Chapter 17
Quinn
A fter two rounds of mimosas, I’m already worrying ninety percent less about what Harlan will think of this as I float on an inflated popsicle in the pool, wearing the outrageously slutty bikini Dani brought for me, along with a cropped T-shirt. She’s floating on a sprinkled donut next to me. Nicole is flopped on a rainbow floatie, and the three of us have formed a floating island, arms and legs flung over one another’s floaties to hold us together.
Nicole also has one leg flopped onto the side of the pool, next to the tray with what’s left of the charcuterie board and our latest mimosa pitcher, anchoring us.
“I thought you were insane when you said bikini,” Nicole says lazily as she basks in her bikini and a cropped sweatshirt, her wild brown curls spilling over into the water. “But this is actually amazing.”
“Ditto,” Dani says, downing her mimosa.
It’s the first week of October, which means cool, but the sun is blazing and the pool is heated, and it’s actually quite nice. I could laze here all day.
“Who wants a refill?” Nicole offers, and I hold up my plastic champagne cup.
Because how badly have I needed a break like this?
Badly.
I even turned off the oven after I pulled out my perfectly cooked vanilla cake. I cut it into cubes and piled them into a bowl, which sits next to the mimosa pitcher. I can bake more later.
“Okay, ladies,” Dani says. “Before we get too comfortable here?—”
“Too late,” Nicole says, passing us our refills.
“Let’s just remember why we’re here,” Dani goes on. “Which is to get the goods on Harlan Vance. The man who just gave Quinn a freaking kitchen .”
“He didn’t give me a kitchen, Lorraine,” I say. “Jeez, my mom said the exact same thing. You can’t give someone a kitchen in your house. It’s his house. I’m just baking in it.”
“And you’re not defensive about him at all,” she observes.
”Well, we can also talk about that guy you’ve been seeing. Shit. What’s his name?”
“Exactly,” Dani says. “I’m currently in the blocking-him phase. Hence the song.”
Nicole brought her waterproof portable speaker, and when we rock-paper-scissored for it, Dani won the right to pick the music. Sabrina Carpenter’s now singing about how much better life is without some bitch. I think the bitch is a guy.
“Oh. I’m sorry it didn’t work out,” I offer.
“I’m not. And don’t think you can avoid this. It’s high time we discussed this Harlan guy, and decide if he’s worth the fuss.”
“What fuss?”
“Um, hello?” Dani looks at Nicole like, Jump in here .
“I love how she always thinks who we date is a group decision,” Nicole says to me.
“We’re not dating.”
“Either way. You, dear Quinn, are obsessed .”
“I’m not!”
“Girl. I know an obsessed woman when I see one,” she says. “You know the way you eat a salted caramel chocolate bar?”
“Um… no?”
“Well, I’ve seen you do it. And it’s the exact way you look when you talk about him.”
“Ew. Really?”
“Yes, really. I’m jealous, actually.”
I know she means it. Nicole is perpetually single, perpetually looking, and has worse luck than I do with men. She’d love to fall madly in love. Until then, she’ll happily live vicariously through her friends’ relationships.
“Come on, Quinn. Give us the goods,” she says.
“Okay, okay. Fine. Here’s the goods.” I pause, considering how to put it, well aware that the mimosas are scrambling my better sense.
I’m also aware that anything I do or say might get reported to Harlan by any one of his many staff. But we’ve got the music playing loudly enough for some privacy, and Carlisle only pops out of the house now and then to check on us.
“The thing is, it started out as that weird fake date scenario. But I guess it kind of became something more?”
Nicole knows about the whole fake date thing now. I had to tell her I went to dinner with him, obviously. She’s my girl. And what if it got back to her, via her friend Megan, that Harlan introduced me to Jameson as someone I wasn’t? If Nicole and Megan got talking, Harlan’s lie about Darla might unravel, and Megan might tell Jameson, and then Jameson would confront Harlan… And I’d have screwed this up for him.
I didn’t mention Darla’s name to Dani or Nicole. But I did make Nicole swear to me up and down that she wouldn’t get involved. As in, she wouldn’t tell Megan what I told her in confidence—that the date was fake. And I trust my girls with my life. Nicole would never betray my trust.
This floatie island here? This is a zone of trust.
Anyway, Nicole’s not particularly interested in the fake part. All she wants to know is the real part, if there is one.
“How much more?” she presses, waggling her eyebrows at me.
“I mean, we’ve seen each other a handful of times. Even though we weren’t supposed to after that one night.”
“Says who?” she asks.
“Him. He said he’d never see me again, and the next thing I know, he’s showing up at the bakery, and then he’s driving me home, and then he’s showing up at my place to abduct me, and?—”
“Abduct you?” Dani says, eyes narrowing. “I knew it. He’s blackmailing you again, isn’t he?”
I broke down and finally told them about the blackmail thing, too. Maybe not the best idea.
I don’t know how Dani will get past it.
Not that I need her to. He’s not my boyfriend or anything. And he’s never going to be, obviously.
“It’s nothing like that. He’s actually letting me use the kitchen just to help me out. Like, one very successful business person to another not-so-successful business person.”
Dani looks skeptical.
“You know, Megan did this whole fake-engagement thing with Jameson when they first met,” Nicole says. “I don’t think she’d mind if I told you that now. Just don’t repeat it.” She shoots us both a zone-of-trust look. “So what is it with these guys? Can’t they scare up any legit dates? They’re hot as fuck and rich, which is totally my type. And none of them asked me . I’m just sitting here, like, waiting on my billionaire to arrive.”
I giggle, but Dani’s too busy trying to figure out Harlan’s evil ulterior motives to be amused. “What do you think his issue is?” she says.
“Well, he’s a twin, right?” Nicole ventures. “And we know twins are fucking nuts.” She splashes Dani lightly with her foot. Because Dani’s a twin, too.
“But boy-girl twins can’t be identical, obviously,” Dani says, “so that means they’re just fraternal twins, which are really nothing more than a brother and a sister in the womb at the same time…”
“True,” Nicole says. “It’s the identical ones that are batshit.”
Dani, who is an identical twin, splashes her back. “He’s hiding something. For sure.”
“Maybe he’s secretly into men or some such thing, and he wants it kept secret?” Nicole suggests.
“Maybe he’s into some weird-ass fetishes he doesn’t want his family to know about,” Dani says.
Then they look at me for my take.
I’m blushing, but maybe we can blame that on the mimosas. My friends look pretty pink right now, too. “He definitely strikes me as a man with secrets,” I admit.
“We’re overthinking it,” Dani concludes. “Maybe he just can’t get it up.”
“Oh, he can,” I tell them.
At which point they find out that I’ve had sex with him—and freak out.
Loudly.
“Shh!” I hiss-laugh, realizing, when I can’t stop giggling, that I’m fairly drunk.
“I will flip your noodle,” Dani says, jerking my floatie threateningly, “if you withhold one detail.”
“It’s a popsicle,” I protest, snorting as I try to stop laughing. “Okay. Okay. Don’t flip me. All I’m going to say is that he has this very sexy way of focusing all his attention on me. And it’s… intoxicating.”
“Yeah, I’m sure he really puts the toxic in intoxicating,” Dani mutters.
“Clever!” Nicole says.
“Come on, Nicole,” Dani presses. “I know you’ve gossiped with Megan about Jameson’s brothers. Tell us. There might be something you’ve heard that Quinn needs to know.”
“There isn’t any gossip about Harlan. Believe me, I’ve tried,” Nicole laments. “All Megan says is that apparently he never dates. According to Jameson, he’s super antisocial. They call him ‘the beast.’”
Dani frowns. “Who does?”
Nicole shrugs. “Everyone. His siblings. His employees. That’s what Megan said that Jameson said. And it tracks, right? I mean look at this gloomy castle he lives in.”
“Hey. He has a pool, though. And these fun floaties,” I say defensively.
“These things?” Dani says. “That his butler pulled out for us? They had price tags on them, because no one’s ever used them.”
“The house isn’t gloomy,” I protest. It totally is. “It’s Gothic-esque. In a cool way. He wears all black. It’s a vibe.”
“Well, just remember this is not some fairytale,” Dani says. “If he’s doomed, you’re not gonna save him.”
“I’m not looking to save him. It’s not like that. He’s just… hard to resist. In a nice way.” I think.
“Even with all the red flags?” Dani presses.
“Red flags are so my color,” Nicole says.
“There was a disturbingly aspirational tone in your voice just now,” Dani notes.
“I just never thought they’d be Quinn’s color,” Nicole says.
“They aren’t,” I insist. “And there’s more to him than red flags, guys. We actually have something pretty major in common. His dad died when he was young, too. Fourteen.”
“Oh, good,” Dani says. “So he has daddy issues? And this is what you’re leading with? His childhood trauma?”
“Hey, I don’t have daddy issues,” I protest.
“Because you had a great dad. What was his dad like, before he died?”
I actually don’t know the answer to that.
And I do think my friends have reasons to be concerned.
Maybe Harlan is damaged. Maybe he really doesn’t want anything more than dirty but casual sex. But when he gave me the key to his kitchen, it gave me a spark of hope that maybe there is something more going on between us.
And maybe what worries me the most is that I’m not as scared of him as I should be. That I’m not running for the hills.
“I don’t know why,” I tell my girls, “but I just feel weirdly at ease here, in his home. I can’t explain it.”
“Maybe you don’t have to,” Nicole says supportively.
“Maybe he just matches my crazy,” I suggest. “We do kind of get along…”
“So what do you think happens when two crazy people fall in love?” Dani inquires.
“We’re just sleeping together,” I say.
“When do you ever just sleep with a guy?” she counters. “The moment your ass hits his mattress, you’re making him breakfast and organizing his closet for him. You start nesting. Nurturing. You get attached.”
“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Nicole adds. “It’s your nature.”
“I’m not getting attached.” I hesitate, but then admit, “He said our relationship is sex-only. Like, we can keep sleeping together, if I want to, but nothing else.”
“Oh, hello, red flag,” Dani says fake-pleasantly. “Thank you for waving in my face so I couldn’t possibly miss you. Oh, no, thanks, I’ll find the exit myself. Fast.”
She gazes at me expectantly.
I frown. “You love sex-only relationships.”
“For me . Not for you . Know thyself, woman.”
“I think Lady Gaga said that,” Nicole quips. Then she says, “Oh, hello, kitty,” totally throwing me off. I look over to see her reaching out for the little black cat that’s wandering over to the edge of the pool. It has to be the same one I saw in Harlan’s sitting room, the first time I came over.
It sniffs Nicole’s fingers, then rubs its little cheek against her.
“I see his cat is black, too,” Dani says dryly. “Is this part of the vibe? He’s a witch and this is his familiar? Oh, since he’s a man, I guess he’d be a wizard or a warlock, right?”
“Actually, ‘witch’ is gender-neutral,” Nicole provides helpfully. “The use of wizard and warlock to mean male witch is more of a fantasy thing and not really accurate.”
I roll my eyes. “He’s just a regular human, ladies. And that’s just a stray cat from the neighborhood.”
Nicole’s eyebrow spikes. “This neighborhood?”
“It does seem weird…” I consider the cat. “It looks so healthy. Someone must be taking care of it.”
“ Don’t feed her.”
I startle at the sound of Harlan’s voice. I look up to find him standing at the opposite edge of the pool in his suit, glowering at us. “And especially don’t feed her cake,” he says.
Nicole withdraws the piece of cake she was offering the cat. It’s stretched out on the side of the pool now, soaking up the sun and the attention.
“She has a special diet,” he mutters.
“I thought she was a stray,” I say. Is he pissed that I have friends over?
His dark gaze shifts to me. “She is. She throws up people food.”
“Oh.”
I notice Dani and Nicole exchanging a look.
“These are my best girlfriends. Dani and Nicole.”
“Hi,” Dani says.
“Nice to meet you,” Nicole says.
“This is Harlan,” I add, when he doesn’t introduce himself to my friends.
“Hello,” he says gloomily.
“I must’ve lost track of time,” I tell him. “What time is it?”
“About four o’clock. I came home early. I’m going to take a shower.”
With that, he turns and heads into the house.
I’m not sure how to take I came home early . Does he often come home early, or did he hope to see me?
As soon as he’s gone, Nicole says, “She?”
“I guess it’s a girl.”
“Well, is it a stray or not? He seems to know a lot about her.”
I break away from the floatie island, and paddle my popsicle toward the side of the pool. “Sorry, girls. I think you need to head out.” I know they’re both politely ignoring the elephant in the pool right now, namely their first impression of Harlan, but that won’t hold. “I want to make him dinner tonight for being so nice to me.”
“See?” Dani says. “Nurturing. Next thing, you’ll be adopting the cat.”
“He does seem really nice,” Nicole says with wide eyes that say the exact opposite.
I frown. “You don’t know him. Maybe he had a rough day at work.”
“And doesn’t he have someone who cooks for him?” Dani says. “I thought you said there was a chef.”
I haul myself up on the side of the pool. “There is, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t put in the effort.”
“Uh-huh. And what effort is he putting in?” she inquires.
I throw out my arms, indicating his luxurious home, which he’s welcomed me—and them, by extension—into.
Dani just says, “Please.”
My girls climb reluctantly from the pool. And after we dry off, I walk them to the front door to see them off.
They hug me goodbye. Then Dani holds me by the arms, fixes me with her shrewd blue eyes, and says seriously, “Real talk. What happens if things get rough? If Lorraine gets sick again? Do you really think he’s going to be there for you?”
“I’m just making him dinner, Dani, really. It’s casual. I swear. Thank you for your concern, but I’ve got this.”
Then I shoo them gently out the door.
But the truth is, I’m already asking myself those same questions.
Because the way I’m feeling whenever I’m in the vicinity of Harlan Vance is anything but casual.