Neanderthal Marries Human (Knitting in the City #1.5)(18)
Author: Penny Reid

I stared at her for a beat and thought about how best to answer. I decided it wouldn’t be untrue to say that I was. “Yes.”

She watched me, and several seconds passed. She seemed to be debating whether to continue.

Then, as though she couldn’t hold her tongue any longer, she blurted, “He’s not a good guy, hon. He’s a user and an ass**le. And you seem like a real nice girl….” Her eyes drifted over me, her eyebrows pulled low on her forehead, then her gaze moved back to mine. “Way too good for Quinn Sullivan. What are you even doing with a guy like him?”

I opened my mouth to challenge her label of Quinn, not liking that she’d called him an ass**le, but didn’t get a chance as she paused only to take a breath and turn back to the mirror.

“I mean he’s just going to chew you up and spit you out. I can tell you with one hundred and ten percent certainty that he’s not interested in anything long term, not ever, not with anyone. If he tells you that you’re the only one he’s with, I guarantee you are not.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I used to be with him.” She snorted before adding, “Biggest mistake ever.”

“Did he tell you that he wanted something long term?”

“Well…no.” She pooched her lips and began applying the lipstick; her eyelashes fluttered. “He never…that is, he told me from the beginning that there were others, but I thought he’d cut them loose when we were together.”

“So, he lied to you.”

“He never lied, like out loud. But, it was implied that I meant something to him. I didn’t, and he’s a cold-hearted bastard, because when I told him I wanted to—you know—I was ready for things to progress to the next level, he dropped me! He said he didn’t date!”

I continued watching her, and my face must have betrayed my confusion and skepticism. I found it hard to believe that Quinn would ever lead anyone on.

Then again, he did have a history of being technically honest.

Then again, everything he’d told me about his previous Wendell lifestyle indicated that he was never the aggressor; he was never the one doing the chasing.

Then again, Quinn and I didn’t talk much about his slamps, even though I was still eager to learn about the logistics.

She, however, misread the cause of my skepticism, because she said, “I know! Right? I couldn’t believe it either.”

“How long were you two together?”

She pursed her lips, her eyelashes again fluttering. “Like, I don’t know, a few weeks.”

“And then you told him you wanted to be exclusive?”

“That’s right!”

“And he responded by telling you he didn’t date.”

“Yes, the ass**le.”

“And that was the first time he’d given you any indication that he didn’t date?”

The lip pursing, lash fluttering increased. She tsked. “Like I said, he told me there were others when we met. After that, he didn’t want to do much talking.” With this last statement, she issued what can only be described as a smug, catty look.

I felt that it was extremely misplaced, as she’d just admitted that he didn’t want to converse with her.

“Yes. So he said.” I nodded.

“What did he say?” Her head whipped toward mine, her eyes narrowed. “What did he say about me?”

I quickly processed whether admitting that he disliked her conversation would be a breech in trust. I decided against framing it quite that way.

“He just said that when you two were acquainted, you hardly ever spoke.”

Her mouth fell open and her cheeks flushed. “Oh my. He said that to you?” She looked pleased. This further confused me.

Maybe Quinn was right. Maybe she was crazy.

“I can’t believe you’re with him after he told you that. Us girls need to look out for each other, and I’m telling you, he will use you and abuse you, and I’m telling you, you are too sweet.” Her eyes and the soft, sympathetic shake of her head told me she felt sorry for me. “You’re a sweet girl. You need to get away from him.”

“Looking at this objectively, if you don’t mind, may I just summarize what you’ve said? This will help me understand.”

“Go ahead. I know this must be hard. Go ahead if talking about it will help.”

“Thank you.” I gave her a small smile because she seemed like a nice person. But I wanted to reiterate the facts so I could make a determination on her level of crazy. “When you and Quinn first got together, he told you he was with other women. Then, the two of you engaged in very little conversation. Then, later, when you told him that you wanted to be exclusive, he responded that he didn’t date. Do I have that right?”

“Well, yeah….”

“And that makes him a bad guy because…?”

“Because good guys do not have multiple girls on the hook. Good guys don’t do those kinds of things. He is a user.”

“But…he’s an honest user, yes?”

“Just ’cause he’s honest about it doesn’t change the fact that he uses people.”

“Hmm…you have me there. That’s an excellent point. I’ll file that away for later contemplation.”

Her gaze moved over me again, this time a bit more assessing than before. “I assume he’s told you that there are others, right?”

Because I was still marinating in her user comment, I responded without thinking of the ramifications of my words. “No, he hasn’t. Actually, we’re engaged.”

She didn’t purse her lips, and her eyelashes didn’t flutter. In fact, she didn’t move at all for a good twelve seconds. Then, as though pulled, her eyes lowered to my left hand, resting on top of my knee.

She blinked just once, as if she expected the ring on my finger to disappear. When it didn’t, she breathed, “No shit!”

Her stare moved back to my face, and I struggled to remember the last time I’d seen a person so shocked.

“Oh my God….” she said, then she repeated it with varying pitch and inflection. “Oh my God. Oh. My. God.”

“Do you…need a glass of something?” I offered, because she looked truly distressed.

“You’re his fiancée?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“And you know that I used to have sex with Quinn and you’re in here patching up my dress and calmly discussing my relationship with him.”

“Well…yes.”

She stared at me, her expression complete befuddlement. “Aren’t you jealous? Pissed off?”

“Jealous of what?” I titled my head to the side, tried to think back over our conversation to determine what part of it should inspire jealousy. “Because Quinn had sex with women before we met? I’m glad that he did. It’s provided him with a great deal of useful life skills.”

Useful life skills is how I decided to refer to his talents in the bedroom…and airplane, and desk, and shower, and bathtub, and et cetera.

“You should be pissed because….” she started, stopped, then sighed. “I guess I don’t know.”

I gave her a small smile. “Quinn’s relationship with individuals from his past doesn’t need to have any bearing on my interactions with the same individuals now and in the future. You needed help. I like to help. You’re a nice person.”

Her blue eyes moved over my face and her painted mouth tugged to the side. “You’re a nice person, too. You’re too good for him.”

“We’re good for each other,” I countered softly and stood. “Thank you for answering my questions. I’ve never met one of his past sl…um…one of his previous relationships. I really enjoyed our discussion.”

“Wait a minute.” She rummaged through her clutch and took out a thin plastic card. “I’m Niki. Here, this is my business card. I work for a modeling agency. Give me a call if you’re ever interested in doing some work on the side or ever need anything or…” she shrugged “…just want to talk.”

“Thank you, Niki. I’m Janie. I hope you don’t mind, but I need to put this in my bodice. I didn’t bring a purse.”

She laughed lightly, her eyes merry, and shook her head. “I don’t mind in the least! Just don’t forget it’s in there.”

CHAPTER 8

*Quinn*

Janie was quiet.

She’d been quiet for most of the night. I could see that she was deep in her own thoughts; she seemed to be working through a problem.

I hoped it didn’t have anything to do with crazy Niki.

Dan and Steven left us in the lobby. Janie and I took the private elevator to our suite. She was silent and stood off to one side.

As soon as the doors opened, she exited, kicked off her shoes, and walked to the bedroom. I did an automatic sweep of the outer room while I loosened my tie and took off my jacket. I trailed her into the bedroom and hovered at the door.

She was standing with her back to the full-length mirror and her neck twisted toward it. She was trying to unfasten the twenty or so buttons that held the top of her dress together.

“Let me do that.” I went to her before she could say no and pushed her hair over one shoulder, grazing my fingertips down her spine. She stiffened then relaxed under my hands. I heard her sigh.