Page 24 of Open To Negotiation

I was in my favorite pair of black, high wasted straight legged jeans, and a forest green corset top. It sucked me in and made my boobs look amazing. I had left my hair down and wavy. I accessorized with a simple necklace and studs in my ear.

“You look smokin’ hot,” she said with an appreciative nod.

I let out a relieved sigh and smiled at her, I was nervous and needed some reassurance.

“But what shoes do I wear? Do I bring a jacket or no jacket? How the hell am I supposed to dress when I don’t know where we’re going?” I mumbled as I looked around my room, biting my lip.

“Wait… Do you have a date?” Aubrey asked, her voice rising in excitement as she moved closer to the screen.

“No, and you didn’t answer a single one of my questions!”

“Well, who are you not going on a date with?”

I pushed my hair out of my face and put on a simple pink lip gloss while I contemplated my shoes, using the phone as my mirror.

“You know that guy I had lunch and coffee with?” She nodded while I rubbed my lips together. “Well, he showed up at my office today and convinced me to go out with him and his friends tonight.”

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me!”

I picked her up off the dresser and flipped the camera so she could see the shoe options I was trying to decide between, lying on my floor. “I’m telling you now.” I wasn’t planning on calling her until tomorrow, but the whole thing was stressing me out and I couldn’t make a decision to save my life right now.

“We will be discussing this later, Quinn West.” I huffed but didn’t reply. “He’s tall, right?”

“All the ones I met were. Since this isn’t a date, and they will all be there, I feel it’s important to mention them… but yes, I come up to his chest. He towers over me.”

“Great, wear your black suede booties. They aren’t too tall so you can be comfortable if you have to walk, and they give you a little height, which is good when you’re standing up to tall men. Plus they make your ass look fantastic.”

“Thank you,” I said gratefully as I turned her back so I could see her face as I pulled them on.

“And to answer your earlier question, bring your cropped leather jacket. That way if you get cold like you often do, you’ll have something, but if you don’t need it then you can take it off and still look hot as hell.”

“This is why you are my best friend.” I pointed at her with a smile as I grabbed my jacket off the hook in my room. I’d already taken out my debit card, some cash, and ID, tucked them behind my phone case, and slid my apartment and building keys into my jeans pocket. I didn’t want to bother with a purse.

“Whatever,” she grumbled. I heard a dog cry in the background. “I need to deal with Luna, but you better show up at my house tomorrow morning and explain to me what the hell is going on. And you know I’m going to track you tonight.”

We had shared locations with each other long ago. My phone buzzed with a new text.

Unknown

Hello, Miss West, my name is Arthur. I was sent by Mr. Knight to pick you up. I am at the front door when you are ready. He said feel free to call him if you need to verify my identity.

“I have to go, but yes, I’ll come over tomorrow and even bring you a coffee. Love you!” I hung up as I locked my door and went outside. I wasn’t overly surprised to see a big black SUV waiting out front. A man in a suit was standing at the back passenger door, waiting for me.

He was probably in his sixties based on the grey of his hair, although from the few strands still holding their color, you could still see he used to have reddish-brown hair. He was wearing a black suit, hands tucked behind his back with a smile on his face. He took a step away from his car toward me. “Miss West.”

I did an awkward wave. “That’s me.” He nodded as he pulled the back door open for me.

I sat back into the soft leather as the driver shut the door and went around the car. I don’t know why I was expecting a normal cab, or at least a normal sedan. Even though I knew nothing about cars, I could tell this was top of the line. But what I noticed first was that it smelled woodsy, like cedarwood and oak maybe? It was all Theo and I took a big breath of his intoxicating scent. I’d noticed it when he’d held the door open for me at the café and I’d brushed past him.

“All set, Miss?” the driver asked and looked at me in the rearview.

“Please call me Quinn,” I said with a smile as he pulled into traffic.

“Well in that case, you can call me Arthur.” He had a slight Scottish accent, but it was only noticeable on certain words.

“Arthur, can you tell me where we’re going?” As I said it, I felt a little uncomfortable. I should have asked more questions.

“We’re heading to Pulse,” he said with a small smile. I had no idea what that was, but he clearly thought I did.