“Then that’s all that needs to be said. I’m glad you’re happy, Igor. I’m glad Shawna’s the one who helped you realize it was time to just be you.” She slid out of the booth and Igor followed while Shawna hovered in the background, her face full of concern.
Facing him for what likely would be the last time, she smiled, wide, genuine, reaching up to cup his jaw as she did. “I hope from here on out you’re always true to yourself, and most of all, that you and Shawna are happy.” She stood on tiptoe, planting a kiss on his cheek before she turned to leave.
Hitching her jaw at the door in Khristos and Nina’s direction, she plodded toward it until that damn feeling, the one pushing her to come to the Spotted Pig in the first place, grabbed her guts up in a fist and wrenched them.
Pushing her way out the door, she leaned against the side of the coffee shop as Khristos, always near, grabbed her around the waist. “Tell me what’s happening, Quinn!” he demanded in her ear.
But she knew what was happening—it had just taken her by surprise with its velocity, with its truth.
“Now!” she whispered to her mental image of Cupid, looking up and into the coffee shop window just in time to see the arrow—gleaming and bright in the morning sun, whiz through the air and land on Igor and Shawna, hugging each other, under a shower of gold and silver.
Was that the scent of Bubble Yum and Brittany Spears perfume she smelled in the air?
Quinn smiled. Now, everything really was okay.
Which brought to mind one of her favorite Keats quotes: Who shall say between a man and a woman, who is most delighted?
“Good job back there, kiddo,” Nina praised her upon their return to Quinn’s apartment. “Personally? I woulda fucked him up so hard he woulda shit his teeth for a year. You’re a better person than I am.”
Quinn gave her a distracted smile, her mind on something else. “All in a day’s work.”
Marty and Wanda, both on their laptops, peeked over the tops of them and grinned. “We heard! Goooo, Goddess of Love!” Marty cheered, shaking her imaginary pom-poms as Wanda gave her a thumbs-up.
Archibald stuck his head out of the kitchen with Darnell just behind him. “How do you all feel about pizza night tonight? I have the most amazing recipe just garnered from the goddess of cooking herself, Ina Gartner. I can’t contain my excitement!”
Carl, who’d returned while they were gone, thumped his hand on the table in agreement, shooting Quinn his lopsided smile when she gave him a quick hug. “Glad to see you, buddy. How about some Goodnight Moon tonight at bedtime?”
He leaned forward and grabbed his backpack from under the chair, pulling out a book she knew well—one near and dear to her romantic heart. “Keats, Carl?” She fanned herself and batted her eyes. “Be still my beating heart. Keats it is, my friend. You and me. It’s a date.”
Carl thumped her arm and grinned again.
What would she do when these people left her life? The notion made her sad, but there was a small part of her, the part who lived for love, that reminded Quinn her new job was forever.
It would be filled with plenty to do, and she’d keep busy matchmaking.
That was enough to fill up any romantic’s cup, and she’d just have to be happy with that.
Khristos grabbed her by the arm and smiled. “Good news from the forums.”
“Am I ever going to get a user ID and password for the forums? I feel a little left out of the loop,” she joked.
He held up his phone. “Yep. I have them right here. Just texted them to you. Also, looks like I’m not having my liver pecked out anytime soon. No punishment for losing track of the apple. I escaped the guillotine.”
“Yay for leniency!” she cheered, though she felt anything but cheerful. Khristos’s possible punishment was one of her primary concerns before she tackled her next task. Relief flooded her veins. He would be safe. That was all that mattered.
“So, you did a great job today. You’ve really gotten the hang of this, Quinn.”
Her heart pounded in her chest for what she was about to do next. But she was all about making the right choices in her life right now. Making sure she wasn’t creating something out of absolutely nothing ever again. That hurt too much.
“Can we take a walk?”
“You bet. Lemme grab my coat.”
Slipping out her apartment door, she waited for him at the top of the steps. Seeing his handsome face and thickly muscled body coming up the stairs made her throat tighten.
Quinn headed toward the small park he’d found her in the other night, aimlessly walking as the sun began to set and she attempted to gather up the courage to say what she had to say. To really live in reality for the first time.
She stopped at the park’s entry and looked up at him in all his perfection. His smooth olive skin, his eyes, warm and brown with gold flecks. Those lips she’d savored like a fine wine last night.
“Wanna tell me what’s up?”
No. No, she didn’t. But she would. So she’d never get swept up in her daydreaming again. “I think I’m going to be okay now.”