Page 48 of Temptation
“We've met.” Quill nodded to her politely. “I'm glad Gordon took my advice and hired you.”
“Yes, thank you so much for passing along my resume.” Viki smiled at him and laid her hand on his arm. “It was the best possible move I could have made.” The smile slipped from her face like slime when Quill deliberately moved his arm away from her.
“I'm glad it worked out for you.” Quill turned away and began entering the names for the new game into the computer. Quinn was a little shocked by Viki’s nerve and quickly moved her over to Rilla and Bishop.
“This is Bishop and Rilla Ramone. Rilla is my best friend, and Bishop is Quill's best friend. We’ve known each other since university.” Rilla immediately did what she did best and began complimenting Viki’s hair and nails, keeping her engaged in conversation and away from Joel and Quill. Quinn looked at Tenn and raised her eyebrow with a clear “What the fuck was that?” on her face. Tenn rolled his eyes and shrugged, indicating he saw it and had no idea what to make of it, then subtly jerked his chin behind her. She turned to see Joel staring at the pictures, his face white. Biting the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling, Quinn went to get the drinks and order a couple of pizzas.
This was going to be fun.
Chapter Twenty-Four: Bowling & Coke
Quinn
Quinn ordered one of each of the three types of pizza the restaurant made and was waiting to place the order for the drinks when Joel came up and gripped her arm tightly, pulling her out of the line and off to the side, looking incredibly irritated, much to Quinn’s satisfaction.
“What the hell, Quinn?” His voice was low. Clearly, he didn’t want to draw attention to them. Quinn glanced over to the group to see Quill and Tenn watching them closely and smiled as she gently tried to pull her arm free.
“What?” Quinn stepped back from him a little. “What is your problem?”
“What's with the pictures?” He gestured at them angrily.
“Rilla wanted to show me how far I've come and why I shouldn't go back.” Quinn shrugged. “What's the big deal?”
“Besides the blatantly obvious dig at me with “Love Starved” on it, did you stop to consider that seeing you like that triggers me? And there wasn't a picture of the two of us she could have used?” Quinn almost laughed. He was genuinely insulted that Rilla hadn’t chosen a picture of them together.
“Nothing within the last four months.” Quinn not so subtly reminded him they were on the verge of divorce because of his recent actions. “And nothing with my full body in it. Just don't focus on the one from the hospital; focus on the other one.” She turned to hide her smirk and walked back to the bar, getting back in line. She was shamelessly enjoying his frustration and anger.
“When was that one taken anyway?” Joel followed her, looking crushed and upset. “You never wore that dress for me.”
“It was at my last art show; you were out of town for work. You don't take me anywhere that I can dress up anymore. I bought that dress for the show opening, and there are a ton of pictures on my Social media that you could have looked at anytime.” She looked at him in disbelief. Was he seriously going to complain that she didn’t dress up for him anymore when the last time he took her out on a proper date was six months ago? “And you know Rilla is going to make digs; she's mostly joking.”
“Mostly.” Joel rolled his eyes and actually looked hurt. “You forgave me; you'd think they would too.”
“We've been over this. You made it up to me, not them. They are nice and polite to you and don't make you feel left out of anything; you're always invited. You're the one who hasn't made the same effort back.” Quinn stepped up to the bar and placed the order; she was over his self-pity party now and wanted him to slink off with Viki so she could have fun with everyone else. “You’re killing the vibe, you know. This is supposed to be a celebration.”
“What about Tenn and Viki? What are they going to think?” She noticed he didn’t apologize and just kept pressing her about the damn pictures.
“Tenn already knows; Quill told him when it happened,” she explained, trying to keep an even tone and not scream at him in frustration. “And if Viki asks, I'll be honest with her.”
Joel swallowed nervously, then something seemed to click in his head, and he switched topics. “How long have Quill and Tenn been friends?”
“I don't know, three or four years?” Quinn shrugged, wondering where he was going with this. “Why?”
“He never introduced you to him before last week?”
“Nope. You know we don't always introduce people we don't want to share.” She thanked the bartender and grabbed four of the drinks. “Get those for me, please?” She nodded at the three remaining drinks and started to walk back to the group.
“And Quill gave Rhyme Viki's resume?” Joel grabbed the drinks and chased after her.
“Yeah, she applied for a job at Q; she wasn't what Quill was looking for, so he gave her resume to Gordon as a favour to Tenn.” Quinn glanced at him. “Why?”
“No reason.” He shrugged, but he looked like he was thinking hard about it. “Just figuring out the connections.”
Tenn
Tenn watched as Quinn kissed Joel's cheek and then rubbed her lipstick from his cheek. Viki glared at her with so much rage that he wanted to take her away to protect her. Quinn somehow kept her cool and maintained a pleasant expression, which he had to give her props for because if Joel was looking at him like that, he’d have to ask what his problem was. Quinn started introducing Viki to everyone, and Rilla immediately began talking to her. Quill came over and stood with Tenn, also watching Viki’s reaction to Quinn greeting her husband. “She isn't even trying to hide her feelings.” He murmured. “Should we keep sharp objects from her?”
“Maybe,” Tenn said quietly. Quinn left to get a round of drinks for everyone, and Tenn watched as Joel noticed the pictures. His face went white, and he glanced nervously at Viki before chasing after Quinn, grabbing her arm and pulling her out of line. Viki watched him go and started after him, but then she noticed the picture of Quinn in the hospital and came to a dead stop.