Chapter 5
QUINN
In the two weeks since the auction, I’d come to the conclusion that my brief slip of sanity had all been thanks to my heightened emotions following the encounter with Dr. Dicknose, his insistence that I needed a husband to buy this practice, and then overhearing the call between him and my father.
That was the only plausible excuse I had for paying an obscene amount to go out on a date with Starlight Cove’s poster boy for one-night stands.
The night of the auction, Ford had followed me back to Mabel’s, watching from his car as I’d stumbled into the house, trying my damnedest to make it seem like everything was fine and glaring his way when he’d opened his door and attempted to step out to help me.
The last thing I’d needed was for that gossipy old woman I lived with to get wind of Ford being there that late at night.
Since then, I’d traveled the full range of emotions.
From irritated to frustrated to angry to, finally, acceptance.
Acceptance that I absolutely would not be going out on a date with Ford McKenzie, money be damned.
Initially, I’d toyed with Mabel’s suggestions, thinking it would be downright entertaining to use the date to torment him. After all, if I was going to pay that much, it only made sense that I got at least a modicum of enjoyment out of it.
The trouble was, everything I came up with to fuck with him—even drawing inspiration from our extensive history as rivals—wouldn’t actually fuck with him. The guy was as easygoing as a stoner who’d just taken his third hit, which meant that even my targeted attempts to irritate him would fall flat.
And falling flat was something I tried never to do in anyone’s presence, least of all Ford McKenzie’s. Which meant I absolutely was not going to subject myself not only to a date with him, but one where he had the upper hand.
As much as I wanted to make him suffer, I wasn’t in the right headspace to make myself suffer right along with him.
Not when my days consisted of working with Dr. Dicknose, where he belittled my every move and then felt it was appropriate to discuss me—namely, my appearance, my social life or lack thereof, and my eating habits—with my father any chance he got.
It was Friday evening, and I was ready to head back to my temporary home, the last patient having cleared out.
Dr. Dicknose was handling closing things down and locking up while I followed Alicia outside into the warm July air.
This saint of a woman had been putting up with the pain-in-the-ass doctor for three long years before I showed up.
She was around my age, with dark skin and cheekbones to die for, her black hair a cloud of curls framing her face.
“Oh my God, I can’t stand it anymore,” she blurted before we’d even walked four feet outside. “I need the details!”
I slid my gaze to her, one brow cocked. “What details?”
“Oh please. The date! With Ford ,” she emphasized.
“I’ve been waiting for you to bring it up, but I don’t have the patience for that.
I know you haven’t gone out yet, because Mabel has been doing daily updates about it on her Lives.
The buzz around town is that nothing’s happened since the night of the auction when he was spotted dropping you off at Mabel’s—”
Like I didn’t know directly where that piece of information had come from…
“—and I’ve tried to play it cool, but I’m dying to hear the details. It’s been two weeks. My chill is long gone. Tell me all the things!” The excitement in her eyes was unmistakable.
Excitement I was about to extinguish.
“Yeah… There’s not gonna be a date.”
“What do you mean, there’s not gonna be a date?” She enunciated each word as if it had personally offended her.
“I mean I’m not doing it.” I shrugged. “I went to the auction because I told Addison I would and because I wanted to help Everly. I accomplished both of those things. Subjecting myself to a date with Ford is not something I’m interested in.”
Her mouth dropped open, and she stared at me with wide eyes. “Why the hell not?”
I blew out a laugh and shook my head. “I forget you don’t know our history. Let’s just say we don’t get along. You don’t know what it’s like when we get in the same room together.”
“What I know is that guy is fine as hell, and you just paid a pretty penny to go out with him.”
Too damn much, actually.
“Maybe so, but that doesn’t discount that we’ve been at each other’s throats since we could talk. Our entire high school career was basically one giant competition for valedictorian.”
“Oh yeah? Who won?”
I pressed my lips together, feeling the old anger bubble up just like it always did. Honestly, it had never disappeared. How could it, when the trajectory of my entire life had been altered forever because of that irritating, annoying, overgrown child of a man?
I should have won.
I should’ve been the one giving the speech and having my pick of academic scholarships to amazing colleges and universities.
Instead, I’d gotten a full ride, yes, but it had been to my sixth choice, and I’d replaced my dreams of Harvard Med School with something more…
accessible. Read: a lower-tiered school, but one that gave me a scholarship to attend.
Because God knew my parents weren’t going to help, and I’d bookmarked the trust from my grandparents for other purposes—namely, owning my own clinic one day.
What pissed me off the most was that Ford didn’t even go to college. He had all those opportunities at his fingertips, and he threw them away.
Worse, I’d done everything right . I’d busted my ass with AP physics, calc, and history, while he’d skated by with creative drawing, archery, and gym.
Not just skated by, but actually came out ahead by taking the easy way out.
And because of how the grades were calculated, an A was an A, despite the class you received it in.
Bullshit all around. Which was why I tried not to think about it. Unfortunately, that was hard to do when I couldn’t seem to go more than twelve hours without seeing Ford in the flesh, our eyes connecting like magnets, no matter the distance we were apart.
Dr. Dicknose caught up with us then, apparently having heard the last part of our conversation, and couldn’t help but insert his opinion. “Men aren’t looking for brains, Ms. Cartwright. They want a wife who’ll defer to her husband. Who’ll have dinner ready and waiting for him when he gets home.”
I shook my head, not even bothering to slide a glance in his direction. “The sad thing is, you’re serious when you say these things.”
“Of course I’m serious. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because it’s offensive,” Alicia said.
He scoffed. “Everyone’s so sensitive nowadays. Can’t say a damn thing without hurting someone’s feelings. I’m just trying to help the poor girl out. She’s never going to find a husband if she keeps this up.”
He said the words as if my not finding a husband was the worst possible outcome in life.
I barely restrained my bark of laughter.
In my experience, there were two types of men: the kind who couldn’t handle a woman more intelligent and more successful than them, and the kind who felt those women were a challenge they needed to conquer.
I was interested in neither.
Alicia stopped dead in her tracks and turned her attention on Dr. Dicknose. “Did you turn on the alarm?”
“Yes,” he answered without pause.
“Are you sure? I didn’t hear the chirp.”
“I…” He scratched the side of his head, his brow furrowed. Blowing out a sigh, he spun on his heel and headed toward the front door.
As soon as he stalked off, she turned to me with an eye roll. “ Anyway , so you and Ford don’t get along. That doesn’t have to affect other things. All that aggression is some good fuel, if you know what I mean.” She elbowed me in the side. “And he definitely isn’t hard to look at.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “You’re relentless, but I promise you, this is for the best. He’s gorgeous. I get it. It’s still a no from me.”
“But…”
“Seriously. It’s better for both of us that I just write off what I paid and know I helped a friend in need. And now, we will all move on without the scarring that would inevitably take place should he and I have to spend any amount of time in the same vicinity.”
She hooked her arm through mine, glancing back to verify Dr. Dicknose wasn’t yet within earshot. “Fine. No date. But seriously, can’t you just fuck him?”
Despite everything I’d done over the years to shut down that line of thinking when it came to Ford, images of the two of us together—my hands trailing over the hard planes of his chest and down the corrugated muscles of his abdomen, his gripping handfuls of my ass as he held me to him—hit me like a ton of bricks, and I nearly stumbled.
Probably because my ankle was still a little tender.
Or…more probably because I’d done nothing but bury any ounce of attraction I’d ever felt for him beneath years of hostility and resentment.
I’d been stuffing it down since that very first spark had ignited when we were thirteen and I’d become keenly aware he’d developed muscles.
I wasn’t immune to his good looks; I didn’t think anyone was.
There was no denying the man was sex incarnate—his long list of conquests was proof enough of that.
But I needed to shut that down before it even got started.
There was absolutely no way Ford and I would ever be a thing, for a thousand and one reasons.
The most obvious was I’d bet my life savings that I didn’t look like the women Ford usually spent his time with.
But the most important reason of all was that I’d never be able to forgive him for taking away the future I’d planned for. The one I’d busted my ass for.
Shoving away the images of Ford and me together, I laughed, though the sound came out breathier than I intended. “No. Besides, I’m looking for someone who can commit to something more than a sandwich.”
Because my day wouldn’t be complete without the asinine remarks of Dr. Dicknose and because God apparently hated me, my boss caught up with us in time to add his two cents.
“You’re never going to find someone to put up with you forever if you don’t actually put in a little effort, Ms. Cartwright.
Your father and I were just talking about this last week.
In our day, women spent time on themselves.
Watched what they ate and actually cared about their appearances.
At least wear some lipstick once in a while, for God’s sake. ”
I opened my mouth to tell him exactly where he and my dad could shove their lipstick but snapped it shut as soon as I felt a presence at my back.
My body hummed in awareness, and I knew even without looking who it was.
I didn’t want to examine too closely how I was so attuned to Ford that I could sense him before he even said a word, but a quick glance over my shoulder proved I was correct.
At 5’9”, I was tall, especially when the heels added another couple inches, but he was taller, casting a shadow over me and Dr. Dicknose as he stepped up directly behind me.
Heat poured off his body, sending shivers racing down my spine, and we weren’t even going to mention the state of my nipples.
They’d apparently been hijacked by the playboy himself.
No part of his body was touching mine, but I could feel him there, so close, I knew if I inhaled deeply, his chest would brush against my back.
I remembered exactly what it felt like to have all those muscles flush against me. All that strength bolstering me. And though I’d tried to forget, I remembered exactly how good it felt to be cradled in his arms.
When he finally spoke, his voice was low and tinged with a hard edge I’d never heard before. “If you want someone to wear lipstick so bad, then wear lipstick, Don. Things have changed a little in the past forty years. Try to keep up.”