Page 78

Chapter Fourteen

Quinn

Lucas pulls me into his arms and begins to sway back and forth as the band plays an instrumental version of Perfect by Ed Sheeran and I melt into him, relieved that this night is almost over. The band thankfully got their shit together just before the guests arrived and we managed to raise a ton of money for the children’s hospital without any more drama. And, as an added bonus, I had several people come up to me tonight and ask for business cards because they were so impressed with my work.

“You ready to call it a night?” Lucas asks as he holds my hand to his chest and I shake my head.

“Not quite yet. Dance with me a little while longer.”

He smiles. “I think I can do that. By the way, you killed it tonight, babe. I’m so fucking proud of you.”

“Thank you,” I whisper, a blush creeping up my cheeks and a deep sense of satisfaction settling into my chest knowing that he’s impressed with all my hard work. Who would have thought, three weeks ago, that his opinion would mean more to me than anything else. “And thanks for getting all dressed up and accompanying me.”

“And miss seeing you in this dress? Not a chance in hell.”

I lean back and our eyes meet. “You trying to butter me up, Smith?”

“Why?” He laughs. “Is it working?”

“A lady never tells.”

“Quinn,” Willa calls as she approaches us and I turn to her with a smile.

“Hey, girl. What ever happened to your date?”

She shakes her head with a sigh. “He bailed on me ten minutes before the event started.”

“What a tool,” Lucas tells her and I nod in agreement.

“Oh, don’t you worry about it. You, sir, have renewed my faith in the opposite sex.”

Lucas laughs, pulling me closer and I can’t help but smile. “Well, glad I could help.”

“And you,” she says, pointing to me. “We have lots to talk about on Monday.”

“I’m really looking forward to that,” I quip, my tone dry and she laughs. No doubt she’ll spend the rest of the weekend thinking of questions to grill me with.

“Me, too. I’m going to take off and I’ll be back in the morning to get all this broken down.”

I nod and step out of Lucas’s arms to give her a hug. “Thank you. Text me when you get home so I know you made it safe and I’ll be around tomorrow if you run into any problems.”

“Don’t worry about it. I can handle it,” she says before flashing me a grin. “So you two have a fun weekend.”

“Subtle,” I murmur and she laughs.

“That word is not in my vocabulary.” She pulls away and takes a step back, waving as Lucas pulls me back into his body. “Bye, y’all.”

When she’s gone, I turn back to Lucas and yawn as I lay my head on his shoulder. We sway back and forth to A Thousand Years by Christina Perri. There are a few couples out on the dance floor and a few groups of people still milling around but the party is definitely winding down and although I’m exhausted, I’m incredibly proud of myself for throwing this together.

“Let’s get you upstairs, gorgeous,” Lucas whispers in my ear and I nod as I yawn again.

“Okay.”

He grabs my hand and laces our fingers as we start slowly wandering out of the ballroom. “Is it time for my surprise now?”

“You’re like a kid on Christmas,” I tease with a laugh.

“Come on, baby. Just tell me what it is. I’ve been thinking about it all night.”