On Monday morning, Quinn woke up to a fuzzy feeling in his head. The whole rest of the weekend he couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss. It had even followed him into his dreams.
Why did you run off?God, Aiden probably thought he was crazy or something. He’d definitely given the impression that he wasn’t interested in the alpha. Damn it. Although Quinn wasn’t sure what Aiden wanted or what motivated the alpha, he didn’t want to burn that particular bridge just yet, but he just couldn’t get that kiss out of his head.
Thankfully, he didn’t have to go over to Aiden’s today, and man, did he need to have the day to himself. Quinn needed to figure out what the kiss meant. Did he want it to happen again? Quinn closed his eyes and let out a breath.
When he got to the office, Carlos, his new assistant, was already there working.
“Good morning, Carlos,” Quinn said, bypassing the desk they had set up for him.
“Good morning, sir,” he said.
Quinn stopped and stepped back to Carlos’ desk. “What did I tell you about calling me sir?”
Carlos blushed and then smiled. “Never to call you sir.”
Quinn nodded. “Right you are,” he said, and laughed. He was about to move on and head to his office when Carlos stopped him.
“I have a message for you. It’s from Mr. Cross.”
Quinn turned around. “Aiden?” His heart crashed in his chest. He knew there was a chance that things could be awkward between them once they resumed work on Tuesday, but never in a million years did Quinn think Aiden would fire him. That was the only reason Quinn could see why Aiden would have a reason to call into the office on his day off. “What’d he say?”
“He said he needs you to come to the house today and work. He has some extra duties that will require some overtime?” The statement turned into a question, and Carlos looked up from his note. “I think that was all the message. He said you’ll know what he’s talking about.”
Quinn stood there slightly dazed and not being able to think of a response.
“Do you want me to call him back and tell him you can’t make it?” Carlos asked.
Quinn forced a smile and shook his head. “It’s alright, Carlos. Thank you. I’ll take care of it myself.”
Quinn still felt like he’d eaten an egg salad that had been left in the sun too long. He just knew that Aiden was choosing to let him go, and his stomach turned and knotted the more he thought about it.
“Bet he thought about the whole three kids thing and decided to bolt,” Quinn muttered. It was as clear as anything to him. Quinn didn’t bother going to his office. He figured if Aiden wanted to ditch him, he might as well get it over with. The sooner he spoke to him, the easier it’d be.
Quinn bit at his lips and pushed away the voice saying he thought this could have led to something.
On the drive to Aiden’s house, Quinn practiced the conversation he would have with him.You’re right, it shouldn’t have happened. We should only keep it professional. It will never happen again.
Quinn refused to apologize. Aiden had kissed him, but he still managed to get himself worked up by the time he turned into Aiden’s driveway. Quinn looked in the rearview mirror at his reflection.
You are not nervous. It’s not on you. Aiden was the one to stop you from leaving. So, Aiden should be the one to apologize.He kept repeating this mantra in his mind, even though there was a small voice that said that wasn’t what he wanted from Aiden at all.You don’t want him to apologize, Quinn.
He sat in his car for a few minutes longer, and after doing all the breathing exercises he could think of, Quinn got out and headed up to the front door. Why did it suddenly feel bigger than before?
He wiped his suddenly sweaty hands on his pants before pushing the doorbell, and the moment he heard theding dong,all the nerves came crashing in like a tidal wave.
“Come in.” Quinn didn’t realize the doorbell had a speaker, which meant it probably had a camera and Aiden could see him. He refused to look up to the camera. If Aiden had been able to see him panicking in his car, he didn’t want to know.
Quinn opened the door and entered the house the way he had since the first day he had started cleaning Aiden’s home, and up until Saturday, he’d felt comfortable walking into the house, looked forward to it even. Today was a different story.
He could only think about the courteous let down Aiden was sure to throw at him. Still, he wouldn’t let the alpha see him sweat.
Quinn heard footsteps on the stairs, looked up, and spotted Aiden walking down the stairs.
“I’m glad to see that your assistant gave you the message,” Aiden said.
Quinn nodded, but didn’t speak, and as much as he tried to read Aiden, he couldn’t. When Aiden reached him, Quinn could feel the heat that radiated off of him.
“I’m a little confused, though, as to what you need help with that couldn’t wait until our scheduled day tomorrow.” Quinn said aThank Godinternally when his voice didn’t shake, pleased with himself for holding together. Before Aiden could speak he blurted, “I’m wondering if the real reason perhaps this has something to do with Saturday… and how things ended between us.”
