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Chapter Eight
There’sa small corner liquor store with a hidden kitchen in the back that has some good authentic Mexican food. The dishes are cooked by an older couple, and you can’t get anything that tastes like their meals anywhere else on this side of the border. I’ve been coming here ever since Steph and I moved into the area and literally stumbled into the corner store. We drooled over some rolled tacos and that was the end of that.
I watch Quinn take the first bite out of his taco and his eyes roll back into his head. I throw my head back and laugh, loudly.
“I told you. They’re good.”
“You weren’t kidding. There is some magical shit in this.” He wipes his mouth with his napkin and looks at his plate.
“I don’t think that I have ever loved tacos as much as I love these.” I tell him with certainty.
He looks at me and smiles.
I stuff one of the tacos in my mouth, swallow, and start to begin on the other as he sets his plate down on the table beside me. He takes my plate out of my hand and steps into me. He lifts a hand and uses his thumb to wipe something from the corner of my mouth. I watch as he lifts his thumb to his lips and licks off the carne sauce. My heart is rapidly beating as he places his hand on my hip and pulls me against him. Before I know it, he’s leaning down and his lips are on mine.
His lips are soft to the touch and I tilt my head as he grips my jaw to deepen the kiss. I sigh into the kiss and as I open my mouth, his tongue massages mine then I’m pulled from my stupor and react.
I place my hands on his arms and push myself away.
“Quinn, we can’t.” I say.
He steps closer as I retreat.
“We can, you just have to let it happen.” He says quietly.
I have no more space as I crawl up onto a picnic bench and sit. He pushes my legs open and steps in-between them, places a hand on both sides of me, bracketing me into his space.
“Since the night we met, I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind. There’s no denying that I am interested in you. I know that I shouldn’t be, because of being your boss, but I don’t want to deny something like that. And I think that you feel the same way. So what, I’m the Editor in Chief of the magazine that you work for. That’s one tiny fact, out of so many potential great things.”
“An attraction that can lead to a lot of circumstances. I can’t sleep with the boss, that isn’t a good look on anyone.”
“We met before I became the boss,” he points out.
“While that may be true, it also means nothing. I regurgitated my sorrows on you, that doesn’t mean that we had an enlightening moment, where we realized that we were deeply in love. No, we were strangers on a train and you just so happened to be curious and helped me home.” I shake my head.
“I think I got to know a good amount about you that night,” he says hiding laughter.
“And here, I know nothing about you.”
“Let’s change that.”
“No, it’s better that our relationship remains professional, and you know that.”
“If I wanted that, I wouldn’t be dreaming of you at night. I would be somewhere else now, and I wouldn’t be begging you to spend time with me. I came to LA with the intention to be by family and to work. Then you came along and I can’t get you out of my mind. I’ve tried, but I’m being honest here with what I want and I want you.”
I look at him and see the longing in his eyes.
“Quinn, you can have anyone, why me?” I ask.
“Because you are unapologetic. You are you and I want that in my life.” He leans back in and kisses me again, wraps his arms around my lower back and pulls me to the edge of the table to where my center is pressed against his stomach. I wrap my arms around his neck and give into the kiss for a moment.
“I’m not sure about this,” I say against his lips, pulling back from him slightly with my mind and my body doing the exact opposite.
“Let me prove too you that it can work. That we won’t let work interfere. We don’t do anything stupid at work, we keep it separate. Away from work, we can be a normal couple, at work we are colleagues.”
I want this, I just don’t know if it’s the smartest thing. Quinn is so optimistic about how a relationship or something can work between us. He doesn’t seem to be bothered by what potentially could happen. Is he just being careless or is he that confident?
I don’t know what my future will be like at World Tripping, will I stay or go, now that there’s no foreseeable promotion in sight? I feel stuck in my position, I feel like there are no opportunities for me to grow since Mr. Williams said there would be a freeze on promotions. Do I wait around until there is one, or do I look for other avenues?
