Page 18 of Playboy For Hire

Ryder walked right up to me, pulled me into a side hug, and pecked me on the cheek. Heat suffused me from the top of my head down to my toes. I jerked away in surprise.

“Oh, hey, sorry.” He pulled back, still smiling. “I just thought—you know, in case anyone else was around, I should seem happy to see you. Didn’t mean to get in your personal space, though.”

“No, no, it’s—it’s fine.” I shook my head. “I just wasn’t expecting it, is all.”

I’d told Ryder that we didn’t have to do any kind of PDA, and I’d meant it. He’d seemed jumpy enough about pretending to be my boyfriend without adding any physical components. I hadn’t wanted to push. And it wasn’t like my family had ever seen me with a boyfriend anyway, so they had nothing to compare it to.

I resisted the urge to touch my cheek where Ryder’s lips had been. It was my right cheek, the one with my birthmark. No one had ever kissed me there before. I could still feel the slight heat of his mouth on my skin.

“And I don’t think anyone else is coming to this function via public transit,” I added. “Auntie Thea had a limo come and pick her up.”

“A lady who travels in style. I like it.”

“She would take a limo to Safeway if it weren’t too big for the parking lot.”

“She obviously knows her own worth.” Ryder grinned. “So, boyfriend. Are you ready to go cut a rug?”

His smile was so goofy, I couldn’t help but laugh. Something about him was just so likable. It made it hard to stay mad at him, even when he said something stupid. I supposed that was probably an asset in his line of work, though. For all I knew, he was an asshole who was just good at acting.

But looking at his easy, lopsided smile, the way it crinkled the corners of his eyes and pulled at the corners of his lips, I couldn’t help but smile back. For tonight at least, I would pretend this was real.

The party was in the restaurant of the swanky Gilchrist Hotel on the corner of Florida and R Street NW. It was an old, stone building with a semi-circular drive and heavy marble columns arrayed on either side of the front door. Town cars were pulling up as we approached, dropping off passengers who were dressed to the nines.

“Are they all your family?” Ryder asked, his eyes a little wide. “I have a tux. Two, actually. I would have dressed nicer if I’d known it was black tie.”

“Not all of them,” I said. “Nana and Grandad rented out the entire restaurant and patio in the back, but there’s a smaller bar up front, and a couple of club rooms. Most of these people must be here for some other—”

“Quinn, honey, is that you?”

A call from across the driveway caught my attention, and I looked over to see a woman in a greenish-gold dress get out of a silver Lexus. She was waving at me with one hand, and adjusting a scarf around her shoulders with the other. A large, balding man got out of the driver’s seat and handed his keys to a valet.

“Oh, God,” I whispered.

“Who’s that?” Ryder asked as we turned up the walk to the hotel.

“My Aunt Marie and Uncle Harold. Uncle Harold is fine. He pretty much only wants to talk about golf and the stock market. But Marie is—”

“Oh, come here, let me hug you,” Marie said, her chunky heels ringing against the marble walk as she scurried over to meet us. “I haven’t seen you in ages. How long has it been? Since Christmas last year? That is just criminal. You only live two hours away. How come you haven’t been up to visit?” She smacked her purse against my chest and looked up at me reprovingly.

“Hi, Auntie Marie,” I said, letting her pull me into a tight hug. “It’s good to see—”

“What could possibly be keeping you so busy that you can’t make time to visit your favorite aunt?” she continued, like I hadn’t even spoken. She let me out of the hug, but kept a hold of my arms, looking me up and down like she was searching for an explanation for my inadequacies. “I know you haven’t been using that time to put any muscle on you,” she added, squeezing my shoulders. “Are they working you too hard? Not letting you go to the gym? Don’t you want to look more masculine?”

“No, not too hard, I just—”

“I read about that,” Marie said before I could finish my sentence. “Companies are putting drugs in the coffee pods and water coolers to keep their workers weak and control them. Ever since they passed that Obamacare, it’s legal now. They can feed you whatever chemicals they want, so they can keep you chained to your desk. I can send you the article if you like.”

“I don’t think that’s actually what—”

“Of course, they’re doing it at the gyms, too. Especially gay gyms. I’ve heard all about it. They poison those little smoothies and milkshakes and once they have control of your minds, they’ll turn you into sleeper agents. You’ll be able to poison all the women, because they won’t feel threatened by you. And once the women are sterilized, they’ll be in control of the population completely.”

She looked up at me with earnest eyes, shining with the fervor of belief. I looked at Ryder helplessly. I hadn’t gotten a chance to warn him about Auntie Marie, and she’d just dragged him into the deep end. But Ryder just swung an arm around my shoulders, gently freeing me from Marie’s grasp.

“Oh, I don’t know, I think Quinn looks pretty great just the way he is.” He smiled agreeably and said, “I’m Ryder, by the way. Quinn’s boyfriend. It’s so nice to meet you.”

“Oh, right.” I blinked, realizing I hadn’t formally introduced them. Ryder’s arm had felt so nice around my shoulders that I’d forgotten where I was for a moment. “I’m sorry. Auntie Marie, this is Ryder, my boyfriend. Ryder, this is Marie Loring, one of my dad’s sisters. She and Uncle Harold live up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.”

I nodded at Uncle Harold, who seemed perfectly happy to let Marie do all the talking.

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