Page 37 of Dream Lover
“Will do. Enjoy your lunch.” I gave her a small wave and left to meet Drew. I only hoped he wasn’t going to give me a rough time. Maybe Quinn had told him I fucked her and blew her off, and he wanted to kick my ass. He’d be within his right to do so. Hell, part of me wished he would. Maybe it would knock some sense into me, but I was going to make it up to her. She was all that mattered.
* * *
“How was New York?”Drew asked while glancing over the menu. He’d been distant when we were in Las Vegas that final night. If anyone should be pissed it should be me for not being invited in the first place. Drew needed to grow a damn set and ditch the bitch.
“Busy as hell.” It was daunting spending my time in conference rooms, going over PowerPoints. The tech company was launching a new dating application that took a bit longer to program than anticipated. Everything had to be perfect. Each code did something. Whether it was good or bad was the question.
“Las Vegas was interesting. Want to tell me how long you’ve been fucking my little sister?” His gaze cut to me, jaw tight and pissed.
I set down the menu and gave him my full attention. “Listen. I’m just gonna lay this out. Rebecca is a bitch. The way she treats Quinn is shit, and it needs to stop. I’m not going to bullshit you. I like your sister, and I care about her. A lot. When Carrie called me and said that Rebecca had orchestrated this Vegas trip and Quinn needed a man, I decided to hell with it. The opportunity was there, and I took my shot. I’m not sorry for it.”
“Rebecca’s wound up tight about the wedding. She doesn’t mean to come off so harsh.” He tried.
“Whatever you say. You’re the one who didn’t even invite me to the wedding.”
The waiter came, and both Drew and I ordered beers. “Man, I…” I held up my hand, not needing to hear it. He sighed and ran his hands over his face, then changed the topic on me.
“You serious about Quinn, or is she another conquest?” The waiter came back to drop our drinks off.
“I’d never treat Quinn like that.” I took a long pull. I lied. I had done exactly that and felt like a total bastard for it. She deserved so much better than this crap.
“You better not. We’ve been friends for a long time, and I care about my sister. I just want to see her happy.”
“I get that.” I decided to come clean. “I fucked up by not calling her these past two weeks, and I’m going to fix it. I respect her. I sent her flowers and candy today. I want to do this right.”
Our food was sat in front of us. “If you fucked up, you’d better fix it. She knows I’d be pissed off if she breathed a word about it to me.” He gave me a pointed look. “Hell, I am pissed off.”
“I know. I’m a dick and I’ve got work to do but, Drew, I’m going to do it.” I loved her, I'd realized, and that thought hit me like a sock to the gut. Yeah. I did. And it was time I did something about it.
“Okay then.” I dug into my burger, and Drew did the same. I wanted to talk more about Rebecca and press him on the matter of him going through with this wedding, but I knew if I pushed him too hard, he’d shut down on me again.
Therefore, it was small talk and nothing that took my mind off of Quinn.
I survived the rest of the lunch without pissing him off anymore, and when I returned to work, I got news that did not help me at all with my goal to win Quinn.
New York called. They loved all my ideas and wanted to move forward but the big guys, the money backers for the project, wanted to meet. Problem was they were in Japan and wanted me there at their home office.
I would be flying out the next morning.
* * *
I had just unpackedmy suitcase the night before and was already shoving shit back in it. I needed a new job. One that kept me home so I could take Quinn out on a date. I had avoided calling her long enough. I needed to hear her voice.
I got into bed and grabbed my cell off the nightstand. I scrolled through my contacts and stopped over her name. Her smile popped into my head. Fuck, I had missed her. She had me in knots and didn’t even know it.
She answered on the fourth ring. “Hello?” Her voice was low and raspy. It was sexy as hell.
“Were you asleep?”
“Almost.”
“Did you get your flowers?”
“I did. They’re gorgeous. You didn’t have to.”
“Yeah, I did. I meant to call, but timing never lined up.” Fuck, I was lame.
“I received your gift. Thanks for replacing my undies.”
