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“Nosey much? What is this? An inquisition?” I asked. Avoiding her eyes, I pulled my phone out of my bag to message Mark, my assistant, to ask him if he knew where it was. He always knew where I left everything.
“Nah. I just don’t believe you,” she said, a shit-eating grin on her face—the brat.
“If I’d known how big of a pain in the ass you’d be, I wouldn’t have begged Mom for a little sister,” I looked up from my phone to send her a playful scowl.
“You admitted to sleeping at your office most nights because you weresobusy at work,” she said, raising an eyebrow at me. “You even brought your assistant as your plus one because…” she whipped out the finger quotes, “You still ran out of time.”
At my narrow-eyed look, those finger quotes turned into peace signs framing her smiling face.
I sighed.
“Yeah, well, Mark came in early one morning and found me sleeping on the couch in my office. He insisted on coming here with me and made me promise not to do that anymore. Said it’s not safe.” I rolled my eyes. Emory’s grin only grew. “The jerk threatened to stay over as well if I stayed anymore. How is sleeping alone at the office any less safe than sleeping alone at home?” She didn’t answer my rhetorical question; she just stared at me blankly with a face that said you already know the answer. Pain in my ass. “Asshole even stays to walk me to my car, like he’s making sure I leave.”
“I’m glad.” She smirked. “So, who’d you sleep with?”
“Mark,” flies out of my mouth.Shit!
The conversation had me flustered, and I just blurted out the first name that came to mind. I didn’t enjoy being told I had no life. No friends. No prospects. I knew all that already. I didn’t need to hear it from my little sister whose life was going exactly the way she wanted it to.
“Mark Charming? Your assistant, Mark?” She looked at me skeptically.
This was the moment I could have told her that Mark’s name just slipped out because I was texting him… Or I could have doubled down on my lie.
Mark was as believable as anyone else. I’d known him for years, and he was easily the person I was closest to in Philadelphia, as sad as it was that my assistant was my only friend outside of my weird neighbor.
“We spend a lot of time together. It just happened.”
“I don’t believe it. He may be hot and as charming as his namesake…” Her eyes sparkled with humor. “And I know that you only wear pencil skirts so he watches your ass when—”
“—That is not true.”
“You know it is, and I don’t even blame you. If I was single and my assistant was as hot as Mark, I’d do it too. But there’s no way you actually slept with your assistant. You’d have told me. No. I call bullshit.”
“I don’t tell you all my one-night stands. It happened a couple of times. Not a big deal.”
“Mark is not a one-night stand! He’s your assistant. You’re over here all, ‘I don’t want the commitment,’” she mocked. “There’s a lot of commitment involved in fucking your assistant. You see that man daily. What happens if you fall apart? You’ll be forced to work with him. He’s the best assistant you’ve ever had.”
He was. He kept me sane. I could never take that step with him, no matter how hot he was. No matter how good his ass looked in suit pants. No matter how good he smelled. No matter that lately, it had been harder to remember that I couldn’t.
“And this is exactly why I didn’t tell you. Knew you’d hassle me about it. He understands the situation.”
“What happens when he wants more, and you push him away for whatever reason you push away everyone else?”
“I don’t push people away,” I scoffed.
“You do, Quinn. As soon as someone gets too close to you, you push them away. You’ve only had one relationship last longer than a few months.”
“There weren’t many options,” I mumbled.
“No, you’ve had lots of options.” She came up behind me, but I didn’t turn. “You’re gorgeous, Quinn. And smart and funny. There were options and you know it. There was just always a reason they wouldn’t work. With the exception of David in college, where you finally opened up to someone, you never let anyone stick around for very long. You’re guarded.”
“Lot of good opening up did me,” I said, sending Mark another text.
She let out a defeated sigh. “I just want you to be happy, Quinn. I worry.”
“And I appreciate that more than you know,” I said, fighting a sigh of my own and lowering my phone to look at her. “You’re getting married in a couple hours, so only happy thoughts today. I am fine. I will be fine. You and Ben will be perfect. That’s what matters today.”
“I love you and never want you to feel alone. I hated that feeling when Ben and I were separated.”
