Stroke of Luck - Opal Carew Page 0,2
*
April stood up, and Quinn started toward the elevator. Still shocked at what Quinn had done, she hesitated.
He glanced over his shoulder. “Come on,” he said.
She hurried after him, trying not to think about the fact she had nowhere else to go. Not just because her wedding had been canceled and her life turned upside down, but she had no means by which to go home. Or anywhere else.
She didn’t even have anyone to call. She had no family, and as she racked her brain to think of a friend she could call for help, she realized that all her friends were Maurice’s friends first. After graduation, he’d talked her into moving to Lachelle, a large town in Massachusetts he and his family basically owned.
She caught up to Quinn and fell into step beside him, having trouble keeping up with his long-legged stride.
“Quinn, thank you for what you did back there.”
She still couldn’t believe it. He hadn’t even blinked when he’d seen the amount.
“It’s nothing.” His tone was chillingly indifferent.
She glanced at him in surprise. “Not to me.”
Quinn stopped at the elevator and pushed the down button.
“I don’t know how I’m going to pay you back,” she continued, disturbed by his silence, “but I’ll find a way.”
“Why didn’t your fiancé help you out?” he asked.
“What?” Then she realized she’d been toying with the diamond ring again. Turning it back and forth on her finger.
She stopped and dropped her hand to her side.
“Oh.” Her stomach clenched. She didn’t want to tell him about her humiliation. At least, not here in the hallway. She did want to explain at some point, though, so he wouldn’t think she was wildly irresponsible.
“He left me. This morning. And he canceled my credit card.”
“You had a joint credit card?”
She nodded. Maurice had his own card, but he’d also set up a separate joint card for her.
Not that she’d wanted that. Maurice had insisted so she would have the exclusive perks and status of a first-tier luxury card, along with the unlimited credit and VIP treatment that came with it. He’d wanted her to become used to his wealthy lifestyle.
She would never have been able to get a card like that without his name on the account.
In truth, bringing out the gold-plated metal card made her uncomfortable, especially when paying for everyday things like lunch with her coworkers at a roadhouse. It underscored the fact she was engaged to the owner of the company and kept her a little outside the social circle.
Everyone thought she was a kept woman. She’d overheard others speculating on why she bothered working, since she clearly didn’t need the income.
The truth was, however, that she’d insisted on paying her own bills every month. She didn’t want to take Maurice’s money. So she worked and paid her own expenses, including the mortgage on her town house, though she had accepted the low interest rate he’d arranged for her through his family’s bank.
The metal door slid open with a ding, and she followed Quinn onto the elevator. She saw her face in the mirror and realized she looked like a fragile ceramic doll. Like if she fell, she’d shatter into a million pieces.
Her eyes were red and puffy, and she pulled her compact out of her purse and tried to cover the redness with powder. Quinn’s eyebrow arched, and she was sure he thought her too vain, but the last thing she wanted was to walk into a crowded restaurant looking weak and defeated.
She applied some lipstick, then dropped the tube into her purse and took a final look. She still looked a wreck, but not quite as bad.
“You said we’re having lunch with your business partner?” she asked as she put her compact away and snapped her purse closed.
“Yes, but don’t get any ideas about replacing your rich fiancé with Austin.”
Her spine stiffened as her gaze darted to his. Of course, that’s what he really thought of her. That she was a gold digger. She could see it in his acid-blue eyes. She bit back a sharp retort and stared squarely at the door as the elevator glided downward.
“Or you either, I take it,” she said.
“You’re damn right about that.”
She couldn’t blame him for his attitude, since he thought she’d left him for Maurice. Quinn had been a broke grad student, just like she had been, and he’d been convinced she’d left him because Maurice was rich.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “The thought hadn’t crossed my mind.”
It was true. But even if she had