Chapter 10
The happiness from last night that allowed Quinn to float off to sleep with dreams of kisses evaporated the second she stepped onto her office floor. Juniper was frowning as she had her back turned to the conference room, a conference room where Quinn could see her old team.
Karson was setting up a laptop. His blond hair was parted on the side of his head with the perfect whoosh of hair styled up over his forehead and tapered into a clean haircut.
Karson, who liked to think of himself as elevated in terms of fashion, had moved from a sweatshirt to a navy-blue quilted vest over his khakis and button-down shirt.
Neil was hooking his computer up to the large television in the room.
His brown hair had some wave in it that he tried to tame with gel, but no one taught him how to do it, so it looked greasy instead.
He was in khakis as well. Instead of the traditional hoodie, he was wearing a dark gray sweater.
Archie’s dark blond hair was in his usual I just rolled out of bed style.
His pants looked to be one size too big, his T-shirt and heather gray zipper hoodie said he bought an XL when he was really a medium.
Archie was just chilling, leaning back in his chair with his feet on the desk and trying to twirl a pen with his fingers.
Juniper rushed forward with a frown on her face and narrow eyes. “No wonder you left your team,” she whispered. “Mr. Puffer Vest told me to make him coffee with one cream and two sugars and then called me honey. And not in the romantic way. In the condescending way.”
Quinn sighed. She knew exactly what Juniper meant.
Quinn had been the one to make coffee for them all since they had degrees from the most prestigious schools in the country but couldn’t—or wouldn’t—figure out how to make a pot of coffee.
To be fair, Archie tried. But after the fire department put out the fire, he was instructed to never try again. So it fell to Quinn.
“I’ll fire you if you make them a pot of coffee,” Quinn told Juniper. “You do not work for them. When did they arrive?”
“About an hour ago. They took the five o’clock flight out of New York, landed at the airport, dropped their bags at the hotel, and came straight here. They were waiting in the lobby when I arrived.”
Quinn nodded as they headed to her office.
She took a deep breath and set down her computer and files.
“Feel free to escape into my office if they become too much. Karson, the one in the vest, I’m embarrassed to admit, used to be my boyfriend.
Neil is pissed because he thought he deserved this job.
Archie is mostly harmless. He’s a goober, but he’s also a follower.
If Karson or Neil are mean, Archie will follow along. ”
Suddenly Juniper hugged her. “Thank you so much for being my boss. I couldn’t survive if it were one of them.”
Quinn took a deep breath, picked up her computer, and squared her shoulders. “Pull me out if you see me trying to murder anyone.”
Juniper laughed as she relaxed. They headed out of the office together before Juniper went to sit at her desk and Quinn went to face the team she wished she’d never have to see again.
“Good morning, gentlemen. Thanks for joining me today,” Quinn said with a forced professional smile.
“You mean, thanks for coming to bail me out because I’m not good at my job,” Neil said, causing Karson and Archie to chuckle.
“Hey,” Karson said, giving her a once-over as if she still belonged to him. “Tell the girl out there to hurry up with my coffee.”
“That woman out there works for me, not you. Nor is it in her job description to get you coffee. If you want a coffee, it’s in the break room.
All you do is put the pod in the top, close it, and press the button.
Even Archie should be able to do it,” Quinn said, taking a seat as far away from them as possible.
“It was one time,” Archie muttered.
Quinn ignored them as she launched into the problem they were experiencing. The guys paid attention and looked at the reports she passed out, and for that she was grateful.
“Maybe if you ate less and worked more, you could have figured this out,” Karson sneered as his eyes lingered on her body once again. “Looks like you’re stress-eating again.”
Quinn thought she heard Juniper cursing from her desk outside the conference room and ignored Karson.
She’d learned the hard way not to respond, not antagonize him.
He never hit her, but he would crush her self-esteem.
She felt so foolish for staying with him for almost a year.
At first, he’d been flirty and sweet. Then the comments started.
“Good thing I can look past that extra junk in the trunk, but you should really consider working out.” Or, when they went to the movies, “You can’t get butter on your popcorn.
It’ll go straight to your hips, and they’re already too big.
She’ll have a plain small popcorn and water.
” Then the comments moved to her at work.
“I know this is a hard concept for you to understand,” when it was something she’d literally been paid to tutor Knox on.
Or, “It’s okay, women have a hard time understanding this.
” Those comments went on and on until she started to doubt herself personally and professionally.
If it hadn’t been for Helena staging an intervention, Quinn knew she would probably still be with Karson.
However, once Helena pointed out the pattern of manipulation, Quinn could see it clearly.
So she kept quiet and plotted her escape to Kentucky.
This job had been posted and she worked nonstop to prove she was smart enough, she was professional enough, and that she deserved this job.
But now, here she was, living up to everything they’d said.
She wasn’t smart enough to fix this problem and could end up not only losing her job, but having SACC1’s license revoked, which would ruin them.
Then there was the lingering threat of law enforcement.
There was a knock on the door that drew Quinn from the threatening downward spiral. She turned to see Juniper standing with a bright smile on her face as she held a stunning vase filled with white and blue hydrangeas and large fluffy pink peonies.
“Miss Kennedy, you have a delivery. These are just gorgeous!”
Quinn knew she must be blushing as she took the card from the bouquet. Q, Thank you for the best date I’ve ever had. So much so I can’t wait for our next one. Thinking of you always, K
“What a loser,” Karson snorted. “He didn’t even get you roses.”
Anger rushed through her at Karson daring to insult Knox before she could stop herself. “I don’t like roses, which I told you repeatedly. These are my favorite flowers.”
“That is so romantic,” Juniper sighed. “I’ll put this stunning bouquet on your desk.”
“No wonder you’re messing things up here,” Neil said with a roll of his eyes to Karson.
“Yeah, Quinn was never good at balancing a relationship and work,” Karson said as Archie laughed.
“Hmm, then how did I end up getting this job and you two didn’t?” Quinn felt good finally snapping back, but she knew what was coming when Karson narrowed his eyes at her and glared.
And she was right. For the next three hours they took cheap shot after cheap shot at her while, ironically enough, not making any headway on the actual problem that they kept telling her she was too dumb to figure out.
Quinn kept the card from Knox nearby and glanced at it every time they tried to make her feel bad.
Knox grabbed his phone as he finished his workout. The flowers should have arrived and he was hoping she liked them. He remembered Quinn’s love of the peonies and hydrangea that had been around campus in the late spring.
“Bruh, why are you checking your phone every five seconds?” Jaylen asked as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Aren’t you always the one telling us to put away our phones?” Deon teased.
“You know it’s because of that woman he mentioned in the interview,” Zack said with a smirk.
“So, Quinn is your woman now?”
Knox glared at his teammates as his father raised an eyebrow and joined them. Knox hadn’t seen him entering the weight room and the damn room echoed. Even though he was by the door, he’d still heard the entire conversation.
“Oh, she has a name!” Zack punched him in the shoulder, giving him a wink.
“Quinn, baby, why aren’t you texting me all morning?” Jaylen asked in an exaggerated woman’s voice.
“Okay, guys. It’s clear Quinn means something to Knox so let’s back off.” As usual, Deon was the voice of reason. “Grill him when we go out for drinks after we get him drunk.”
“Maybe then Knox will get his dick wet enough to chill out. And if she’s hot enough maybe Hayley can post a photo with her.” Austin dropped the kettlebell and left it sitting on the ground instead of putting it away.
Trey must have seen the look on Knox’s face, because suddenly he gripped Knox’s shoulder firmly and steered him from the room. “I’ll speak to Austin about that in a moment. Samson and Kate want a word about Monday night’s game.”
“You got me from the gym to tell me about a meeting I already knew about?” Knox asked. He had his answer when his father cleared his throat. “Mom sent you, didn’t she?”
“We just wanted to make sure you know how much we liked Quinn.”
Knox chuckled and shook his head as they walked to the offices. “You are so bad at this, Dad.”
“Don’t send me back to her without some information. You know she’ll be so disappointed.”
“Low blow. Tell her Quinn and I had a lovely date last night and there will be a second date. But I won’t tell either of you anything more if she keeps sending you to check on me.”
His father smirked as if he knew that would never happen. Not him backing off, but knowing Taylor would find out whatever she wanted by any means necessary.
Knox almost jumped when his phone vibrated in his hand. He didn’t even hear what his father was saying as he opened the text message from Quinn.
Thank you for the flowers. They’re my favorite!
Knox smiled to himself as he returned the text. I know. I remembered how much you loved them on campus. How’s your day going?
The bubbles came on the screen, then disappeared, before coming back on again. Not great. It’s going to be a long night. Speaking of which, I’m being called back in. Your flowers made my day. Thanks again!
“Hmm, wonder what’s going on over there?” Knox looked up and saw his father was reading his texts over his shoulder. “Nice move sending her flowers. It’ll make your mother excited. I should send her flowers today too.”
“Dad! Don’t read my texts.”
“Then don’t stand there with a sappy look on your face while you tune out the entire world. If you did that on the field it wouldn’t be me reading a text. It’d be a three-hundred-pound lineman taking you down.”
His father strode off with his phone to his ear as he ordered flowers for his wife. Romantic gestures. They mean a lot. The women he used to date would expect them, but Quinn never did, and that made him want to do even more. Knox strode into his meeting with another idea forming.