Page 19 of Scotch & Shortbread

Quinn sat back up looking at Meg skeptically. “I’d rather die.”

“What happened when he got you to the room?” Meg and Belle both eagerly awaited her answer.

Quinn hated the memory of it. She’d been so drunk, but his words came back to her. “Nothing happened,” she said.

“Nothing at all?” Belle pushed.

Quinn picked up a fresh napkin from the stash at the side of the table, and she tore at it, ripping off little pieces. “I told him he should leave because I wasn’t going to sleep with him.”

“You said that?” Belle bit out, shocked. The server girl returned with the drinks and Danish.

Once she was out of earshot, Quinn leaned in across the table. “And he told me he didn’t sleep with drunk women and wouldn’t sleep with me even if I begged.”

“Fuck off. He did not say that.” Megan nearly choked on her OJ.

“Told you he’s an ass,” Quinn chirped, crumpling the remainder of napkin in her hand.

Her girls went suspiciously quiet. Quinn looked up at them. “What?”

“Belle and I saw it the other day. There is something between you two. I still think he likes you. There is no way a cop just gives someone a ride out of the goodness of their heart.”

“Oh my God! Did you not just hear what I said? He basically told me I’d be the last woman in the world he’d ever sleep with!”

“Yeah, but only after you said you weren’t going to sleep with him. He had to save face,” Belle argued. “Cops don’t just drive people around out of the goodness of their hearts.”

“He was protecting me from those guys and the freezing weather,” Quinn protested, “Trust me, he doesn’t like me. And I told you I puked in front of him.”

“Yes, yes, the puke is unfortunate, but he could have abandoned you then and he didn’t,” she said slyly like she cracked some secret code.

“Megs.” Quinn straightened in her seat and looked at her friend with her very best ‘I’m deadly serious’ expression. “I do not like him, he does not like me. Never mind that I made an utter ass of myself.”

“Perhaps you need to stop by the station today. Maybe bring in some doughnuts? Cops love doughnuts.” Megan leaned back in her chair and slugged down her orange juice as if she hadn’t heard a word Quinn had just said.

Quinn stared at her like she was nuts. Belle piped up then too, “Perhaps take just a coffee. You already know he likes coffee. You could go to that same cafe we saw him at.”

“Girls! What? No,” Quinn snapped. “Why on earth would I go to the station? Did you not hear anything I just said?”

Meg rolled her eyes. “Oh my God, Quinn.” She laughed an incredulous gleam in her eyes. She reached across the table and grabbed Quinn’s hands to make Quinn look at her. “Listen to me Quinn. Hot Cop drove you back to the inn, caught you twice, didn’t run when you monster puked, and then carried you safely to your room. He likes you.”

“And told me he’d never ever sleep with me.” Quinn pulled away from Megan’s grip slouching back in her seat. “Megs, he’s a cop. That’s what they do—help people. It’s his job,” Quinn huffed. She couldn’t understand why her friends didn’t get it.

Meg shook her head in resignation while Belle inhaled deeply as if to garner patience. “Quinn, cops do not drive people home from the bar. ” Her eyes were intense on Quinn, willing her to understand. “They arrest people, they drive them to the drunk tank, they might even hail them a cab. But they do not drive them home.”

“So why’d he drive me home then?” Quinn challenged.

“Because he’s into you!” Megan joined back into the argument, leaning towards Quinn over the table.

“And you are into him,” Belle added pointing an accusatory slender finger at Quinn.

“Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. He’s going away on holiday, so he’s not even going to be at the police station or in Calen at all. Thank God!” she uttered. “I admit that he’s hot—and yes maybe I got a little ahead of myself last night—but I’m going to blame those last two vodka shots! Trust me, though, he is not my type. He’s not nice, and I told him so. And believe me, even though he drove me back to the inn, I’m 99 percent sure it was to give him more time to berate me. He was so rude about me petting his dog and about my clothes, and about not sleeping with me.”

Megan slapped the table. “Quinn Eloise West, you are impossible!”

Quinn shrugged with a cheeky grin. “Meh.”

13

It Will Be Okay

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