Page 63 of Forbidden Kisses
Technically, he was my boss, and I was sleeping with him. But I wasn’t going to work for him for very long. Regardless, I wasn’t prepared to let go of what we had; I wanted to see where we could end up. If the three of us could find happiness.
He pushed my hair to one side, kissing my neck before we resumed climbing the staircase. When we reached Paula’s door, it swung open before I even rang the bell.
"Finally. I was afraid something happened—oh, hi, Duncan," she said. My sister was clearly only at coffee number one, because her forehead was full of creases. Her eyes widened, and she jerked her head back so forcefully that she nearly stumbled.
"This is where I leave you," Duncan said. He handed my sister the Ziploc bag. "This is your breakfast. I hope you have syrup. Have fun, you two. Call me if you need anything."
"Thanks, Duncan," I said, then stepped inside as he went down the stairs.
The second the door closed behind us, Paula cleared her throat. "What was that? What is this?" She pointed to the waffles.
"Ah, I should have probably given you a heads-up.”
"It would have helped. I did put two and two together last night, although I figured maybe he'd come with you because you were still working when you got my call. I did wonder why you were wearing this dress. And oh my God, you're wearing it today too. You're doing the walk of shame!" she concluded.
I laughed. "Did you even finish coffee number one?"
"No," she said. "Isn't it obvious?”
We went into her kitchen. It was tiny, just a stove and a minuscule countertop. She grabbed the half-empty cup from the edge of the sink and downed it in one shot.
"Let's see if this helped. So, youaredoing the walk of shame?"
"Sort of, although I'm not really ashamed." I blushed.
"I can't believe it.”
“Let's talk about you first. What happened?"
"Please, what is there to talk about? I live in a shithole, work at a shithole, and got robbed. End of the story. Can you believe he actually sent me a message last night saying he expects me to show up at work today? After he fired me."
I stilled. "Tell me you're not going back there. Paula, you can’t."
"Hell no. I know I'm stubborn, but I'm not stupid. That place is unsafe. I'm not taking any night jobs in gas stations anymore. There’s a reason there are so many openings. No one wantsthem, and now I know why." She blew out a frustrated breath, making herself a second coffee.
"Waffles?" I asked, pointing to the bag. She seemed to have forgotten about them. My sister truly wasn't a morning person.
"Yes, please. I was going to eat some oatmeal, but this looks so much better."
"They’re delicious, trust me."
Paula paused while getting the syrup from the cupboard and asked, "Why are they in a Ziploc bag?"
The corners of my mouth lifted. "Because Duncan made them, and he bagged some for you."
Her face changed so fast, it was as if she was in a cartoon. Her jaw dropped, and I could almost see her eyes bulge.
"Let's sit down," I suggested. I brought over her plate and utensils, and we sat on the wooden chairs at the small table.
She put the bag of waffles, syrup, and the coffee in front of her.
"You had breakfast already?" she checked.
"Yes."
"So these are all mine."
"Knock yourself out."
