Quinn's Undying Rose (Scanguards Vampires #6) by Tina Folsom Page B

insists that his martinis be shaken, not stirred.”
    Quinn thought she seemed to find her remark far more amusing than it was. “Bond knows women, not martinis.”
    He took a sideways glance at Rose. Now that she sat, his head was at the perfect height to allow him to look right down her cleavage. When he lifted his eyes, he collided with her gaze. It appeared that she had noticed the same thing. He felt heat shoot through his veins.
    Annoyed at his own reaction, he focused his attention on the middle of the bar, where Blake was talking to a young woman. He tuned into their conversation, shutting out everything else around him out.
    “I just moved here. Cool place,” Blake said.
    “Good for you,” the girl replied, taking her nearly empty glass and pulling on the straw. Her gaze strayed away as if she were looking for somebody. She was pretty, and by the looks of it, she was well aware of that fact.
    “What are you drinking? I’ll get you another one,” Blake said
    “Thanks, but I’ll get my own drinks,” she replied and waved toward the bartender, who just placed the two Martini glasses in front of Quinn.
    “That’s twenty-four bucks.”
    Quinn pulled out a couple of banknotes and tossed them on the bar. “Thanks.”
    As the bartender took the money, Quinn looked back at Blake and the girl.
    “She doesn’t like him,” Rose said next to him.
    “Maybe she’s just playing hard to get,” Quinn mused, wondering why Rose even bothered talking to him.
    For the first time, he heard her chuckle. The sound trickled down his body like a soft caress. God, how he’d missed her laughter. How he’d missed that warm sound that could lift anyone’s spirit.
    “Guess it runs in the family.”
    “The playing hard to get?”
    “The not being able to know what a woman wants.” She paused. “Or doesn’t want.”
    Quinn reached for his glass. “Ah, that’s harsh, Rose, even for you.” Then he took a generous sip and allowed the disgusting liquid to coat his throat. At least it would help make his voice sound normal again, or so he hoped.
    “And there I thought I gave you everything you could dream of that night.”
    She narrowed her eyes. “And more.”
    Her words cast an icy chill against his nape. “Are you referring to the baby?”
    “Among other things.”
    He set the glass onto the bar with too much force, making some of the liquid spill over the rim. “I pulled out!”
    But even he knew that wasn’t a foolproof method of preventing conception. However, two hundred years ago, short of using French letters, it had been the only one.
    She withstood his glare without flinching. But she didn’t grace him with a response. Instead she merely took her own glass and emptied it without grimacing.
    “Is that why you’re so pissed at me? Because I left you with child? I would have taken care of you and our daughter if you’d given me a chance.”
    Daughter —the word still sounded so foreign to him. Yet, he meant what he’d said. Had he known, things would have turned out differently.
    “Having Charlotte was the only thing that ever went right in my life,” Rose admitted.
    Her admission surprised him. “Then what was it that I did wrong?” The words were out before he could take them back. He knew he was showing his vulnerability by asking a question like this.
    A man’s booming voice saved him from whatever comeback Rose might have had ready.
    “Didn’t you hear what she said?”
    Quinn’s gaze snapped toward Blake and the girl he was hitting on. Rose was right: the girl wasn’t interested in him. Behind her, a tall guy was glowering at Blake.
    “She doesn’t want your attention. So beat it!” the stranger growled.
    Blake glared back at him. “Don’t get in my way. This is between me and her.” He turned away from the guy and focused his attention back on the girl.
    The timber of his voice changed as he smiled back at the girl again. “So, you wanna dance? I’m told I’m a pretty good