Page 105 of Playboy For Hire

He laughed. “But that was an accident. This wouldn’t be.”

I leaned in and kissed his cheek—a little awkward to do while walking, but I couldn’t stop myself. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. But I don’t think anything you could say would be stupid.”

Quinn looked at me for a moment, then said in a rush, “I was going to say that even better than you moving below me would be if you wanted to move in. But like I said, it’s stupid. It’s way too soon to talk about that, and I’m not trying to pressure you. I don’t even know if you would want to, and—”

“Quinn.” I stopped walking and turned so I could take his other hand in mine. “It’s not stupid.” I leaned in and kissed his other cheek. “I think it’s a great idea. But we should wait until I get a new job to talk about that.”

He blinked. “A new job? What are you talking about?”

I dropped his other hand and resumed walking. “I’ve been thinking about it, and it might be time. Working for Heartbreakers was never supposed to be a permanent thing. And I know you’re not a huge fan of it. So starting after graduation, I’m going to begin applying to other places. I’m pretty sure my gym is hiring, and I could always—”

“Don’t do that!” Quinn interrupted. I looked at him in surprise, not expecting the urgency in his voice.

“Why?”

“Because you shouldn’t have to quit your job for me.” We’d reached his house, and he began walking up the steps to the front door. He looked over his shoulder as he went. “You shouldn’t quit your job for anyone.”

“But I don’t mind.” I followed him inside and kept talking as we walked up to the second floor. “I want you to be happy, and I was thinking about it, from your point of view. It probably does seem sort of weird, dating someone whose job involves occasionally kissing other people.”

“Actors do it all the time,” he said. “And they have successful relationships.”

“Yeah, but like you said, that’s a real job. This is different.”

We entered Quinn’s apartment. He closed the door behind us, then pulled me over to the couch.

“I was being stupid,” he said. “And I never should have said that. Your job is real. But my friend Jae—he was trying to be supportive, but he was a little skeptical. And between his words and my own fears—I was just letting my insecurities get to me, is what I’m saying.”

“What on earth would you be insecure for? You’re the one who’s a catch.”

“On paper, maybe. But Ryder, you’re so—I don’t even think you realize it, because you can’t see yourself from the outside. But it’s not just that you’re mouthwateringly hot. You’re kind, and genuine, and considerate, and funny, and the sweetest person I know. It’s honestly weird to me thatmoreof your clients don’t fall in love with you like I did.”

“To be fair, I don’t usually try to ruin my clients’ chances with other potential dates and then hook up with them for months at a time.”

Quinn laughed, and I studied him.

“You know I’m serious, right? I’ve never done that with anyone else. You’re the first person who’s ever made me feel this way.”

It was true. Even Molly had been different. I’d fallen for her, but it had been infatuation, not love. I’d been devastated when she ended things, but I’d never had with her what I had with Quinn—a deep, solid love I knew I could count on.

“Do you believe me?” I asked, scanning his face.

“I’ll admit that it’s hard,” he said with a sheepish smile. “But yeah. I do. I trust you.”

“Good. Because I trust you too. And honestly, good luck getting rid of me.”

Quinn pressed his lips together for a moment. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that it didn’t take me months to fall in love with you. I think part of me fell in love with you the night we first met, when you were so sweet to me. And since it happened to me, I felt like it could happen to anyone. I just found it hard to believethat you would really want me, and it was so easy to paint these scenarios in my head where you moved on to someone else. So I lashed out. I blamed your job. But there’s nothing wrong with your job. It was just me being scared.”

“Well, I’m scared too,” I said with a small laugh. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing, but maybe if we’re both scared, it means we’re both—”

“Neurotic and insecure?” Quinn interjected.

“I was going to say ‘coming at this from the same place.’”

“Oh.” He laughed. “Yeah, that sounds better.”

“I don’t want to lose you, and you don’t want to lose me. You can’t believe I chose you, and I can’t believe you chose me. Maybe that’s good. Maybe it makes us both grateful. Maybe it helps us appreciate what we have.”

He shook his head. “Don’t say that. “You’re going to make me tear up all over again.”

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