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He stood as I sat on the bed, bringing forward a room service cart. Something caught my eye on the bed and, horrified, I gasped. “Oh, God. Oh no!”
Leaving the cart, Quinn rushed over, clearly worried. “What, Maya? What?”
My face miserable, I blinked away tears. “There’s blood on the sheets.” I sniffled. “Now everyone will know what a harlot I am. The maids will talk about how much of a ho I am then they’ll tell the cooking staff, and before you know it, the entire city will know.”
The bed depressed. An arm wrapped around me and pulled me into a shaking body. “Baby, no.” He tried to conceal his amusement, but he failed hardcore.
I nudged him roughly with my shoulder. “Don’t laugh at me, Quinn.”
He feigned hurt. “Ow. Okay, okay. But seriously, this is not even a thing. Don’t even worry about it. Do you know how many newlyweds come to this hotel? They’ll just chalk it up to thinking we were just married.”
Newly married…to Matt Quinn.
Holy shit.
I swiped at my eyes and took a deep breath. “You’re right.” I nodded to myself. “Yeah, you’re right.” I turned to him and tried to smile. “You can feed me now.”
He pulled me into his warm body then placed a kiss on my forehead. “At your service, m’lady.” The room service tray was parked right at my feet. When Quinn started to remove the coverings on the silver trays, I gasped.
Desserts as far as the eye could see.
Oh, Lord, I was in Heaven.
Bite-sized pieces of chocolate mud cake with streaks of chocolate sauce, tiny banana caramel pie, and even tinier lemon meringue pie, red velvet cake piled with cream cheese frosting, carrot cake with caramel frosting. Oh, my stars. If I were to die tonight, I’d welcome it knowing that this was the best day of my life.
Then he walked over to the mini bar fridge. “There’s one more. I had to special order this one.”
As soon as I saw the ramekin, I gulped. “Don’t tell me that’s a—” When it was in seeing distance, I threw myself back on the bed. “Sweet Jesus, it is.” Lifting myself onto my elbows, I uttered an awe-filled, “Crème brûlée. You sneaky shit.”
He sat next to me, grinning. “I remembered.”
I shook my head. “You remembered.” I hadn’t planned on doing what I was about to do, but I did it anyways. Wrapping my arms around him from the side, I placed my lips on his cheek and kissed the stubble there. “Thank you, Quinn. This is the best day ever.”
His arm came around my shoulders and he pulled me to his side. He held me a while before muttering a very genuine, “The pleasure was all mine.”
I took the crème brûlée and a spoon and tapped it on the top. Hearing the crust crackle was all it took for a blissful smile to grace my face and my nipples to pucker. I dug in and brought the spoon to my mouth.
The very moment the sweet, smooth custard hit my tongue, I moaned. “You’ve got to try this.”
I brought a spoonful to his lips, and without hesitation, he took it. His eyes shuttered and he groaned, “That’s what a crème brûlée is? Shit. I’ve been missing out.”
I gawked at him. “You’ve never had one?”
He shook his head, still enjoying the dessert. “No, but I get it now. Why you like ‘em so much.”
We talked for most of the night, feeding each other pieces of wickedly indulgent desserts and drinking Dutch bitter hot chocolate. It wasn’t sexy though. It was comfortable and friendly. I was surprised at how relaxed we were around each other. Quinn told me a little about himself. I found out his mother was not the nicest of women, but he wouldn’t tell me why. His father left before he was born, and when he got old enough to look him up, he found out he’d died.
I felt for him. And because of that, I told him a little about me too. How my father died from cancer when I was just a little girl, and how my brother is my best friend. He asked about my tattoo, and I decide to tell him the truth.
I started quietly, “I was very overweight at one point in my life. Like, fifty pounds overweight. And when you’re short like me, that fifty pounds is huge, you know?” I peeked over at him for any sign of disgust, but found none. “So I started to lose weight. I’d get up early and go running, workout five times a week, and eat healthily every day for two years, and here I was. A healthier version of me. I was proud of myself. But my stomach…it didn’t want to cooperate.” I shrugged.
“The stretch marks wouldn’t fade. They were red and angry-looking, and I’d worked so hard to get where I was, but there was still that one thing that was bothering me. So I went online to look at my options. I tried all these creams claiming they would fade them, but nothing worked.”
I popped a piece of red velvet cake into my mouth and moaned around it. “God, that’s good. Anyways, I found a tattoo artist who had done this sort of work before. When I told her what I wanted, she knew right away what I needed. So seven hours later and possibly the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life, I had a tattoo. And here’s the kicker,”—I shook my head and sighed—“those stretch marks? They faded.” I chuckled. “After all that, I got the tattoo for nothing.”
Quinn eyed me carefully in a way that made my body tremble. “I think it’s pretty and feminine. Just like you.” He added quickly, “And by the way, you look great. Your hard work has definitely paid off.”
I shook my head. “I’m still working on it. I’d like to be firmer in places, but as you can see…” I looked pointedly to the platter in front of us, “…I like cake.”
Quinn’s eyes darkened and he all but ground out, “Can I tell you something?” I nodded and he uttered a rough, “I don’t know about other men, but I like women soft. Your ass is amazing, and your tits are edible. I can barely stop myself from touching you, Maya. Honest.”
My breath left me in a whoosh. “I-I—”
He waved a hand at me. “No need to respond, babe. Just stating facts.”
Just. Stating. Facts. Oh no. I was pretty sure I’d just fallen for Matt Quinn, and there was nothing friendly about it. Why had I ever thought this was a good idea?
I was totally screwed.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Quinn
Monday came with sunlight, warmth, and a sad smile on my face.
I woke up later than intended, but was lucky in the sense that I had no client today. It was a national holiday, which meant Harry wouldn’t be working. I sent him a text.
Me: Get your lazy ass up. I need coffee. Meet me at the pier.
I chuckled to myself, knowing Harry was an early riser and would have likely been up with the chickens at the crack of dawn.
Scrubbing a hand down my face, I lie back in bed and thought about the night before. I met Maya. And not only was she adorable, but she was funny, and kind, and lovely.
My hands covered my face and I groaned. I was getting hard just thinking of her. Jesus. People did not get hard over their friends, and according to how we left things last night, I was sure she wouldn’t book another appointment.
After we’d talked the majority of the night away, telling bad jokes and eating cake, Maya yawned.
My heart squeezed, because I knew what was coming.
She blinked up at me sleepily. “I should go.”
Not wanting to betray my feelings, I agreed, “It’s getting late.” I added with a smile, “Bu
t at least you don’t have to work tomorrow.”
She smiled back at me, nodding, “Yeah, I’ll probably go out to lunch with my brother.”
I titled my head, curious, “You’re really close with him, huh?”
“Yeah. I mean, sure, he’s a pain in the ass, but he’s always there for me. He always supports me. He’s my biggest ally,” she uttered humbly.
I’d like to meet this guy. Any man who has the complete devotion of someone like Maya is all right in my book.
She stood and I kept my eyes on her as she changed. She put on her silky pink bra, slipped her dress over her head, and then surprised me as she walked over to the trash and threw in her panties. She must’ve felt my eyes on her, because she flushed and explained, “I didn’t bring my purse, I don’t have anything to hide them in. I can’t put them on yet; I’m too sore.”
I nodded my understanding, stood, and slid my jeans on, walking her to the door without a shirt. I planned on leaving as soon as Maya left, but I didn’t want to give her the impression I’d been waiting for her to leave. Truth is, I had such a great time that if she stayed till five a.m., I would have stayed too.
Placing my hand on the doorknob, I opened the door and she stepped out, turning to face me. “I’ll remember this experience my whole life, Quinn. You were everything I hoped you’d be.” She blushed charmingly and my heart seized.
I lifted my hand to cup her cheek. “No chance I’d be seeing you again?”
Averting my eyes, she shrugged lightly, prettily, and uttered a soft, “I’m not sure.”
I knew this was a no. If it wasn’t a definite, it was a no. I knew this from past experiences. My face lowered to hers and I pressed a chaste kiss onto her swollen, well-kissed lips. “It was so nice to meet you, Maya.”
Her arms came up and she wrapped them around my neck, squeezing. “You have no idea what this meant to me, Quinn.” She turned her face and kissed my cheek, feather-soft.
