Playboy For Hire

19. Ryder

19

RYDER

I arrived at the cream-colored door marked 3F and straightened my shirt anxiously. I knew I looked good. I was wearing a blue and white checked button-down and navy pants. The shirt emphasized my broad shoulders and looked casual but crisp. I was probably the only college student who dressed up when he didn’t have to, but it was worth it to know I looked good.

I shouldn’t be nervous. It was just Auntie Thea who I was meeting. She’d called me and asked me to come over and help her pick out a dress to wear to a dance at the senior center next week.

But it was Quinn’s Auntie Thea. I’d felt unable to tell her no, but I was also dreading the possibility of running into Quinn. What if he decided to drop by while I was here?

I told myself it would be fine. Thea had no idea Quinn and I were together for real, so she could have no idea that we’d broken up, either. There should be no need for awkward explanations. But still, I was jittery.

Were Quinn and I ever really together? We’d never put a label on it. But no matter what I’d told him, I knew the truth. I’d been head over heels for him. I still was. But I wasn’t going to see him again, and that was a good thing.

Surely Thea would have told me if she’d planned on inviting Quinn over too. And surely Quinn would have objected if he didn’t want me to come. So the fact that neither of those things had happened should mean that today would go fine.

Should .

I took a deep breath and knocked.

“It’s open,” came a voice from behind the door. “Come on in, honey.”

I smiled, hoping she really meant that term of endearment, and opened the door. Thea was sitting in the living room of her apartment, straight-backed in her wheelchair, wearing a deep blue wool sweater over a trim gray skirt, with sparkly blue earrings that I bet were real sapphires. She looked lovely, and her smile was broad and generous.

“Ryder, sweetheart. Come here and give me a kiss.”

I shut the door behind me and walked over, giving her a hug and a kiss. I was truly warmed by her welcome. Quinn obviously hadn’t told her about us, or she wouldn’t be so happy to see me. I felt a little guilty, not mentioning it to her. But it was still nice to see her. I hadn’t realized until just then how much I enjoyed her company.

That sobered me. I probably wasn’t going to see her much after today. Even if Quinn hadn’t mentioned what had happened between us, at some point, he’d find out Thea had invited me over, and he wouldn’t want me involved with his family anymore.

“Look at you,” she said when she released me from the hug. “So dashing. I’d ask you to be my date to this dance if Jimmy Sullivan hadn’t snuck in and gotten me to say yes before you.”

I laughed. “I’m flattered, but I don’t know if I could keep up with you.”

She looked at me. “Are you getting enough to eat? I worry about Quinn all the time, but do I have to worry about you too? You look a little pale. Are those circles under your eyes?”

“I’m fine.” I gave her my most reassuring smile. “Just a little stressed about finals and graduation. But enough about me. Tell me more about this dance, and Mr. Sullivan. I want to know all about him.”

She lowered her eyes demurely. “I won’t lie, he is quite the catch. Only eighty years old, and as spry as if he were sixty. And he’s just as handsome as he was all those years ago in his navy uniform.”

“Ooh, that sounds juicy. Is romance in the air? Are the chaperones at the dance going to find you two secluded in a corner, getting up to who knows what?”

“Excuse me,” she said in mock outrage. “I don’t know what impression Quinn has given you, but I am a maiden lady with high moral standards. I would never compromise my dignity in public.” She grinned. “But I know that Gladys Bagley will. That woman has a taste for gin like you wouldn’t believe, and it makes her very forward. And last year, Agatha Renwick threw her back out trying to twerk.” Thea cackled. “Gossiping about them is almost as good as doing the deed yourself. Now come into the bedroom.”

“Says the lady with high moral standards. Are you sure it’s safe? I feel like you might ravish me.”

“The last thing I ravished was a turkey sandwich. But the point is to look like I might do some ravishing—if Mr. Sullivan wants to make an honest woman out of me. And I’m not sure which dress to go with.”

“Wait, are you serious?” I blinked. “Are wedding bells in the air?”

I felt suddenly out of my depth. I desperately wanted to ask Quinn about Thea’s love life, but, of course, I couldn’t. That realization made me sad all over again.

“I’m sure I wouldn’t know,” Thea said primly. “But a true lady is always prepared. Now take a look at these.”

She’d laid out three options on her bed, a green silk number, a screaming, fire-engine-red satin dress, and a chic black and white outfit. They all looked nice, and I knew a couple of vintage stores where they’d sell for quite a bit of money. The red dress was probably Ala?a, and the green one looked like it had come straight out of the nineteen-sixties. It probably had.

“They’re all beautiful,” I told her. “Are you sure you don’t have a favorite?”

“If I did, why would I have called you? Do you think I brought you all the way across the city just so I could look at those big old biceps of yours?”

I laughed. “If you did, I wore the wrong outfit. Should I roll up my sleeves?

“And have everyone think I was entertaining a young man in my boudoir?”

“Aren’t you?”

“Yes,” she said with a wicked grin. “But they don’t have to know that.”

“Our little secret.” I mimed zipping my lips, then looked back at the outfit options. “I think I need to see them on you, to see how they wear.”

She sighed. “I was afraid of that.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ll need some help with the zippers on the red and the green, and it would be too scandalous to let you do it. Which means I’ll have to call Violet, and then I’ll have to share you. It’s a pity Quinn’s not here.”

She looked up at me, tilting her head as she spoke, and I had the sudden sensation of being a bug trapped under a microscope.

“Have you seen him lately?” she asked.

“N-no,” I said, suddenly flustered. Her gaze was so direct, I felt sure she had to know about us. But she couldn’t. There was no way. “Not for a little bit.”

“Well, that’s a shame. I thought you two boys got along.”

“Oh, we did. I mean, we do.” I corrected myself quickly. “Things have just gotten, you know. Busy.”

“But you’re doing alright?”

“Yeah.” I smiled. “Yeah, I’m good.”

She looked at me sharply. “Nope.”

“Pardon?”

“If there’s one thing all of my grand-nieces and nephews will tell you, Ryder, it’s that I don’t tolerate lies. And I’m old enough to know when someone’s fibbing. Something’s going on with you, and it’s more than just studying for tests. Now tell me, is it girl trouble? We ladies can be feisty, you know.”

I flushed. “No, not that.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Is it boy trouble, then?”

I cleared my throat. “It’s okay, we don’t have to talk about it.”

“We do if you’re going to spend the rest of your time here moping. So tell me what happened.”

God, this was awkward. How could I tell this story without making it obvious I was talking about Quinn? I didn’t want to say anything at all, but I couldn’t very well back out now. I ran a hand through my hair.

“I just really liked this guy. He was great. But things are over now, and it’s kind of a bummer.”

Way more than just a bummer. I hadn’t been able to sleep well since I’d ended things with Quinn. I had one more week of classes, a bunch of finals, and then graduation to worry about. I hadn’t been able to concentrate on any school stuff, and I wasn’t even sure I was going to go to my graduation ceremony at this point. Why bother, if my parents weren’t going to come?

I’d been phoning in all my work dates, which wasn’t smart. I needed to start finding some more regular clients, if Tessa wasn’t going to need me anymore. But it was so hard to care about anything that wasn’t Quinn.

“If he was so great, why did he end it?” Thea sniffed.

“He didn’t. It’s my own fault. I’m the one who said it was over.”

“And why would you do a thing like that?”

“Because he doesn’t realize it yet, but he can do way better than me. When he does realize, he’s going to dump me. And I’m just so tired of being hurt.”

She looked me up and down. “How do you know he’s going to dump you?”

“Because everyone always does.”

“Hmm.” She pursed her lips. “Excuse me a moment. I forgot I have to take some pills.”

She went into the bathroom, and I sat on the edge of her bed, really hoping she didn’t keep asking about my love life when she came back. The more time I spent here, the more likely it was that I would trip myself up and accidentally spill the truth. I needed to get out of here before I got myself in real trouble.

When Thea wheeled out of the bathroom, she had her cell phone in hand. “I called Violet. She’ll be here in a minute.”

Sure enough, there was a knock on the living room door a moment later. Before I could get back there to answer it, a tall woman with steel gray hair set in a wave strode into the apartment. She was halfway down the hall to the bedroom before I’d even made it out the door.

Her eyes swept over me, and that sensation of being trapped under a magnifying glass intensified. I felt like with one look, she’d catalogued everything about me, right down to the flavor of my toothpaste. Then her eyes looked past me to Thea.

“Why, Althea, you tramp,” she said. “All alone with a man in your bedroom? I think I might faint from shock.”

“You’re one to talk,” Thea replied. “I saw you at bingo night with Wallace Mathison, and I saw his hand on your knee. What do you have to say about that?”

“He was brushing off a stray piece of fuzz,” the other woman said. “And if we’re going to talk about bingo night, we can also talk about how close you and Jimmy were sitting. Not much room for the Holy Ghost between the two of you.”

“Jealous?” Thea said sweetly.

“Of that man? He may be good-looking, but who wants to hear all that yapping about history? It’s all Napoleon this and Wellington that. You’d think he fought in that damned war himself.”

“At least he’s educated, unlike some—”

“Ladies, ladies,” I broke in. “I hate to interrupt, but I think we might have wandered a bit far from the topic at hand.”

“You see.” Thea nodded like I’d proved some sort of point. “The boy doesn’t want to hear about your loose ways, you slattern.”

“Or your high-minded prattle,” the other woman shot back. “Just who is this young man anyway?”

“This is Ryder Olson,” Thea said, waving her hand by way of an introduction. “The young man from the agency you recommended. Ryder, this poorly-mannered harridan is Violet Winthrop.”

“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am,” I said, sticking out my hand to shake hers.

Violet eyed me suspiciously, then held her own hand out, fingers first. Obviously, she expected me to take it and kiss it. I blinked, then did as she wanted. No reason to get off on the wrong foot. Then something Thea had said caught my attention.

“Did Thea say you were the one who recommended Heartbreakers Anonymous to her and Quinn?”

I tried to keep the surprise out of my voice. Surely a woman Violet’s age hadn’t needed to hire someone for a date. But it was a big world. Who was I to judge?

“She did,” Violet said airily. “I know someone who knows someone who’s used your company’s services in the past.” Then she grinned. “Thea and Quinn would be nowhere without me. Now what exactly are you doing here?”

“Thea asked me to help her pick a dress for your dance next week. Do you think you could help her with the zippers on a few of these outfits?”

“Interesting.” Violet peered at me like a bird examining a worm. “You think you have good taste, do you?”

“You see how nicely the boy dresses,” Thea said, gesturing at me. “And I showed you that picture of him and Quinn at the anniversary party.”

“What picture?” I asked, but neither woman seemed to hear me.

“Not a bad idea,” Violet said. Her eyes gave me another once-over. “What are you doing tomorrow afternoon?”

“I don’t know,” I said, confused. “Studying for finals, probably?”

Actually, most of my finals were group projects, not tests. One of the benefits of being in business school. But macroeconomics had an exam, and I’d still have to be there in person to present the group projects. It wasn’t like I could completely stop caring.

“You can do that later,” she said firmly. “Tomorrow, you and I are going shopping.”

“We’re what?”

“If Thea’s pulling out all the stops, I want to as well. Can’t let her show me up. But I want something new. Have you heard of La Boutique de Perles ?”

“I have,” I said cautiously. De Perles was very expensive. I had one shirt from there, and a tie I particularly liked. “Is that where you want to go?”

“That’s where we’ll start,” Violet said. “Be here at noon tomorrow. We’ll see where the day takes us.”

“I—I’m not really—” I stammered, but another knock sounded on the front door.

I looked at Thea, who said to Violet, “I told Marjie to come over too.”

“Why would you do a thing like that?” Violet grumbled. “Now we have to share Ryder with her, too.”

Once again, the door-knocker entered the apartment without waiting for an answer, and revealed herself to be a short, spindle-thin old lady with white hair, glasses on a beaded chain, and a crocheted shawl draped over her shoulders.

“So this is where the party is,” she said when she saw all of us crammed into Thea’s bedroom. Her eyes landed on me. “Oh, aren’t you handsome.” Her gaze narrowed. “But why do I feel like I know you? Have I seen you before?”

“This is Quinn’s friend,” Thea told her. “Ryder. I showed you that picture of the two of them. Ryder, this is Marjorie.”

“Oh yes, I remember. The gigolo.” Marjorie turned to me. “Call me Marjie.”

“It’s nice to—wait, gigolo?” I looked from her to Thea. “You know that’s not actually what I do, right?”

“He’s not a hooker, Marjie,” Violet said firmly. Then she looked at me. “Though I’m sure you would be a very successful one if you wanted to be.”

“Um…thanks?”

My head was spinning. How did all these women know about me? And did they think that Quinn had hired me for sex? God, this was a mess. And what picture did Thea keep talking about?

“He’s also a personal shopper,” Violet told Marjie. “He just offered to take me out tomorrow to help me find something new for the dance.”

“Oh, the dance!” Marjie clapped her hands together. “That’s a wonderful idea.” She looked up at me. “I don’t suppose you’re free the day after?”

“I don’t think—” I tried to protest, but before I could get the words out, there was another knock on Thea’s front door.

I looked at Thea in confusion. Did she have a third friend coming over just to help her with her zippers?

“Be a dear and go get that, would you?” she said sweetly. “The girls and I will be right here.”

“Sure,” I said, feeling anything but. Was this going to lead to me taking another maiden lady out for a shopping spree? I did need to get some studying done.

I walked down the hall and out into the living room, then made my way to the door. Before I could reach it, it burst open, and I stopped, frozen.

It wasn’t another friend of Thea’s.

It was Quinn.