Chapter 8
Quinn
“Are you home?” I asked Aubrey the second she picked up.
“I just stepped through the door, why?”
I pulled the phone away, hit the facetime button and set it on my dresser as her face popped up on my screen.
“What are you doing?” she asked, leaning against the counter in her kitchen. She was still in her scrubs having just gotten home from work. She knew that seeing me dressed on a Friday night was a rare sight.
But I didn’t have time for pleasantries, it was seven forty-five and I’d been freaking out for too long. At least I had chugged a coffee when I got home and was feeling pretty energized now.
“Does this look okay?” I asked as I moved far enough back so she could see my outfit.
I was in my favorite pair of black, high wasted straight legged jeans, and a forest green corset top. It sucked me in and made my boobs look amazing. I had left my hair down and wavy. I accessorized with a simple necklace and studs in my ear.
“You look smokin’ hot,” she said with an appreciative nod.
I let out a relieved sigh and smiled at her, I was nervous and needed some reassurance.
“But what shoes do I wear? Do I bring a jacket or no jacket? How the hell am I supposed to dress when I don’t know where we’re going?” I mumbled as I looked around my room, biting my lip.
“Wait… Do you have a date?” Aubrey asked, her voice rising in excitement as she moved closer to the screen.
“No, and you didn’t answer a single one of my questions!”
“Well, who are you not going on a date with?”
I pushed my hair out of my face and put on a simple pink lip gloss while I contemplated my shoes, using the phone as my mirror.
“You know that guy I had lunch and coffee with?” She nodded while I rubbed my lips together. “Well, he showed up at my office today and convinced me to go out with him and his friends tonight.”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me!”
I picked her up off the dresser and flipped the camera so she could see the shoe options I was trying to decide between, lying on my floor.
“I’m telling you now.” I wasn’t planning on calling her until tomorrow, but the whole thing was stressing me out and I couldn’t make a decision to save my life right now.
“We will be discussing this later, Quinn West.” I huffed but didn’t reply. “He’s tall, right?”
“All the ones I met were. Since this isn’t a date, and they will all be there, I feel it’s important to mention them… but yes, I come up to his chest. He towers over me.”
“Great, wear your black suede booties. They aren’t too tall so you can be comfortable if you have to walk, and they give you a little height, which is good when you’re standing up to tall men. Plus they make your ass look fantastic.”
“Thank you,” I said gratefully as I turned her back so I could see her face as I pulled them on.
“And to answer your earlier question, bring your cropped leather jacket. That way if you get cold like you often do, you’ll have something, but if you don’t need it then you can take it off and still look hot as hell.”
“This is why you are my best friend.” I pointed at her with a smile as I grabbed my jacket off the hook in my room.
I’d already taken out my debit card, some cash, and ID, tucked them behind my phone case, and slid my apartment and building keys into my jeans pocket. I didn’t want to bother with a purse.
“Whatever,” she grumbled. I heard a dog cry in the background. “I need to deal with Luna, but you better show up at my house tomorrow morning and explain to me what the hell is going on. And you know I’m going to track you tonight.”
We had shared locations with each other long ago. My phone buzzed with a new text.
Unknown
Hello, Miss West, my name is Arthur. I was sent by Mr. Knight to pick you up. I am at the front door when you are ready. He said feel free to call him if you need to verify my identity.
“I have to go, but yes, I’ll come over tomorrow and even bring you a coffee. Love you!” I hung up as I locked my door and went outside. I wasn’t overly surprised to see a big black SUV waiting out front. A man in a suit was standing at the back passenger door, waiting for me.
He was probably in his sixties based on the grey of his hair, although from the few strands still holding their color, you could still see he used to have reddish-brown hair.
He was wearing a black suit, hands tucked behind his back with a smile on his face.
He took a step away from his car toward me. “Miss West.”
I did an awkward wave. “That’s me.” He nodded as he pulled the back door open for me.
I sat back into the soft leather as the driver shut the door and went around the car.
I don’t know why I was expecting a normal cab, or at least a normal sedan.
Even though I knew nothing about cars, I could tell this was top of the line.
But what I noticed first was that it smelled woodsy, like cedarwood and oak maybe?
It was all Theo and I took a big breath of his intoxicating scent.
I’d noticed it when he’d held the door open for me at the café and I’d brushed past him.
“All set, Miss?” the driver asked and looked at me in the rearview.
“Please call me Quinn,” I said with a smile as he pulled into traffic.
“Well in that case, you can call me Arthur.” He had a slight Scottish accent, but it was only noticeable on certain words.
“Arthur, can you tell me where we’re going?” As I said it, I felt a little uncomfortable. I should have asked more questions.
“We’re heading to Pulse,” he said with a small smile. I had no idea what that was, but he clearly thought I did.
My hands itched to google it but I’d gotten this far blind, maybe I just kept that going. I just couldn’t decide if it would stress me out more to know about him, or less.
“So… Do you work for Knight Enterprises?” At first, I expected it to be a regular for-hire driver, but given Theo’s lingering scent in the car, I’m starting to think that might not be the case.
“In a way, I work directly for Mr. Knight, going on eight years now,” he said with pride in his voice.
“So you moved here with him?”
“Aye, me and my wife Shelly both work for Mr. Knight. When he decided to open the office here he asked if we wanted to come with him or continue to work in London. Not much driving I can do without Mr. Knight, and I didn’t really want to be assigned to someone else.
“The other boys use me sometimes, but since they’re all here too it just didn’t feel right.
Shelly and I don’t have any kids so this was a good opportunity to travel.
Plus, the man pays well.” It was interesting to hear how highly he spoke of Theo.
It seemed Theo had built a family around himself took care of the people in his circle.
“Do you do this for Theo often?” I asked after a few silent moments, deciding he might be a wealth of information about the man I should have googled. I caught his confused look in the mirror. “Driving women around for him,” I clarified.
He let out a loud laugh as we came to stop at a red light. “Never, not once.”
He had no reason to lie to me and the surprise in his voice at my question seemed genuine. “Seriously? In eight years?”
“Nope, Mr. Knight sends cars, sure. But I’m his personal driver, he doesn’t use me for anyone else. Like I mentioned the boys once in a while but never women.”
“Huh,” I said, pulling on the sleeve of my leather jacket.
Why was Theo bothering?
Was it because I had turned him down?
Was he trying to show off or something?
We pulled up outside a large building in the warehouse district as the list of questions kept growing in my head.
The building was large and covered in old brick.
There was a food truck in the parking lot and it looked like the other buildings nearby weren’t open.
Which was probably good considering how busy the place was.
The line outside the door was around the block, bouncers blocking the entrance. I was shocked how busy it was so early in the night. Even from inside the car I could hear the music and drone of voices.
“Here,” I said as we came to a stop out front. I unbuckled and passed him a bundle of cash between the seats. “I didn’t know how much but this should cover it.” Arthur turned to face me, keeping his left hand on the wheel with a strange look on his face.
“What is that?”
“Money…” The look on his face was heating my cheeks.
“To pay for the ride,” I explained dumbly.
“Thankfully I had the cash because it doesn’t look like you have a card reader.
My grandfather always used to say that you should have cash on you.
I never needed it before really and I sometimes forget I have it, but I’ve done it since I was like seventeen.
” My nervous babbling out in full force.
“You’re trying to pay me?” he asked slowly. I scratched the back of my head, my other hand still holding the money out. This was the most awkward interaction.
“Umm… yes… you did drive me here.”
This time he threw his head back and laughed while I sat there frowning at him. He finally composed himself, wiped a tear away from the corner of his eye and smiled sweetly at me. “Mr. Knight sent me to pick you up and you think you need to pay.” It wasn’t a question, more of a statement.
“I told him I would pay!” This got another laugh and he shook his head, unbuckled himself and got out of the car. I had no idea what was so funny.
I huffed and then quickly shoved my money into the console between the driver and passenger seat. He would find the money eventually and hopefully think he’d just left it there at some point. I had just shut the thing and pushed back when Arthur opened my door.
“You can leave your jacket here,” he said as I stepped out into the warm night. By the look of the crowd, I wouldn’t need it inside. “I’ll be driving you home later.”
Now I was feeling even better about leaving the money. “I would like to argue that I could just take a cab, but I don’t think you’d listen.”