We stop at the bar and Marissa gapes at me for a moment. “So what are you going to do about it?”
“About what?”
“Oh, come on, Quinn. You’ve had a giant crush on this guy for years, even if you’re not willing to admit it to yourself. I’ve known you since you started here, and every time you mention the name Archer Jones, you get all googly-eyed.”
“I do not.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously. I don’t get googly-eyed when I talk about him. And for the record, I never talk about him.”
“Then how do I know about him?”
The bartender comes over and against my better judgment, I order a cranberry and vodka.
“He’s Dean’s best friend. I know I’ve talked about my brothers before.”
“You have, and I don’t know Logan’s best friend.”
“It’s Owen,” I counter. “Who I’ve talked about.”
Marissa responds with pursed lips. “Owen is your brother too. Weston—I don’t even know his wife’s name.”
“I wish I could forget it too,” I grumble, intense anger surging through me at the mere mention of my sister-in-law. No one has seen her in years, but the anger is still strong.
“That’s not the point here. The point is, you have the hots for this guy. And now he’s here.”
“He’s attractive,” I tell her. “Obviously.”
“Fuck yes. If you’re not interested, I’ll climb all over that. Do I have your blessing to strip him down and put my lips around his cock?”
My left eye twitches.
“See!” Marissa points a manicured nail at my face. “You want him!”
“Keep it down,” I say through gritted teeth, fighting the blood rushing to my cheeks. “I’m attracted to him. I always have been. I’d love to spend the night in his bed, but I’m pretty sure he only sees me as his friend’s sister. I’m probably like a sister to him too.”
“You need to show him you’re not. Go home, get changed into something that shows off your boobs, and make him realize you’re a sexy, successful, totally awesome single lady.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“It is easy!” She grabs both our drinks and hands me mine. “Just be you, Quinn Dawson, boss lady extraordinaire. If he doesn’t like you, it’s his loss.”
“I love you, you know that, right?” I bring my straw to my lips and suck down a mouthful of watered-down cranberry juice and way too much vodka.
“You can prove it by taking that hunk of a surgeon back to your place tonight.”
“I’m not making any promises, but he did say he wanted to take me to dinner.”
“Give him a good dessert.” She wiggles her eyebrows and leads me away from the bar.
I suck down another mouthful of my gross drink before tossing it and find Archer standing near a window looking out at the city below.
My heart stops in my chest for a brief moment when I look him over.
“Ready to get out of here?” I ask, not recognizing the woman talking. I don’t say things like this. I don’t go to dinner with a guy I’m wildly attracted to hoping for a one-night stand.
I’m a romantic.
I like tender moments.
Feeling what can only be described as magic.
“Yeah.” Archer’s smile melts my panties right off. “Where do you want to go?”
“Home first,” I say, then panic he thinks I’m insinuating something I’m not. “I’d like to change, and I need to feed my cat.”
Feed my cat? This isn’t the way to show him I’m a sexy, single lady.
“You have a cat?”
“Not just one. Three and a half.”
We start to walk away from the party. “How do you have half a cat?”
“He’s not really mine. I have three cats and am fostering another and I said I wasn’t going to keep him, but I think I might.”
“Oh, that’s nice of you. I miss having pets.”
“I grew up with them. You know that.”
“Yeah,” he says. “I remember. Though I’m a little surprised you went with cats instead of dogs.”
I laugh. “I do love dogs. I’m not home enough to have one. And my mom has enough to give me a dog-fix when I need it. And if you promise not to tell her, I’ll let you in on a little secret.”
“You can trust me. I already know about the Batmobile, after all.”
Smiling, I lean in. “I’m more of a cat person than a dog person.”
“You’re risking getting disowned.”
I make a face. “What can I say? I live on the edge.” I make a detour into my office to grab my purse and computer. Archer offers to carry the laptop for me, and I let him take it, even though it’s not heavy at all. The gesture is nice, and not something I see too often anymore.
“Do you drive from your house to work? Or is it as big of a pain to drive around Chicago as they make it seem in the movies?” he asks when we get in the elevators to leave.
“It can be a pain. And I do sometimes. I have a spot in a garage nearby, and a spot at my loft so at least I’m not looking for a place to park. But it can be a headache, so unless it’s really cold, I usually walk. I’m not that far and consider it my work out for the day.”
“Good point. The winters here are brutal, aren’t they?”
“They’re awful and make me question my sanity. It’s not that much worse than at home, though, but being closer to the lake does amplify things.”
We make it a block in silence, but this time the noise of the city is loud enough to drown out the awkwardness. And then we stop at a crosswalk.
“I don’t know if I should say this or not,” Archer starts.
I hike my designer purse up on my shoulder, heart lurching. “Say what?”
“Your secretaries are bitches.”
“Oh, well, I know.”
“You do?” He’s taken aback.
“Yeah. But why do you think so?”
“They casually insulted their boss. I didn’t know it was you or I would have said something.”
I shrug. “Thanks, but no need. They do that from time to time.”
“You’re okay with them talking about you like that?”
“I wouldn’t say I’m okay with it, more so I just don’t care. Rene is vapid and shallow. Charlene is a gold-digger. I knew that when I hired them. But I needed someone to answer the phones and greet people when they walk in, not a humanitarian. And you know what they’re good at? Answering the phones and greeting people when they walk in. It might not be what you want to hear, but I’ve been dealing with girls like that my whole life, and compared to some of them, Rene is harmless.”
“I had no idea. I’m…I’m sorry, Quinn.”
“It’s water under the bridge now. I learned to embrace being the computer nerd years ago. Yeah, girls like Rene threw their fair amount of stones. But you know what I did with those stones? I used them to build a foundation, and not to sound cliché, but look at me now.”
The light changes and I step forward to move with the crowd. Archer stays rooted to the spot, looking at me like he’s seeing me for the first time.
“Archer?” I say softly as I turn around, and he snaps back, shaking himself. He takes my arm, pulling me into him at the last second to avoid being hit by someone on a bike. I stumble just like I did the last time he pulled me close, with my hands landing on his chest and my eyes going right to his.
This time, there’s no denying the spark that passes between us.
10
Quinn
“So, this is my home,” I say, stepping into the loft. I pull my purse off my shoulder and take my laptop from Archer, setting them on the bench next to my door. I traded my heels for comfortable walking shoes before leaving the office, and kick those off, using my foot to push them under the bench.
Archer takes his shoes off as well and moves close behind me, looking around. A fat orange cat trots over, meowing when he sees us.
“This is Neville.” I pick him up and he instantly starts purring. “The half-cat.”