Page 5 of Baby Bombshell for the Boss

“What do you mean?”

“Well, someone must have shown it to you first, right? That’s the only way anyone ever finds it, you said.”

“Oh,” Elliot said. “My case is a little different. I know the owner.”

“Friend of yours?”

“Business associate.”

Ivy was more intrigued than ever. He had said he was in tech — how did that result in having a business associate who owned a secret club? She wanted to ask him, but she didn’t dare — he’d made it pretty clear that he didn’t want to give details about what he did for a living, and she was hesitant to say or do anything that might sour the evening. Everything was going so well thus far. She felt as if Elliot could become a real friend — her first in the city. If he didn’t want to talk about his job, she shouldn’t force the matter.

So she changed the subject. “You said you’d lived in the city all your life?”

“That’s right,” Elliot said. “Can’t imagine leaving to go anywhere else, either. I’ve always been very happy in New York. Are you liking it so far?”

“It’s an adjustment.” Ivy sipped her drink. “I don’t think I realized how lonely it would be. New York is such a big and lively city — but it’s a little too big sometimes.”

“I know what you mean,” Elliot said.

Ivy doubted whether he did. It didn’t seem likely that he could relate to the struggles of trying to adjust to a city he had lived in all his life. But even so, she appreciated the fact that he was trying to empathize with her. It felt good to know that someone wanted to understand how she was feeling, even though she didn’t think he could really do it.

They finished their drinks. Ivy expected that he would walk her home, but they turned in the opposite direction. “I live that way,” she said, pointing. “Right by where we first met.”

“I know,” Elliot said. “But we have another stop before I take you home.”

“Another stop? What time is it?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Elliot said. “This city never sleeps. Haven’t you heard that?”

She laughed. “I have. Of course. Where are we going now?”

“You’ll see when we get there.”

It turned out to be a food truck. A couple of men were leaning out the window and serving tacos to a steady stream of people pouring out of the bar across the street. “Wait until about three in the morning,” Elliot said. “This place has a line around the block when the bar closes down. The best thing to do is to get here early, before they get backed up like that — and it seems like all these people know it.”

“There must be a million places to get tacos in the city,” Ivy said.

“But none of them lives up to this one,” Elliot said. “Do you know what you want?”

“I can’t even read the menu.” Ivy had had a few years of high school Spanish, but it wasn’t anywhere near enough to tackle this menu.

“Should I order for you?” Elliot asked.

Ordinarily, Ivy would have been too proud to accept such an offer, but tonight it felt good to sit back and allow someone else to take charge. “That would be nice,” she said.

“How adventurous is your palate?”

“Um, medium?”

He grinned and stepped up to the window. There, he exchanged a few words in Spanish with one of the men at the counter. Ivy had to admit that she was impressed by him, and it returned her to the question she’d had before — what was his job? What did he do in the tech field that both fostered relationships with the owners of secret nightclubs and required a command of Spanish?

He returned to her with two paper trays, each with three tacos in it, and two glass bottles of soda. He handed her one of each. Ivy inclined her head toward the curb, where a bunch of other patrons of the food truck were now sitting to enjoy their late-night meals. “Should we go over there?”

“No,” Elliot said. “I have somewhere else in mind, if you don’t mind walking about two blocks before we eat.”

“I don’t mind,” Ivy said, mystified. He’d added so much adventure to her night already that she couldn’t imagine saying no to anything he suggested for the two of them at this point.

And it was so out of character for her. She had never been the kind of person to take off without a plan like this. She was surprised at herself — but at the same time, it was fun to let go of her need to control things and to simply see where the night would go.

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