Second Marriage The Billionaire's Planned Love (Quinn and Julian) novel Chapter 123

Chapter 123 After the Night Out

They headed back the same way as before, riding in Julian’s car.

The entire drive was quiet.

Julian didn’t say a single word.

Lucy sat stiffly in the back seat, barely daring to breathe. She knew she had messed up tonight, and she was half expecting Julian to explode at her any second.

But even when the car pulled up in front of their building, Julian still hadn’t said anything/

Lucy couldn’t take the silence anymore.

She spoke first, “Julian, I swear I won’t go to clubs like that again.”

Julian finally glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “So,” he said calmly, “were those abs worth it?”

Lucy froze for a second, then her face turned bright red.

“I didn’t touch his abs!”

What she had touched was his chest.

Julian gave her a flat look. “Is there really a difference?”

He looked forward again.

“Places like that attract every kind of trouble. If something had happened tonight, you wouldn’t even have time to regret it.”

Lucy knew better than to argue right now, so she just nodded quietly and let him lecture her.

Thankfully he didn’t continue.

“Get out,” Julian said.

Lucy practically tumbled out of the car. She stood beside the passenger door and waved energetically.

“Bye, Julian!”

Quinn stood beside her and added politely, “Good night.”

Julian didn’t look at either of them. He pressed the accelerator, and the car sped away down the street.

Lucy hooked her arm through Quinn’s as they walked inside.

“Julian’s definitely in a bad mood,” she muttered. “Seriously, what rotten luck. Of all nights, he had to catch me there. Zeke must have ratted me out.”

Quinn was so sleepy she could barely keep her eyes open. She hummed absentmindedly in response.

Chapter 123 After the Night Out

Lucy, however, was still excited.

“But honestly, those dancers tonight were pretty impressive. I actually got to feel one’s chest. You have no idea how solid that was.”

Quinn was half asleep as she listened.

I’ve felt that before.

The thought slipped into her mind automatically.

She suddenly snapped awake.

Wait. I did? With who? Julian.

She shook her head hard, trying to force the memory out of her mind. The moment was blurry and fragmented, yet somehow painfully clear.

“Quinn, what’s wrong?” Lucy asked.

“Nothing,” Quinn said quickly. “Let’s just go upstairs and sleep.”

Lucy suddenly remembered something.

“Oh right. Weren’t we supposed to treat Julian to dinner? When are you free? After tonight we should probably make it up to him.”

Quinn blinked. “Make it up to him how?”

Lucy shrugged.

“Take him out for dinner. Say a few nice things. That’s basically it.”

“That works,” Quinn said. “Pick a day. I’m free anytime.”

By the time they finished showering and got into bed, it was already past four in the morning.

They slept straight through until almost noon.

When Quinn woke up, her head still felt foggy. She opened her eyes slowly, staring at the ceiling with that strange disorientation that comes from waking up far too late in the day.

For a moment she couldn’t even tell what time it was.

After sitting there for a while, she finally got up and went to the bathroom. She washed her face and looked up at the mirror.

Suddenly the dream from last night came rushing back,

In the dream, a tall man had wrapped an arm around her waist.

She tried to lift her head to see his face, but he held her against his chest, keeping her there.

She couldn’t see him. But she could hear his voice.

Chapter 123 After the Night Out

He leaned close to her ear and asked quietly, “So, were those other guys‘ abs impressive?”

The scene shifted.

Now she was standing outside the club restroom. That greasy drunk from earlier staggered toward her with a twisted grin.

Quinn tried to run, but her legs wouldn’t move.

The man got closer and closer. The smell of alcohol and cigarettes clung to him, thick and suffocating.

Her heart pounded in panic.

Just as fear started closing in on her, an arm suddenly reached out from the side and pulled her against

someone.

She looked up again.

The drunk had already been kicked several feet away. The man holding her was tall. The same voice spoke beside her ear again.

“So tell me. Were those other guys‘ abs impressive?”

The dream kept shifting all night, one scene after another. But no matter how the setting changed, it always ended with that same sentence.

Quinn stared at her reflection in the mirror. Only then did it finally hit her.

The tall man in the dream was Julian.

Her brain had been groggy when she woke up, but now every detail from the dream started replaying clearly.

Julian’s hand gripping her waist.

The cool cedar scent that always clung to him. His strong arms. The solid warmth of his chest.

Quinn suddenly turned on the faucet and splashed cold water across her face.

She stared at the sink. “Seriously?”

Dreaming about a man is one thing. But dreaming about Julian?What am I even thinking?

A knock sounded at the door. Quinn shut off the water before she realized someone had been knocking.

She wiped her face quickly and went to open

Lucy stood outside holding her phone.

1. it.

“Quinn, I thought you were still asleep,” she said. “I texted Julian and set up dinner tonight. Is that okay?”

The moment Julian’s name came up, Quinn’s mind automatically flashed back to that one word.

Chapter 123 After the Night Out

Abs.

She froze for a second. Lucy waved a hand in front of her face.

“Quinn?”

Quinn snapped back to reality.

“Yeah,” she said quickly. “That’s fine.”

She still owed him that dinner.

It had been sitting in the back of her mind the whole time.

Once they finished that meal, and once she finished making the suit she promised him, there would probably be no reason for them to contact each other again.

Their lives were supposed to move in completely different directions. They were never meant to ment.

For some reason, realizing that made Quinn feel a strange sense of loss. Lucy dragged her to the kitchen to eat and chatted nonstop the entire time.

Before long, Quinn pushed that feeling aside.

Lucy told her Julian would pick them up at six.

“I booked a restaurant,” Lucy said. “Honestly, you shouldn’t worry about the price. Just pick somewhere good. Julian isn’t picky anyway.”

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