Page 76 of Why Not Both?

I press a gentle kiss to her lips again. And then one more. Because I won’t be taking her to bed tonight and I need just a little more before this night is over.

“I’m sorry, Spencer,” she begins, but I stop her.

“Don’t be. I want you, Lis. But I’m willing to wait until you’re sure.”

I entwine our fingers and tug her with me back to our table. I order us an Uber and then finish the last gulp of my beer while she does the same with her mojito. Then I pick up the hoodie from the back of the chair and pull it over her head, loving the weirdly erotic feeling dressing her in my clothes gives me.

We go outside and the car I ordered takes us to her place first. I ask the driver to wait a moment while I walk her to her door. The rules have slipped for tonight, so instead of the kiss on the head or the cheek that I’ve been limiting myself to for the last few weeks, I kiss her properly, sliding my tongue along hers in a caress that she returns.

When I end the kiss, she watches me with green eyes.

“Sleep well, firecracker. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I’ve been walking her home almost every night we’ve worked together. I’m not sure she realizes I wait for her sometimes—I don’t mention it, and neither does she. Every time, when we arrive at her building, I wait for her to get inside and onto the elevator before I leave.

Tonight, I don’t. Because if I don’t leave right now, I’m not sure I’ll be able to.

Chapter 27

Lis

As I ride the elevator up to my floor, drunk off the mojitos and Spencer’s lips, I think I’ve made a huge mistake. Though whether that mistake was kissing him or not sleeping with him, I have no clue.

#

Thankfully, the wedding keeps me so busy that kissing Spencer plays in the background of my mind instead of the foreground until I leave for the night. The cooking and cleaning is all done by nine, but he has to stay until the event is over. I consider briefly going to find him to say goodbye, but I’m not sure what to say. Or what I’ll do. I find Vic instead and tell her I’m leaving.

“You’re not coming in tomorrow, right?” she asks.

“Right. Since there are no events tomorrow or Monday, Tina and I are going to both come in Monday and do an inventory and some prep for the upcoming events.”

Since Sophie’s birthday is tomorrow, I’d already cleared it with Vic to move things around so I could have the day off.

“I want to say thank you again for agreeing to work these next two weeks straight,” Vic says. “With all the people coming through here for the Pride events, weddings, and the Celebration of Lights this next little while, I’m glad we’ll have our head chef on hand.”

“Of course,” I say. “I’ve loved the events. These last few months have been exactly what I was hoping they’d be.”

“So you’re liking it here then?”

I laugh. “I love it here.”

“Good. Spencer mentioned that you’d like to make some changes to the menu.”

I falter, blinking. “Oh. I, um… well, yes. I think the menu is good. Great, actually. But it’s just not mine.”

Vic nods. “I understand. Let’s finish off this wedding season. When it’s all calmed down a bit, you can tell me what you’d like to change.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s your kitchen, Lis. I hired you for a reason. And you’ve proved you know what you’re doing. We’ll set up a meeting in September and figure out what you want to do.”

I squeal and wrap my arms around her in a squeezing hug. Then I jumped back. “I’m sorry. I should have asked to hug you first.”

Vic laughs. “It’s fine. Get out of here. I’ll see you on Monday.”

I walk home, excitement still thrumming through me, and after a shower, I pull on Spencer’s hoodie and my comfiest pyjama pants and go back into the kitchen. Daze and Sophie are out for the night with their friends to celebrate Sophie’s birthday. I’d been invited, but I knew I wouldn’t want to go out after working, especially with all the days I’d be on coming up and the cake I still need to bake.

I take Cerberus out for a quick walk to the dog park and back. When we get home, he flops down on his bed and falls asleep. I turn on some music, pull out the ingredients I need and my stand mixer, and get to work. While I measure and mix, my mind strays to what I haven’t let it think about all day. Spencer’s arms around me, his lips on mine, his heat sinking into me. I’d felt the erection pressing into my belly as we danced and kissed.

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