“No job talk, remember?” We had established that rule during our talk on the plane.
I shrugged. “I already told you I’m unemployed, though.”
The corners of his lips bent upward. “No job talk. Have dinner with me tomorrow.”
The switch in conversation was abrupt but smooth. My instinct was to say yes. I didn’t have much planned for the next few days, save for a scheduled massage and hanging out at the beach.
“You can’t. You’re having dinner with friends,” I reminded him. Another topic we’d discussed during the two-hour drive. Turned out the friend he mentioned in the airport was an old Army buddy. One of a few who were scheduled to meet up while in Tulum.
“I’ll dump ’em,” he quickly replied.
“You can’t do that,” I said.
His reply was cut off by the ringing of my phone. “Oh, it’s Carlene,” I said. “Hey,” I answered, remembering that I’d forgotten to text her since leaving the airport.
“Put him on the phone,” she demanded.
I didn’t say anything. Instead, I handed the phone to Brutus. “It’s for you.”
His eyebrows lifted, but he took the phone. “Carlene,” he answered. He remained silent for a beat. “Please accept my apologies,” he said while keeping his gaze trained on me. “I became famished with all of the travel, and we stopped for some tacos at what turned out to be a nightclub of sorts. We lost track of the time.”
He paused and listened to whatever Carlene said.
“I assure you, she’s fine.”
“I’m fine, girl,” I yelled loud enough for her to hear me.
Brutus chuckled from whatever my BFF said to him.
“Okay,” he said before covering the phone with his free hand. “Carlene says she’s talking to me, not you.”
I rolled my eyes and sucked my teeth. “She can get off my phone then,” I muttered.
The lines around Brutus’ eyes wrinkled as he looked at me. “Will do,” he said before disconnecting the call. “She said she’d like for you to call her as soon as you wake up tomorrow and tell her all the details of today.”
He handed me back my phone.
“How about breakfast then?” He didn’t waste a moment returning to our previous conversation.
“Breakfast? We just had dinner.” Truthfully, I wanted to shout yes, but I refused to let myself get carried away. It’d been a long travel day, granted, made a lot easier and a hell of a lot more enjoyable by the man standing in front of me. However, I couldn’t let my tired senses talk me into something I would regret.
“You’re persistent.”
He moved closer again, taking my chin in his hand. “When I want something, I don’t know how to take no for an answer.”
I swallowed. “You know, given the situation, that could come off as a threat.” My gaze traveled around the empty room. A reminder that I was in a foreign country, in a city I’d ever been to, with a man that, at this time the previous night, I’d never laid eyes on.
“I would never threaten you,” he said low while staring down at my lips. He looked at me the same way I’d looked at those tacos right before devouring them.
“Breakfast might be too early. We’ll do brunch,” he proposed. “I’ll give you some time to settle in.” He obviously wasn’t giving up. And I didn’t want him to.
It’d been a long time since I was pursued, and even longer since the idea of a job or career wasn’t paramount in my mind.
“Do you like waffles?” he asked.
I pulled a face. “Who doesn’t like waffles?”
He chuckled. “Right answer.”
