Big Bad Marine Read online

  Christ, she was such a hard-ass.

  Quinn was very tempted not to let her change the subject, but she was already heading away from him, walking toward the bar like she owned the place.

  Ah well, he liked poking at her purely for the entertainment factor, but fundamentally he didn’t give a shit, right?

  Yet as she walked away, he found himself staring at the way her wet T-shirt stuck to her slender curves and the denim of her jeans cupped her perfect ass. Jesus, that shake in her hand had distracted him from what would probably be a lovely view of her tits.

  Which was a good thing, because God knew he didn’t need any more temptation. Especially since there was no way, no way in hell, he was going to make a move on her, even with their chemistry being off the charts.

  Not only was she his fiercest business rival, he’d never been into delicate little shepherdesses, no matter what kind of firepower they were packing. Plus, he liked it hard and he liked it rough, and he definitely liked to be in charge.

  Duchess liked to be in charge, too. In fact, he could only imagine what it would be like taking her to bed. She’d want to be on top, no question, and then he’d have to—

  Fuck.

  Quinn scowled at Duchess’s retreating back, reaching down to his adjust his ridiculous cock before following her toward the bar.

  Yeah, like he’d already told himself. That wasn’t happening. No matter how badly one insubordinate part of his anatomy wanted otherwise.

  Making a detour to visit the bathroom off the bar, he grabbed one of the clean towels that his brother Zane’s girlfriend liked to keep in there, in one of her charming-slash-irritating efforts to girlify the hotel. Then he came back into the bar to find Duchess had seated herself in one of the booth seats that lined the wall opposite the bar itself.

  The room still looked like the hotel bar it had once been. Large shelves piled high with alcohol bottles behind the bar — mostly bourbon — and one incongruous plastic box that contained the ashes of his dearly departed father. Booth seats down one wall, a few chairs and tables scattered around, the pool table his brother Rush had bought only the week before for ‘fun times’ down one end.

  It was a shabby but comfortable room, wearing its age like a once-beautiful courtesan wearing a moth-eaten fur coat. An elegant reminder of good times past.

  Except at one in the morning, in the glare of the lights, there wasn’t much sign of that elegance, not anymore. Now all you could see were the cracks in the facade and how deep they went.

  Kind of like you, asshole.

  Quinn ruthlessly shoved the thought aside. He was doing just fine thanks. Sure, the business wasn’t doing as well as it should be, but it wasn’t his fault his prick of a father had left it virtually on the edge of bankruptcy. Or that market had become increasingly difficult, no thanks in part to the small blonde sitting in her booth seat like an empress on a throne.

  “Oh, poor baby,” Duchess murmured as he approached. “Did I interrupt your nap?”

  Quinn wiped the scowl off his face and tried to ignore the irritation and lust that were coursing through him, his inevitable response to Duchess’s smart comebacks. Instead he thrust the towel in her general direction and tried not to think about how much he’d like to show her exactly why she needed to watch her mouth around him.

  “Here.” He tried not to make it a growl. “Dry yourself off.”

  Her gaze fell to the towel. “What a gentleman. I don’t suppose you got yourself a T-shirt in the process? I don’t really want to stare at your chest for the next half an hour.”

  Sure, she didn’t. He knew she found him irresistible, just like he knew that the chemistry between them was something they both struggled with. But not talking about it, pretending it wasn’t there, and sniping at each other was the only way to deal with it, a lie they were both complicit in.

  The only alternative was to give in, which wasn’t going to happen.

  Didn’t mean he couldn’t be an asshole about it, though. In fact, being an asshole had been his modus operandi for the past decade and Quinn had yet to see any reason to change.

  Especially not at one A.M. after very little sleep.

  Ignoring her, he slid into the seat opposite. “Since you’re only going to be here for five minutes, I’m sure you can cope with my chest.” He met her gaze. “What’s going on, Duchess?”

  About Jackie

  Jackie Ashenden lives in Auckland, New Zealand, with her husband, the inimitable Dr. Jax, two kids, one dog, and one cat. When she’s not torturing alpha males and their kick-ass heroines, she can be found drinking chocolate martinis, reading anything she can lay her hands on, posting random crap on social media, or being forced to go mountain biking with her husband.

  To keep up to date with Jackie’s new releases and other news, sign up for her newsletter at:

  www.jackieashenden.com

  Also by Jackie Ashenden

  Standalones

  * * *

  Falling For Finn (Ebook only)

  One Night With The Master (formerly Black Knight, White Queen) (Ebook only)

  * * *

  Demanding His Hidden Heir (Harlequin Presents)

  Claiming His One Night Child (Harlequin Presents)

  Out August 2019

  * * *

  The Debt (Harlequin Dare)

  (Out September 2019)

  * * *

  Series

  * * *

  The Lies We Tell

  Taking Him

  Having Her

  * * *

  Forbidden Desires

  Living In Shadow

  Living In Sin

  Living In Secret

  * * *

  Talking Dirty (Ebook/audio only)

  Talking Dirty With The CEO

  Talking Dirty With The Player

  Talking Dirty With The Boss

  * * *

  The Nine Circles

  Mine To Take

  Make You Mine

  You Are Mine

  Kidnapped By The Billionaire

  In Bed With The Billionaire

  * * *

  Motor City Royals

  Dirty For Me

  Wrong For Me

  Sin For Me

  * * *

  Bad Boy Sheikhs (Ebook only)

  Never Seduce A Sheikh

  Never Refuse A Sheikh

  Never Resist A Sheikh

  * * *

  Texas Bounty (Ebook only)

  Cold Hearted Sniper (formerly Take Me Deeper)

  Make It Hurt

  Take Me Harder

  The Hit Man Next Door

  Big Bad Marine

  Black Sheep Bounty Hunter (out 7th August 2019)

  * * *

  Tate Brothers (Billionaire Navy SEALS)

  The Dangerous Billionaire

  The Wicked Billionaire

  The Undercover Billionaire

  * * *

  11th Hour

  Raw Power

  Total Control

  Hard Night

  * * *

  Knights of Ruin (Harlequin Dare)

  Ruined

  Destroyed

  * * *

  Kings of Sydney (Harlequin Dare)

  King’s Price

  King’s Rule

  King’s Ransom

  * * *

  Novellas

  * * *

  Series

  Billionaire’s Club NYC (Ebook only)

  The Billion Dollar Bachelor

  The Billion Dollar Bad Boy

  The Billionaire Biker

  * * *

  Boxed set of above: 100 Shades Hotter edition

  * * *

  Billionaire Fairy Tales (Ebook only)

  The Billionaire’s Virgin

  The Billionaire Beast

  The Billionaire’s Intern

  The Big Bad Billionaire

  * * *

  Multi-author series (Ebook only)

  Hollywood Blackmail (Seacliff Medical se
ries)

  Hold Me Down (Deacons of Bourbon Street biker series)

  Frankie (Secret Confessions: Down and Dusty)