I shrugged, uncomfortable with the turn the conversation had taken. “It’s better than Auntie Thea’s friends telling me how gorgeous I am all the time.”
Ryder looked dumbfounded. “How is someone giving you compliments worse than someone telling you you’re too skinny?”
“Because at least Auntie Marie isn’t lying.” My tone was sharper than I’d meant it to be, but I couldn’t help it. “At least she’s being honest about how I look. I’d rather have that than have people lie to my face.”
“Do you think you’re a troll or something?” Ryder asked.
“No, I just—look, can we not do this?”
“Not do what?”
“This teen movie thing where you tell me I’m actually secretly gorgeous if I’d just take off my glasses? I appreciate the thought, but I don’t need your pep talk. I know what I look like, and I’m fine with it.”
“You evidently don’t know, though.” Ryder’s stare made me want to crawl into a crack between the patio pavers and curl up like a pillbug. “Quinn, you’re a good-looking guy. And I like your glasses.”
My right hand tightened on my wine glass. I shoved the left into my jacket pocket. “I guess the pep talk is included in the package I bought.”
“This isn’t—I’m not telling you this because you paid me to be here tonight. I’m telling you, my honest opinion is that you’re a good-looking dude, and anyone who tells you otherwise isn’t just being a dick, they’re lying to you. I’m sorry you’ve got a self-esteem issue about this, but I guess that’s not surprising if you’ve had people telling you your whole life that you’re not good enough.”
“Okay, can you not judge my entire family based on one evening’s interactions?” I snapped. “I didn’t push you to talk about your family when you obviously didn’t want to. You actually don’t know anything about me. And I don’t need you telling me how tragic it is that no one’s seen my true beauty under my ugly duckling exterior.”
“I’m not judging anyone. I’m just trying to tell you—”
“I have a fucking birthmark the size of Texas on my cheek,” I said, pointing right at it. “Don’t give me some bullshit lie about how you never noticed, or how I’m making it into a bigger deal than it is. It’s been there my whole life. You don’t get to tell me it doesn’t play a role in how I look.”
Ryder let out a long breath, then held his hands up like he was surrendering. “I really don’t think it’s that bad, but it’s clear you don’t want to talk about it, so that’s fine. You didn’t pay me to argue with you all night.”
“You could stop doing that too, while you’re at it.”
“Doing what?”
“Reminding me all the time about how you’re only here because I’m paying you. That I couldn’t get a date on my own, much less a boyfriend.”
“You’re the one who keeps bringing it up. I’m not trying to—”
“Save it.” I was too angry to talk to him anymore. “Go join my dad’s model train enthusiasts’ club or whatever. Just do it somewhere away from me.”
With that, I tossed back the rest of my wine and stalked inside.
5
RYDER
What the hell had I done wrong?
Well, okay, that wasn’t an entirely fair question. I knew what I’d said that had upset Quinn, but I hadn’t realized it was going to bother him that much. Who gets mad about being complimented? Who gets huffy about being told that peoplearen’tlying to them?
Quinn, evidently.
I stared at the patio door that he’d stormed through and sighed. I’d fucked up. Even if I hadn’t meant to. And even though I was still pretty sure I was right, I didn’t like hurting Quinn’s feelings. Not just because he was a client, and I was supposed to make sure the evening went well. I actually liked Quinn.
I felt strangely comfortable around him. Or maybe it wasn’t strange. But I’d expected to feel a little uptight about tonight. I’d never had to pretend to be aguy’sboyfriend before. But instead, I just felt easy and relaxed—well, when he wasn’t snapping my head off, anyway.
It must have been because I didn’t feel any competition with him. He clearly wasn’t going to be interested in any of the girls I liked. He wasn’t an opponent on the soccer field. And he wasn’t a business major, competing for the same jobs I was. He was older, and had an apartment, and a job, and a life of his own. If anything, he should have looked down on me.
I’d just been trying to make him feel better. But clearly, I’d stumbled onto a touchy subject. I sighed. I supposed if I’d had relatives making me feel shitty my whole life, I’d be suspicious of compliments too.
As it was, my physical appearance was just about the only thing anyonedidcompliment me on. But that wasn’t relevant now. I needed to go find Quinn.
