for it to end. Not sure what would have been accomplished, Riley had said Mack was single, but hadn’t made any bold claims regarding his own relationship status. And honestly—I think he’d flirt with a park bench if that was all that was around—the attention he gave me not that different to that he was giving Karli.

“Sure, of course. Well, it was great meeting you.” I stood, sticking out my hand and offering it. Not that shaking his hand was what I wanted, but burying myself in his amazing chest and forcing him to wrap his arms around me probably would have been too much. Social conventions being what they were and all that, and I was determined to not make it weird.

Riley’s eyes lowered to my still waiting hand, a smile I couldn’t interpret edging across his lips. “Yeah, it’s been great.” His fingers wrapped around mine, and held it.

Interesting.

I wasn’t going to ask him to let go, so we could be there awhile.

“Riley,” Mack coughed. “You ready?”

“Sure thing, Chief.” He released my hand and turned his attention to Karli. With her he didn’t hesitate, giving her a quick shake and saying goodbye. “Hope it works out for you and your guy.”

“Awww thanks,” a blush covered her cheeks, “it was so wonderful meeting you both.”

Mack shifted on his feet uncomfortably, sinking his hands into his pocket. “Well, Quinn, thanks for the coffee.” His eyes moved up to mine. “See ya.”

See ya?

Unless one of them gave me their phone number—I had a preference, but getting Mack’s would mean I’d still have a connection—the chances of seeing me were remote. Unless I started a fire in Midtown, and hoped Riley showed up to put it out. And as ridiculous as it sounded, the thought had crossed my mind.

I was cycling through what other emergencies would warrant a 9-1-1 call—cats up trees weren’t really a thing were they?—when I felt Riley’s eyes on mine. Like me, he was ignoring Mack and Karli as they said goodbye to each other.

Go on, he taunted, ~say what’s really on your mind.~

Why don’t you, I countered, willing to bet he had other things to say too.

There wasn’t a lot of time, the window to have the last word slipping away as Mack looked at the two of us, his hands back in his pockets.

“Sure, that sounds great.”

What the hell was I saying?

It had come out of my mouth before I’d been able to properly give it some thought. Because firstly, what the hell was I agreeing to? And why the hell was it so great? Nothing. Nothing in my sentence was great other than it finishing before I volunteered even more random declarations that didn’t make sense.

Ironically, Riley seemed to be the only one not confused, biting his lip as he settled back onto his heels. Whatever game we’d apparently been playing, he’d won the first round.

“To see you that is.” I did my best to recover, turning to Mack. “You said see you, and I think that would be great. When is your next evening off, maybe we could have dinner?”

Asking Mack out was not part of the plan.

Apart from the fact that we had absolutely nothing in common—and he looked like he’d rather spit fire than date me—I had a serious attraction to his friend. The same friend who’d in no way made any moves to show that attraction was reciprocated, unless you counted the serious eye fucking and sexy smirks.

So of course it made perfect sense that while Riley would be happy for us to go our separate ways, never to see each other again—save the fire I might light and he forced to respond to—I wasn’t.

But I wasn’t desperate either, so asking for his number like an awkward rookie and giving him a chance to shoot me down wasn’t happening either.

Oh hell, no.

Which was why I shifted my attention to Mack, taking his inconsequential parting words literally. Because that made sense.

“You’re asking me out?” Mack’s brows shot up into his hairline, unable to contain his shock.

I chuckled, fully committing to the path I’d apparently decided to travel. “Yes, Mack, women do that these days. We do all kinds of crazy stuff, and asking out a man on a date is just one of them. So what do you say? You want to be a part of the madness?”

Honestly, if he said no, I wouldn’t have been devastated or surprised. In fact, it was pretty much what I was expecting. An awkward cough while he shifted uncomfortably on his feet, and then tell me that he’d sampled enough of my crazy. No need to see it again up close and personal, and especially not alone. But it was an option and I was taking it—to hell with the consequences.

“You want to go out with me?” he asked again, his sideward glance to Riley in no way discreet. Yeah, he wasn’t an idiot, not buying my sudden interest. It remained to be seen if he was going to be chivalrous—play along with my game, or rat me out in front of my friend and his.

Tough call.

“Well, not if you’re going to have that attitude.” I laughed, pretending like I had everything under control. Spoiler alert, I had nothing under control. “But Riley did mention you were single. And I’m single. So why not?”

“I agree, why not?” Riley folded his arms across his chest, anteing up and putting some skin in the game. He was calling my bluff, but I wasn’t going to be the first to blink. “It’s been, what? A year since your divorce? Sounds like the perfect time to get back on the market, right Quinn? Besides, I’m sure she’ll be gentle.”

There was no going back, and if someone wanted the shit show to end, they were going to have to do it their damn selves.

He padded his pockets for a pen, nodding as he responded. “Okay. I guess I’ll give you my number.”

It was clear that while Mack might not know where Riley and I were going with the charade, he wasn’t going to hang me out to dry. What a great guy, and I was totally going to set him up with a decent woman who wasn’t me when this was over.

“Here, just add it to my contacts.” I held out my phone, my eyes floating over to Riley as I smiled. Not what you expected, is it? I’d wanted to say, but I kept my mouth shut and my game face on as Mack added his digits.

Mack handed me back my phone, his eyes shifting between me and his buddy. “Well, I guess we’ll head out.”

“Yep, see you soon. I’ll give you a call and you can check your schedule.” I waved as I watched them move to the door. “Oh, and you take care, Riley.”

He tipped his chin as he slid on his sunglasses, his ever-present smile getting wider. “Likewise, Quinn.”

Why did I get the feeling that my win hadn’t been as spectacular as I’d first thought?