Page 95 of Sex Positive

Her vision tunnels and her pulse spikes, but she attempts to keep her expression neutral.

“I can take away your stress. There’s nothing money can’t fix if you have enough of it.” He grins, and bile rises in her throat. “My son is very smart, Charlotte, but he lacks drive. And that’s fine. Some people just need the right motivation to reach their full potential. You’re an incredibly bright girl, and I can see a place for you on my team someday, too. A mind like yours would thrive at Quinn & Sons.”

“Why won’t you let Wes decide for himself?” she blurts without thinking. “He doesn’t want the life you chose for him.”

He assesses her with pity. “He will. Once he knows you’ll be there beside him, encouraging him. He trusts you, Charlotte.”

“And if I don’t do what you ask?”

He smiles, and she can almost pretend it’s kind and genuine. “Heartbeat Care might find themselves with a very generous anonymous donation to help fund their crisis pregnancy center.”

A ringing starts in her ears. She’s not entirely sure she’s not going to throw up.

How easy it would be to agree. To relinquish the stress over what will happen to her clinic, to her sex ed program, in a few short months. To have reassurance that it will all be okay.

She’s not sure when she began thinking of the clinic as hers, but it is. It belongs to Victoria, Carolyn, Diana, all their patients. And her. That’s why she’s fighting so hard to save it. Not only for the future of her career but for all the people it’s helped over the years.

Gabriel opens her door again, jarring her from her thoughts.

“I’m meeting with Victoria again in two weeks to go over some more details.” He smiles, paternal and benign once more. “Think about what I said, and let’s chat then. I’m confident you’ll make the right decision for both yourself and my son, Charlotte.”

Ten minutes later, there’s another knock on her door.

“Hey, lady.” Carolyn pokes her head into the room, beaming. “You ready?”

With a start, Charlie realizes she’s been staring blankly at her laptop screen since the moment Gabriel departed, lost in her jumbled thoughts. Her stomach lurches, but she doesn’t have time to be nervous now.

Rising to her feet, she gathers her laptop and her presentation notes and manages to shoot Carolyn a reassuring smile despite her trembling hands. “Let’s do this.”

Twenty-Six

Quinn

Are you ignoring me?

Standing in line at the student union coffee shop, Charlie scowls at her phone.

Charlie

I’ve been busy

Quinn

Busy ignoring me

She puffs out a laugh. Because yes, she is ignoring him. Rather, she’s deliberately avoiding him. But she won’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he’s correct.

She moves forward in line, and her phone buzzes again.

Quinn

Can you just give me five minutes? If you don’t want to tutor me anymore, that’s fine. But I really need to talk to you

She doesn’t respond. Perhaps she’s a coward, but regardless of what he wants to say to her, she can’t face him. Because if she does, she’ll crack and confess everything his father said two days ago.

It’s all she can do not to allow it to consume her thoughts. It would be so easy to agree, but his father’s impression of her relationship with Wes is all wrong. She can’t convince him to do anything. She doesn’twantto convince him to do something he so vehemently does not want to do. Especially not for her own benefit. She used him for her pleasure even after discovering very early on that her feelings for him had not dulled in the slightest with time. She can’t use him for this, too. She won’t.

At least the contraception company agreed to her and Carolyn’s proposal, providing her with a modicum of satisfaction on a day that felt overshadowed by Gabriel’s offer.