About Last Night (About Last Night #1)(6)

I couldn’t help but feel sadness for my friend. If anyone deserved love, it was Harry. “I’m sorry, man. That blows.” He shrugged and I asked, “You ever try to find her?”

He sighed. “Just once. Months later, I called the friend who originally booked, asking for her phone number. It took quite a bit of convincing, and she only relented when I told her I was in love with her. The friend told me my girl felt the same and was suffering without me. You couldn’t imagine how happy I was to finally be able to speak with her. I had a plan. I would start by telling her I was in love with her and that I wanted to be with her, that I’d quit and would never be escorting again, and then I’d move to be closer to her.”

He ran his fingers down the condensation built up on the beer bottle. “But when I called, a guy answered. I wasn’t sure what to say, so I said nothing. He kept saying ‘hello, anyone there?’ but I kept quiet. Then I heard her. And it was her. I’d committed that voice to memory. She said, ‘oh, for God’s sake, Sean! Just hang up the phone, honey.’ So I hung up and never called again.” He threw me a strained smile. “Seems she didn’t miss me as much as I was missing her.”

I winced. “Ouch.”

Harry shrugged once more. “Not that I could blame her for moving on. I was an escort. I was hired to keep her company. I just wished she’d given me a chance, that she’d ask me to give it up, because I would’ve. For her, I would’ve.”

The mood of the afternoon changed after that. We ate in near silence, both lost in our own thoughts, and when I took Harry home, he exited the car then hesitated. He turned to me and said solemnly, “So this client…uh…just…be careful, Matt. Be careful.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, I responded, “I will. Thanks for the company. Basketball this week?”

It was then his smile returned. “You know it.”



I drove home wondering how someone like Harry could fall for a client. Thinking about Maya’s quirky and sassy attitude, the answer came quickly.

Easily.





Chapter Five



Mia



I spent the afternoon silently fretting and covering that fact by cleaning every corner of my apartment till it was sparkling. Maybe I had been wrong. Maybe Matt Quinn wasn’t man enough for the job I had propositioned.

My brain rolled its eyes at me. Okay, so he was man enough. Matt Quinn was man enough to wrestle an alligator. With one hand tied behind his back. Wearing a damn blindfold. While singing the musical score from Chicago.

It was likely that he didn’t want this job, but didn’t know how to break it to me. So I had to let him off without guilt.

I opened a new email and started typing.



To: [email protected]

From: [email protected] Subject: So…



Quinn,



So…it’s been a few hours since I sent you my last email.

Listen, I realize that taking someone’s virginity is normally a big deal, but for me, it isn’t that big of a deal.



Groaning, I immediately deleted what I wrote. Of course losing your virginity is a big deal! Who was I kidding?

I tried again.



To: [email protected]

From: [email protected] Subject: (none)



Hi Quinn,




I stared at the open email for a long while, not knowing where to go from the greeting. I stared for over a minute, over five minutes, over ten minutes before I started to write again.



To: [email protected]

From: [email protected] Subject: (none)



Hi Quinn,



I’m guessing your lack of response means you aren’t interested, and that’s totally fine. I know how it is.

I’m sure I can find someone else at the agency that would be acceptable.

Anyone you’d like to recommend?



Maya



I read the email over and over until I convinced myself it was fine. I clicked send, closed the lid on my laptop, and walked out of my apartment, grabbing my phone on the way.

I wouldn’t think about Matt Quinn. Not today.

I needed to get out.

I needed to run.





Chapter Six



Quinn



As I walked into my apartment, my eyes skimmed the email for the sixth time. I read the line that was bugging me the most for the seventh, eighth, ninth time.



“I’m sure I can find someone else at the agency that would be acceptable.”



My brow bunched as an emotion I couldn’t quite recognize squeezed a knot inside my chest. I’d been written off in a matter of hours.

I was Matt f*cking Quinn. I didn’t get written off. I got fought over, for Christ’s sake. There was no way in hell I’d be recommending any of the other guys. If she wanted an escort, she’d get me, or she’d get no one.

I squelched my irrational anger and typed slowly.



To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Subject: Whoa, Nelly! Hold your horses.



Maya, my dumpling,



Please forgive my tardy response. I was at lunch with a friend and didn’t want to be that guy. You know, that guy who’s more interested in his phone than his friend?