Sex, Lies, and Online Dating Read Online Free PDF Page A

Quinn.
    He picked the feathers from his shirt and dropped them into the trash. A lot of the cops he knew were on their second or third marriages, and he’d rather be alone than be part of a sad statistic. He had his job and his dog, his mother, two siblings, and seven nieces. That was enough family for anyone. And when he felt the need for female companionship, he knew where to find it. A lot of women found his badge an aphrodisiac. He wanted sex. They wanted sex with a cop. It worked out for both of them. Most of the time, it was enough.
    Quinn stood and moved to a coat closet a few feet away. He pulled out a broom and dustpan and pushed Play on his answering machine. While he chased feathers around with the broom, he listened to a recording from the Sears warranty department, advising him the warranty on his refrigerator was about to expire. The second call was from his mother.
    “Erin had her ultrasound today,” his mother’s voice informed him. Her long sigh filled the kitchen before she continued, “She’s having another girl.”
    Quinn chuckled. Erin was married to Quinn’s brother, Donny. The two already had three girls. The latest would bring the total females in Donny’s house to five. Five to one. Poor bastard. He was doomed.
    Another long sigh, then, “Of course we’re happy. But who will carry on the McIntyre name if Donny keeps having girls?”
    Quinn was the oldest McIntyre, followed by his sister, Mary, and then Donny. Between Mary and Donny there were seven granddaughters. Quinn didn’t see why he should add any more rowdy children to that mix.
    “I ran into Beatrice Garner at Sunday Mass,” his mother informed him as he swept feathers into the dustpan. He didn’t even have to guess at his mother’s point. “Her daughter Vicky works at Dillards. In the children’s department. She’s single and attends St. Mary’s there on State Street.”
    “Forget it,” Quinn said as he picked bits of down and feathers from the crotch and thighs of his jeans. The day he’d transferred from narcotics to violent crimes, his mother had taken a moment to thank God that Quinn had given up chasing dopers and getting shot at by crank dealers, then she’d promptly taken it as her mission in life to see him “settled.” Now she was convinced that with the love of a good woman and regular trips to the confessional booth, Quinn would be happy. Whenever he pointed out that the “love of a good woman” had royally screwed him over, his mother countered that Amanda hadn’t been a “good woman.” Among her many sins, she’d been Presbyterian. He’d given up trying to convince his mother that he liked his life just the way it was and that he was as happy as anyone else on the planet.
    Her voice rambled on for a few more moments about Father this and Deacon that before she ran out of steam and the machine clicked off. He shoved the garbage can back beneath the sink and leaned the broom against the counter. He tossed the dustpan on the stove, then grabbed a bottle of Labatt from the refrigerator. Maybe if she worried about her own love life, she wouldn’t be so concerned about his. He didn’t know how he felt about his mother dating again so soon after his father’s death. Although, when he thought about it, it had been three years since his father had dropped dead while pruning his mother’s Roses of Sharon.
    He picked up his laptop and files from the table where he’d left them earlier and flipped off the lights on his way out of the kitchen. Millie rose and followed at Quinn’s heels as he moved into the living room. With his free hand, he grabbed the remote and turned on the ten o’clock news. He sat on his leather couch and set his laptop and files on the glass coffee table in front of him. Millie sat on the floor next to his knee, and he reached over and scratched beneath her long red ear.
    Within the dark comfort of the room, light from the television slipped across the beige carpeting and spilled