"Then what it is? The suspense is killing me."
"Patience is a virtue, Vanessa."
She gave up. "Right. Quinn Alexander, man of mystery."
He snorted. The traffic was bad but they'd still get to the airport on time. From JFK, they would fly straight to Denver. His family had a vacation home in Aspen. Since his father passed away, his family always had a get-together after the New Year when everybody wasn't constrained by their schedules. His mother was born and bred a socialite; she was always busy with her galas and charity dinners.
His brother Trent was an intelligence office in the Air Force so he was rarely home. His youngest brother, John, was a music producer. He split between his residences in New York and LA. The few weeks after the holiday were the only time the family could find time together. That was why his mother had insisted she meet Vanessa this weekend.
Quinn was an introvert when it came to his personal life. So when the video of him kissing a girl surfaced, his mom pressed him to introduce her.
Vanessa cleared her throat. As if she was channeling his thoughts, she asked, "What did you say to your mom about me?"
"Hmm? I told her you're my girlfriend."
"Did she asked how long had we been dating? Where did we meet? Don't you think we should come up with a story first? You know, coordinating our lies?"
"She knows you work for me. And you are one of our star employees."
"You don't seem very concerned about this. Don't blame me if your mother finds out about our charade."
"My mom's just happy I'm bringing home my girlfriend."
"Why is that?"
"I've never brought one home before."
She gave him a weird kind of look. "Why?" she asked. "A man like you must have a lot of girlfriends."
"None that I would take home to meet my mother."
"Why is that? Wait, let me guess, they didn't meet your parents' standards."
"It wasn't like that. I just never met the one."
"I never pegged you as a romantic."
His jaw twitched. "What about you, Vanessa?"
"I'm not a romantic. I can tell you that."
"Even a village idiot could see that." A question sneaked into his mind. "What kind of guys have you dated in the past?"
"I'm not going to discuss my personal life with you."
"We're not at work. I'd like to know more about you."
"There's nothing interesting about me."
"Let me be the judge of that. How many guys have you dated in the past?"
"Why, Quinn, that's awfully personal."
"I thought we're having a discussion to establish our story. Don't I need to know that kind of information?"
She cringed. "I don't date."
"Ever?"
"Not in the sense of a relationship. I hate complication and drama. I prefer to keep things simple."
"So, you never had a boyfriend, ever?"
"I had one in college."
"And?"
"Once I saw past his cute face, his intelligence and emotional level left a lot to be desired."
That made him smile. "And are you seeing anyone now?"
"I thought you already knew that? Or were you bluffing?"
"I'd like to reaffirm my observations about you."
"Uh-huh. You know I practically live in the office. I don't have time to date."
"Are you celibate?" He knew he was pushing it, but he was fucking curious.
"Ha! Do I look like a saint?"
Quinn waited for more but she didn't seem inclined to share. She was puzzling and it only made him more frustrated. Even though she didn't pay much attention to her personal appearance, men still looked at her. He knew that for a fact. She honestly had the prettiest smile, and her sense of humor put guys at ease. Once someone got to know her, it wasn't hard to fall for her. Was she a one-night-stand kind of girl? She wasn't a virgin, was she?
Her cell rang and it sounded like work. She talked on the phone for a minute.
"Who was it?" he asked.
"Stephen. There's a bug in the Northmen 2 user interface. He's already talked to the programmer about it, but I need to rewrite in Render Mania," she answered.
"You can do it on the plane."
After that, their conversation drifted into her current project. They arrived at the airport and boarded a plane to Denver. From Denver, he rented a car and drove to Aspen.
During the flight and the drive, Vanessa was busy working on her laptop. Quinn had never seen anyone so dedicated to work. She was different than any woman in his acquaintance. Most chicks always bored him to death with never ending chatter about themselves.
Vanessa only had eyes for her job. The job was her world. During her time with the company, she had created a render engine program that was beyond her time and had proven an invaluable piece of game engineering. Because she worked under the company when she authored it, her invention became Animatrica's secret weapon. Suffice it to say, Vanessa was actually the one who made him and the company wealthy.
She tuned out her work when they entered Aspen. Somehow, she looked nervous. Probably the prospect of meeting his mom made her anxious.
"I probably should wear something more appropriate if I'm going to see your mom," she said out of nowhere.
Quinn stole another glance at her karma T-shirt. A smile blossomed at the corner of his lips. "You're fine the way you are."
"Are you sure?"
"I am."
"You know what? This might work. If I were shabby, your mom might not like me. And she would tell you you're better off without me."
He tsked. "She would do no such thing. My mom isn't vain."
"Any mother would want his son settled down with the most eligible girl out there, don't you know that? My mom does."
"Does she want you to settle down with the most eligible bachelor out there, too?"
"No, surprisingly. She has a low expectation for me when it comes to men."
"Why is that?"
"She knows I'm the odd duck in the family. I have two beautiful sisters destined to lead easy lives. My mom has high expectations for them, but for me, she knows I'm smart enough to fend for myself."
"That doesn't sound fair."
She let out a soft laugh. "Life isn't fair. In a perfect world, everybody would look like supermodels, be rich as Croesus, and have an IQ like Einstein."
That got him to smile. "I heard your mom is an actress."
"Was an actress. She did B-movies in the past and then had some Broadway gigs. But these days, she's a part-time acting coach and a full-time pain in the ass."
"Trust me, I feel you. Is your father still teaching at Princeton?"
"How did you know? Never mind. Yes, he still teaches math. I think he'll be teaching until the day he dies. Dad just loves teaching and being surrounded by students. He likes to enlighten the young, eager mind to the wondrous world of math. I'm the only one who likes math in my family. My sisters hated it and my mom can't balance her checkbook, not if her life depended on it."
"Neither can my mom. I have a feeling they would make great friends."
"Don't get any ideas. One overbearing mom is my limit. I already ran out of excuses to skip Thanksgiving and Christmas. Last year, I was tempted to join a missionary in Ecuador when she announced she'd be having a Great Gatsby-themed Christmas party." She held her thumb and forefinger together. "This close."
Quinn threw his head back, laughing.
They entered Aspen city limits. As Quinn pulled the rental car into the driveway, he saw his mom's Jaguar and his brother John's Mercedes already parked in the open garage. He also saw Trent's Harley Davidson. His middle brother, Trent, was having R & R from his current deployment in Kuwait.
As soon as he killed the engine, John ran onto the porch and waved his hand back and forth like an overexcited golden retriever. "Yo, Quinn. What's up? About time; we're about to fire up the grill." John must have been very loud because Quinn could hear his voice through the closed window.
"Is that your brother?" Vanessa watched John with appreciation. "He looks very nice. And approachable."
"And I'm not?" Irritation crept into his tone.
"Not in the slightest," she said, deadpan.
"If you'll get to know me, Vanessa, I'm actually a nice guy."
"Right. And the Pope is actually a Buddhist."
"You don't believe me?"
"You do know your nickname in the office, don't you?"
"I've heard plenty. Which one are you referring to?"
"Lord Demon."
"I heard that. Am I really that bad?"
She wagged a finger. "I plead the fifth. For the sake of my job. After all, you blackmailed me into playing your girlfriend."
He gave a non-committal shrug. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."
"That's funny, especially coming from you. Just how desperate are you?"
"Vanessa, you have no idea."