Personal Research: A Short and Spicy Novella by Taryn Quinn

Author:Taryn Quinn [Quinn, Taryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rainbow Rage Publishing
Published: 2024-02-19T18:30:00+00:00

Nine

“You’re not eating.”

Enzo glanced down at the beef stew he’d hardly touched and shrugged. His uncle Mike always liked to go Lonegan’s down the street on Fridays for lunch, and since his own appetite extended way beyond Italian cuisine, he definitely didn’t mind. Beef stew, a Reuben sandwich and Irish fries—who could complain?

But today, he wasn’t hungry.

Since the argument he’d had with Elena on Tuesday, they’d barely spoken, though they still met every night to make love. Her touch was a drug to him now, one he didn’t intend to go without. But the conversations in bed afterward, about their days, about work, about life had stopped.

Now the sex lasted until both were too tired to speak, then she got dressed and went home, or vice versa.

He knew they needed to talk. It wasn’t like him to play games or to keep his thoughts to himself. But in this case, the stakes were too high. He wouldn’t lose her.

So did that mean he was doomed to take what he could get—her body—while never feeling as if he understood her heart?

“Son, what’s going on?” His uncle set down his fork and pushed back his own chicken pot pie. “Your father entrusted you to me while you’re in America. You’d tell me if you were in trouble, wouldn’t you?”

Enzo had to smile. “I’m twenty-seven years old. Think I’m probably old enough to take care of myself.”

“Ah, but to Seamus, you’re perpetually twelve, with a penchant for breaking bones and ending up in the principal’s office.”

“I haven’t broken a bone in a decade and I don’t break rules anymore. At least not important ones.” He broke off a piece of bread and dunked it into his stew.

Which begged the question: why the hell not? Since when had he become a choir boy? Growing up didn’t mean becoming staid.

Well, not completely staid, as his interludes with Elena proved. But still. Once upon a time, he would’ve made his stand about wanting a real relationship with her and to hell with the consequences.

He would’ve said he wanted to come with her to Utah to meet her parents, and not just because he wanted to see Salt Lake City. But somehow he’d traded loving all of her in the light to keep her in the dark.

She didn’t see their relationship as anything more than a fling. She hadn’t said as much, but he was pretty sure she’d slotted him right above her erotic romance writing. Fun while it lasted, but definitely not something she intended to keep in her life long-term.

It wasn’t like he wanted a lifelong commitment from her. Far from it. They were still getting to know each other, in bed and out. All he wanted—needed—was to know she would be open to what happened.

Between them, yes, but also in her own life. She’d closed so many doors, made so many decisions about what was “right” and “acceptable.”

He didn’t live with limits, and he couldn’t stand the thought of someone he cared about chastising themselves for not reaching some invisible bar.

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