Page 40 of Playboy For Hire

I didn’t think he owed me anything. I was happy to help out with whatever this was. But I couldn’t deny the warm-fuzzies I’d felt in my chest when Quinn had reached out to me. I liked that he knew he could count on me.

The large windows of the bar showed the interior clearly, and I realized Quinn was sitting at a tiny table right by the front door. The guy sitting across from him was good-looking, I’d give him that. Tall, burly, with a strong five-o’clock shadow. He was gesticulating wildly as he talked, while Quinn leaned back in his seat, looking visibly uncomfortable.

I paused for a moment, taking in the sight of Quinn. He was dressed in a light blue button-up shirt and corduroy trousers that hugged his slim form. As the other man talked, Quinn pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, then hugged his arms around his chest. There were multiple empty glasses in front of both of them.

On the way over, I’d thought of and discarded countless possible excuses to drag Quinn away. Evil clowns ransacking his apartment? Timmy falling down a well? Sharknado descending on the city? But no, Quinn would want something realistic.

Which meant I couldn’t play the jealous ex card again either. I had no idea what Quinn might have told his date about his dating situation, and whether my story would contradict that. Besides, there was always the chance this guy would get aggressive, and I really wasn’t looking to get into a fistfight.

Instead, I barged into the bar, scanned the room, and let my eyes fall on Quinn’s table last, as if I’d only just located him.

“Quinn, thank God,” I said, letting the words come out in a rush. “You’ve got to come with me. Thea had a fall at Swannvale and is unconscious. They’ve taken her to GW, but they want a family member there, in case—well, it doesn’t matter. She needs you.”

I hoped I’d done a good job of sounding worried and frantic, but Quinn really sold it with his reaction. His eyes went wide and his face slack.

“What the—Auntie Thea?” He sounded horrified. “What happened? How did they—”

“She was on her way back to her apartment. That’s what they think, anyway. Someone found her in the hall. They couldn’t get in touch with you, so they called me and asked me to find you. Thank God she has two emergency contacts.”

“Shit.” Quinn looked like he’d been kicked in the chest. He turned to his date. “I’m so sorry. I have to go.”

He stood up abruptly and pushed his chair so far back that it knocked into the table behind them. He swung his messenger bag onto his shoulder and stepped towards me.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” his date said. “Maybe I should go with you. You shouldn’t be alone while you deal with this.”

“No, it’s okay.” Quinn waved him off. “I’ve got Ryder. He can stay with me.”

His date’s eyes swung to me and narrowed suspiciously. “Are you related to Quinn somehow?”

His gaze flicked back and forth between us like he couldn’t believe that was a real possibility. I wanted to inform him that yes, mixed-race families did exist, but this wasn’t the time to get pedantic.

“Family friend,” I said curtly. “Quinn, we should really—”

“Yeah, yeah.” Quinn shook his head, then looked at his date. “I’m so sorry. I’ll call you later, okay?”

I figured that was more than enough of a goodbye, so I took Quinn’s hand and tugged him towards the door. He didn’t fight it at all. If anything, he was walking faster than I was.

Once we were outside, I turned to the right and walked quickly down the street, keeping my pace up until we reached the end of the block and turned the corner.

“Where are we going?” Quinn asked, when I finally slowed down. He pulled his hand free. I hadn’t even realized I was still holding it. “Which hospital did you say they took her to?”

“What?” I looked at him, confused. “Quinn, Thea is fine. It was just a story to get you out of there.”

He stared at me, the whites of his eyes bright in the moonlight. “Why would you pick that as your cover story? You terrified me.”

“You told me to come ruin the date.”

“Yeah, I thought you’d do another creepy ex thing and tell the guy I had a fifteen-inch cock.”

“I thought you’d want something more realistic. I learned my lesson from last time.” I squinted at him. “You really believed me? I thought you were just doing a good job acting.”

“Sorry.” Quinn sounded a little huffy. “Not all of us are accomplished liars.”

His words stung. “Okay, well, you’re welcome, I guess. I’ll go, then.”

“No, wait.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.”

I arched an eyebrow. “You sure? You sounded pretty serious.”

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