Page 59 of Temptation

“I'll ask Harry to pick it up on his way to work tomorrow,” she said reluctantly, seeming to accept that Tenn wasn't going to touch it. “He lives close by.”

“Put the keys somewhere for him to find then; I'm leaving at eight.”

“Why are you leaving early?” Viki looked scandalized and chased him as he left to head upstairs. “I can't leave the keys to a Porsche somewhere outside!”

“Why not?” Tenn scoffed. “Thieves will only open the door and run screaming when they get a whiff of the vomit anyway. As for me leaving early, Quinn and I have a meeting at nine to talk to someone about speaking in the lecture series. I'm picking her up.”

Viki looked like she was about to protest but then thought better of it and closed her mouth. She started to go upstairs ahead of him, then stopped and turned around. “Did you know Quinn was anorexic?”

“Yeah, Quill told me a while ago.” Tenn nodded. “I had a meeting with him, and he asked if I could meet him at the hospital. She collapsed the day before at work and was being treated.”

“The pink-haired girl -”

“Rilla.” Tenn cut her off. She tended to pretend to forget the names of people she deemed unimportant, and it drove him crazy.

“Rilla said her mom caused it.”

“She was the start of it.” He confirmed as he waited for her to continue up the stairs.

“Why?” Viki looked genuinely confused. She and her mom were best friends, and Tenn's mom adored her too, so he knew she was struggling to fathom a mother being anything but supportive and loving.

“Do you know who Quinn's older sister is?” He had no idea how much Joel had told her about Quinn’s family, but she shook her head, so he told her. “Queenie Turner.”

“The Queenie Turner? Former Victoria's Secret Angel Queenie Turner?” Viki's jaw dropped. “Supermodel Queenie Turner is Quinn's sister?”

“Yeah.” Tenn hadn't known who she was when Quill first mentioned her name and had to Google her. She was a stunningly beautiful woman, but as far as Tenn was concerned, she had nothing on Quinn. “Quinn's mom wanted Quinn to be just like her, and when she wasn't, she took her anger and disappointment out on her. Her dad hoped she'd be athletic like Quill, and she's not, so he focused all his attention on Quill and ignored her and what her mom was doing.”

“Quinn isn't ugly, though.” Tenn had to give it to her, Viki never shied away from saying another woman was attractive.

“No, but she is short and curvy, not tall and slender.”

“That's not her fault.”

Tenn raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Are you feeling bad for her?”

“No! I just don't understand why she lets her mother get to her that way! It's been twenty years; she should be over it by now.” Viki made a face that was somewhere between exasperation, annoyance and confusion, and while Tenn did think this was coming up because she wanted Joel to leave Quinn, he knew she really didn’t understand why Quinn would let it get to her. Viki rarely let what anyone else had to say about her bother her; she was far too confident in her looks and opinions of herself.

“That's not how it works. Her mother bullied her so badly that she almost starved herself to death between twelve and fifteen, and when they were called back from New York and Texas because she was in the hospital, sixty pounds underweight, her mother and father were angry at her for being dramatic and making them come back. That kind of thing leaves scars. She's been doing well the last two years, but it's because she has an amazing support system now.”

Viki shrugged, looking bored. “So, she should be fine then. I'm going to bed.”

Tenn rolled his eyes as she went upstairs. “Jesus, just when I think she isn't a complete narcissist.” He muttered. He waited until he heard her bedroom door close, then went up to bed.

Quinn

Quinn pulled into the driveway and felt a wave of disappointment wash over her when she saw Joel’s Porsche in the driveway. She had been hoping he wouldn’t be home so she could put everything away and go to bed without seeing him. Since it was still getting cool at night, she decided to bring everything inside after Joel left the next morning, figuring the leftover food wouldn’t spoil if she left it in the cooler with the ice packs overnight. Sighing, she got out of the car and made her way to the door, dragging her feet a little. Maybe Joel was already in bed, she reasoned as she put in the code and unlocked the door. He was leaving early in the morning, so he might want to go to sleep early.

“There you are! I was about ready to call for a search party.” Joel came out of the kitchen as she walked in, looking faintly annoyed and relieved that she was home. “Where were you?”

“Martha's Vineyard.” Quinn kicked off her sneakers and hung her purse up on the hook. “I haven't seen B.R. and Linda since February, and I wanted to ask him to participate in the lecture series, so I figured I'd ask him in person.”

“Oh.” He looked a little suspicious, and Quinn wondered if Viki somehow found out Tenn wasn't at the museum. “You drove a six-hour round trip by yourself?”

“Not the first time.” Quinn yawned and shrugged, walking past him to the kitchen. She had driven it lots of times before and couldn’t understand why he was suddenly questioning her. “Why?”

“You weren't home when I got home, and it's almost eight.” He followed her into the kitchen and watched her get a glass of water. “And you didn't answer my text.”

“I was driving, sorry.” She drank half her glass of water and turned to the fridge to fill it again. “What did you want?”

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