“Where’s here?”
“At the office. Just winding up a few small things and I’ll be done. I’ll duck home for a shower and meet you there, then you’re coming home with me,” he added firmly.
“Okay,” I replied, surprised at the ease of my agreement.
It’s because you’re happy, Quinn.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I wasn’t happy, but I was almost happy. So much so I could taste it on the tip of my tongue.
“So…you’re all dressed and ready to go, huh?”
“Uh huh.”
“What are you wearing?” His voice turned husky.
“A long silk dress.”
“Yeah?” he murmured. “What colour is it, sweetheart?”
“It’s deep rose. And backless,” I added.
“So I get to see every inch of your creamy skin all the way to your ass?” Travis exhaled loudly. “I’m imagining tracing every inch of it right now with my tongue.”
I moaned. “Trav—”
The phone was snatched from my hand by an annoyed looking Casey.
“Travis,” he spoke into the phone impatiently. “We’re on our way out the door, unless you want me to take over with Quinn where you just left off?”
I laughed and fiddled with the strap of my clutch as I heard him end the conversation.
Soon after, we arrived at the Florence Bar, and Carol and I delved into final preparations with Casey glued to my side.
“Wow, look at you, Quinn, you belong at the Oscars!” I turned from talking to Vince at the bar to see Mac bearing down in her usual fashion.
Dressed in a shimmery floor length gold number, she said hello to Casey and Vince before sweeping her gaze around the private function area.
“Vintage glamour. How did you manage this without me knowing?”
I snorted. “I can be sneaky.” She raised a brow, obviously remembering the suitcase incident. “Sometimes,” I added. “But Evie almost caught Jared and I talking about it. Don’t ask, but Evie now thinks the upcoming Jettison Records party is fancy dress.”
Mac shouted with laughter. “Oh this is too good!”
She called Henry over and when he got close she told him, and then they were both standing there gasping for air.
“You’re gonna help her pick her costume out, right, Mac?” Henry asked.
Casey shook his head at both of them as Henry gave a brief wave to Vince and asked for a beer. “You three are like an episode of Gossip Girl.”
Vince placed a wine for me and a beer for Henry on the bar while Mac gaped. “You watch Gossip Girl?”
Casey narrowed his eyes on her.
“I was stuck in the loft all day,” I offered. “Travis was out on a job. We…” Casey turned those eyes on me. “I had a Gossip Girl marathon.” Henry and Mac were watching me. “Then we...” I glanced at Casey “...then I dragged Casey shopping so I could get a dress and shoes. And earrings,” I added.
“Wow.” Mac grinned. “Sounds like you had a busy day playing big sister, Casey.” Henry laughed as Casey handed me my wine. “Tim’ll be pissed he wasn’t there for that. I’d avoid him tonight if I were you. In fact, I see him heading this way right now. Can you see your life flashing before your eyes?”
“Thanks for that heads up, Mac,” Casey muttered while everyone laughed. He grabbed hold of my elbow and muscled me away from the group of people forming around us.
I leaned in closer to be heard. “Am I ruining your badass reputation, Casey?”
“I can handle it,” he said, eyes carefully scanning the crowd.
I was quite certain Casey could handle just about anything. “How about I get you a drink?” I started back for the bar.
He grabbed my forearm and hauled me back to his side. “No. Not while I’m looking after you without Travis here. Later.”
I didn’t mind. I wasn’t exactly the expert at working a crowd. Relieved, I stood by Casey as people came over to chat to us. Mac and Carol worked the room for me, and Casey pointed out who was who as I sipped at my wine.
“How the hell do you know all these people?”
“He doesn’t. Jared gave us the guest list,” came the voice behind me.
I jolted when a hand touched the small of my back. Lips brushed my ear. “You’re not gonna tip your wine over me again are you?”
“You made it,” I murmured with pleasure, and holding tight to my glass, spun around to face Travis. My body flushed as I took in his navy dress pants and matching jacket. His collared shirt wasn’t buttoned at the neck, and my eyes rested where his blood pulsed visibly. “Not this time.”
“Pity. I kinda liked how our night ended up the last time you did that.” He trailed his fingers lightly down the nak*d skin of my back to where it dipped a little dangerously low.
“So…” I cleared my throat and aimed for safer conversation. “Jared gave you the guest list? I thought the party was a surprise.”
“It is.”
“So you know?”
“Know what?”
“About the…thing.”
“What thing?”
I pressed my lips together. “Oh. Nothing.”
Travis raised a brow at me.
“Really,” I insisted, averting my eyes and fiddling with the backing of my earring. “There’s no thing.”
Casey nodded at Travis. “There’s definitely a thing. Jared rang Quinn at least five times today.”
I frowned at Casey. “How do you know how many times he rang me?” I faced Travis. “It’s a surprise.”
“What’s a surprise?”
“Ouch.” I winced when my earring backing jammed in with force.
“Here.” Travis handed his drink to Casey and swatted my hand from my ear. “I’ll fix it.” He turned me so he had my back, and he started fiddling with the clasp of my earring. “What did you do to it?”
“If I knew, I could fix it, couldn’t I? I can’t tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
“About the surprise. Then it’s not a surprise anymore.”
I felt the backing of my earring loosen and I sighed. “Thanks.”
Casey handed Travis back his drink and left us alone to go and chat with Mitch and Coby.
“You mean about Jared proposing to Evie?” said Travis.
My eyes widened. “You know?”
He ignored my question and ran his eyes over me, making sure to take his time. “I need an excuse to drag you from this party, take you home, and f**k you until neither of us can move for a week. You sure about not tossing that drink at me?”
“I…” That sounded like a really good plan. I actually found myself eyeing my glass with consideration. “Your brother would kill me if I ditched this party and left it all in his hands.”
Travis ducked his head and nibbled lightly on my bottom lip. “Let him try,” he said against my lips before pulling away. “I can take him.”
Carol approached me from the right. “Caterer crisis,” she advised. I made a grab for my colour-coded folder and clutched it to my chest. “Excuse us,” she said to Travis.
Travis slipped his hand in mine and laced our fingers together, not letting me budge.
“He knows,” I told Carol.
She eyed me cautiously. “Knows… what?”
“About the proposal.”
“Oh. Well, no caterer crisis then. It’s a Jared crisis.”
Following Carol, we detoured the kitchens until we reached the back room and a pacing Jared. He looked similar to Travis in a dark suit, but whereas Travis was relaxed and smiling, Jared’s face was pinched in fear. Travis leaned up against the doorjamb and folded his arms while Jared ceased his pacing at our arrival.
He ignored Travis. “Thank God you’re here. I need to get this over with. Right now.”
My eyes widened as he resumed his back and forth motion. “You can’t!”
He stopped his pacing again and looked at me, eyes rounded with panic. “I can’t? Why not?”
I bit down on my cheeks to hold back the laughter. “Well, because Evie isn’t here yet.”
“Right. I knew that.” Jared cleared his throat and resumed pacing. “That’s good. I need a few minutes to-to…” He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “God. I thought I’d be so much cooler than this.”
Jared’s shoulders were broad, his biceps flexed under his jacket as he clenched his hands together in a fist, yet the vulnerability rolled off him in waves.
Not sure what else to do, I grabbed at his arm to stop his pacing. I wasn’t really the mother hen type and found myself suddenly floundering in the new found role. “Well…” I licked my lips. “I guess you don’t need to be cool, just…be yourself.” I eyed Travis warningly. “Right, Travis?”
Travis nodded. “Absolutely.” The firm assurance warred with the smile he was visibly fighting.
“You’re not Superman after all,” I added.
“I am.” Jared pointed at me. “My nerves are hardcore f**king steel.” He resumed his pacing. “Except when it comes to Evie,” he muttered. “Then I turn into a giant douchebag. I can’t help it. Being with Evie is like being on a roller coaster ride that I don’t want to ever get off.” He stopped and looked at me. I stared back, thinking that maybe he’d gone a little around the bend. “What the f**k am I talking about?”
“That’s a good question. Maybe I should go get you a drink.”
I made to leave when once again my arm was grabbed, and I was hauled to Travis’s side.
“I don’t want a drink. I don’t want her thinking I needed it to get through asking her to marry me.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
Jared stared at me a moment. “Maybe just a beer. That won’t hurt. Right?”
Travis slid his arm from around me. “I’ll go get you a beer,” he offered and with a soft kiss at my temple, he was gone.
“So you and Travis, huh?” Jared watched him go then turned back to me. “I know we haven’t really had a chance to talk—”
“We had our chat the other week,” I told him. “I’m all out of chats right now. If I had a dollar for all the chats I’ve had these past three weeks, I could retire. I could buy a boat and spend my days drinking champagne and cruising the harbour.”
“Quinn, stop.” My breath caught at the anger in his tone, and he grabbed both of my hands in his. Then he paused. “Wait. You wanna buy a boat?”
“Well, not really. I’ve never thought about it. Doesn’t everyone buy a boat when they’re rich?”
“Who’s everyone? Jesus. Just…never mind.” Jared frowned at me. “You think about running again, don’t.”
“I got your sister involved. She could’ve been hurt. You should be mad at me. All of you should be pissed as hell.”
“She handled herself pretty well, and so did you.”