Page 106 of Hard Hitter

“Oh right,” Quinn turned back to the man and woman outside his door. “Could you guys go get some, like, pants or sweatpants or leggings. Women’s...small.” He found his dress pants on the floor behind the door where they’d been dropped and dug out his wallet. He handed the woman a hundred-dollar bill. “Keep the change. How many cameras are we talkin’ down there?”

“About a dozen, I’d say,” she replied, folding up the cash and tucking it away.

Quinn cursed under his breath and stole another glance at Rae, whose attention was now glued to her phone. Folding her legs under herself, she sat on the couch and started scrolling.

“We’ll be here until you get back, and then we’ll go from there,” Quinn said. The two concierges both gave short nods, and he closed the door. Sitting down next to Rae on the couch, he smoothed down his hair, looking at her anxiously. He’d completely forgotten about this part of them being together. The media, the paparazzi, the ruthless reporters who would no doubt dig into Rae’s past and try finding something that would make a good story- of course good stories were never the happy ones.

“Well,mon amour, I hope you’re ready to hang up that playboy reputation of yours,” Rae said, still staring down at her phone. “Amira, Camille, and Alexis were all sending me links. I literally had over twenty texts this morning. I even have a text from Dad congratulating us on making it official.”

Quinn groaned and rested his forehead on Rae’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I completely forgot about the whole...being famous thing. I just feel like I’ve been on vacation to a completely different life.” He lifted his head so that his chin was now resting on her shoulder, “The hotel people were letting me know there are cameras out front, wanting to know more about us.”

“You’re okay with people knowing, right?” Rae asked, eyeing him curiously.

“Yes, yes, of course,” Quinn said, placing his hand behind her neck and pulling her in, pressing his lips to hers. “I want people to know. I do. I just didn’t think about all this. I don’t like the idea of all these strangers trying to follow you around and dig up dirt. Happy stories don’t sell. They like me because I’ve got the whole ‘bad boy’ rep. That’s why I get so much media attention, and now I’m putting that on you. I’m sorry.”

“It’ll be an adjustment, but I kinda like you,” she kissed him and pulled away just slightly, “so we’ll make it work.”

“You’re already moving across the country for me, and now you have to put up with this,” Quinn said. “I feel like I’m not worth all that.”

“Stop it,” Rae scolded, tracing his jaw with the tips of her fingers. “We’ve been over this. You always underestimate yourself. I love you. I want to be with you. And you want to be with me, right?”

“Only for over half my life,” said Quinn.

“Good. Then we’ll make it work.” The corner of Rae’s lips tugged upward as she said this, and he stared back into her bright blue eyes. The same eyes that had always made him feel so at home, so calm and grounded when he thought he might lose it.

Does she have any idea how bad I want to see those eyes every morning for the rest of my life?

“Have you seen the pictures yet?” Rae asked, excited. “We look damn good together.”

“Oh yeah?” Quinn stood up and slipped into the bedroom to grab his phone off his nightstand. Though he’d been woken up by multiple text message tones, he hadn’t actually checked it. His eyes went wide at the number of text notifications he had, and he suddenly wished he had Zoey here to manage and smooth everything over.

The first text, or thread of texts, he opened was from Zoey.

Zoey: First of all- I am SO happy for you and proud of you right now. Second, this is going to be huge. I hope your girl is prepared for this craziness!

Zoey: You two might be the most gorgeous couple ever! Did you plan this?

There was a link attached to her message with pictures of him and Rae at the wedding. Quinn wondered who was taking pictures of them to sell, but also felt like an idiot for not seeing this coming. Of course someone would have a camera at a wedding and notice him. Hell, it could’ve been the photographer.

The first picture was of him and Rae wrapped in that first fiery kiss on the dance floor when she’d dragged him up out of his chair. There were several of them laughing and dancing, a few more of them kissing. There was a picture of them sitting at the table with Jett, smiling and talking while Quinn massaged her feet in his lap. There was a photo of him holding the garter he’d caught on one finger as he stood in front of Rae with a suggestive smirk on his face. The final photos were of them getting into the taxi at the end of the night.

Thank God they didn’t take pictures inside that cab.

There were several other links to pictures and even some articles with various headlines:“He’s Stealing Bases, She’s Stealing His Heart,” “Quinn Casey Can’t Dodge Cupid,” “Casey Hits Hard- Love Hits Harder,” “Who’s Quinn Casey’s New Catch?,” “Can She Take Him All the Way to Home?,” “Casey Gets a Curveball.”

Quinn couldn’t help smiling as he read the headlines, making his way back into the living room and plopping himself back down next to Rae. She had swapped her phone out for his iPad and was reading the article titled“Who’s Quinn Casey’s New Catch?”.The featured photograph was of the two of them, head to head, embraced closely for a slow dance.

“We do look good together,” said Quinn, leaning over and peering at the screen. “Of course I’ve known that for years. You’re a little behind on the uptake.”

“How do they know so much about me?” Rae asked, her eyes moving back and forth across the page.“‘Raelyn DeRose, of Traverse City, Michigan, is no stranger to a life of luxury. The daughter of Charlie and Margaux DeRose’- They know my parents, too?-‘Raelyn was cloaked in wealth from day one. Chateau Delecroix, the scene of these hard-hitting photos, is one of four upscale wineries owned by the DeRose and Delecroix family. A bottle from Chateau Delecroix can range from $32, for a newer selection, all the way up to $800 for the aged fine wines-”

“You guys sell eight-hundred dollar bottles of wine?” Quinn’s eyebrows shot up as he looked at her.No wonder they were so damn rich.

“Most of those are at the wineries in France. We’ve got one in Paris and one in Bordeaux,” Rae didn’t take her eyes off the screen as she spoke to him. Her face was intent and concentrated on the article.

“Well, your family isn’t exactly low-profile,” said Quinn. “I’m really not surprised they already filled up a whole article about you.”

Rae was silent for a moment as she read, then she gasped, “Oh look! It says here that we’ve known each other since childhood! I wonder how they figured that out.”

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