Page 52 of All You Need Is Love

Quinn pressed the palms of her hands to her cheeks, her brow wrinkled as she stared at him. “You can’t. I …” A sob rose from her throat and she spun, facing the ocean once more.

That was new too, but he wouldn’t put it past her to be the kind of woman who manipulated with tears. His jaw stiffened as he ambled back over and stood beside her.

For several minutes, they were both silent, until finally, she spoke. “Marshall, you can’t tell people the truth. I’ll become the laughingstock of Walker Beach. People here already hate me. I can’t stand the thought of them laughing at me too.”

“They don’t h—” Marshall paused. Because if these were Quinn’s true colors, then maybe the people here really did hate her.

“Exactly.” Her eyes growing red, Quinn pushed her hand against the tip of her nose.

“So you lied. You own it, apologize, and move on.”

“I didn’t just lie. I was dumped. Humiliated. Edward was supposed to come to the reunion to meet my family. I basically implied to my parents that I was nearly engaged. Instead, hours before, he told me he didn’t love me enough to meet my family. That he’d only really seen us as a way to fill his off-work hours.”

What a jerk. Then again, he’d never liked the guy. “Sounds like you’re better off.”

“I’m not even that upset about the relationship ending, so I guess I felt the same way about him. More mad that he humiliated me and made me stoop to such desperation that I involved you in all of this.” She groaned. “I’m so messed up, Marshall.”

“We’re all messed up, Quinn. That’s part of being human.”

“Shannon’s not.” Quinn wiped beneath her eyes, the edges of which were rimmed in dripping mascara. “She’s little Miss Perfect.”

“Funny. I think she believes the same thing about you.”

Tilting her chin up, Quinn swallowed hard. “Back to the matter at hand. I’d never be able to show my face around here again if people found out I brought a fake boyfriend home. It’s so pathetic.” Her eyes finding the horizon again, Quinn stroked the scar that began at her hairline and ran through her right cheek to her jaw. “The problem is, I don’t have a life to go back to in New York.”

Huh? “I don’t understand.”

She closed her eyes. “You’re going to hate me when I tell you this. But … I got demoted a few days before we came out here.”

“You what?”

“Hugh brought me into his office and told me that he was moving my reports to another manager. Said even though I am great at my job, I’m not a people person.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah. And I may have let my pride get the better of me, because I immediately put in my two weeks’ notice.” She grimaced.

“Wait, so … if you’re leaving the company, how do you expect to help me get a promotion?”

Quinn remained quiet a moment too long, her eyes burning a hole in the ground.

“Oh.” She didn’t. “You lied to me too, huh?” Unbelievable. “Why? Because you knew I’d do anything to get what I wanted?”

Like Dad.

“No!” Quinn placed her hand on his arm, fingernails clinging to the wool fabric of his suit jacket. “I knew you were really nice, and probably the only one who would do this for me. And yes, I shouldn’t have lied to you, but I needed a win after basically losing my job and my boyfriend in a matter of days.”

“I still don’t understand why that necessitated lying to me.”

“I’d already told my parents that I was bringing my boyfriend, already had implied that things were going really well between us … and after missing Tyler’s wedding, I knew I couldn’t miss the family reunion too. But I also couldn’t show up empty-handed.”

“Your family is great. They would have understood.”

“Maybe. Probably. But they expect one thing from me—excellence.”

“Quinn, my dad truly demanded excellence of me. To the point where I don’t even know if he loved me.” Okay, he hadn’t intended to go that deep. But whatever. “You’re lucky to have parents and siblings who love you even when you’re a jerk to them.”

She stiffened, but didn’t disagree. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I just expect excellence in myself. But I failed.” Quinn shook her head really slowly. “They’d have seen that. And I didn’t want their pity.”

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