At Your Most Beautiful

let come across as more than polite, but it was a difficult task because as soon as she had greeted sweet, lovely Beverly, and they’d kissed each other lightly on the cheek, Maya had known that this was not what she wanted. Beverly was not who she wanted to spend her evening with. They weren’t even an hour into their date and while it wasn’t exactly painful for Maya—Beverly was still good company—Maya wasn’t attracted to her. She had hoped to be able to write off her attraction to Quinn as something in a category of its own, something that didn’t count because it wasn’t rooted in reality, but she realized now that she’d been wrong. Because, even as she sat opposite Beverly, who truly had some genuinely interesting tales to tell, and from whom Maya could surely learn a thing or two about life, and life in New York City specifically, all Maya could think of was Quinn.

But she was here and she was going to make the most of it. She was still adamant to give this a chance. Maybe she couldn’t stop thinking of Quinn because she forbade herself to do so. Many a scientific study had shown how hard it was not to think of an elephant when you were explicitly told not to think of an elephant. Let alone a gorgeous woman who had given Maya a night that she would never forget—a night that only made the memory of their previous night together even more spectacular.

“I’m so sorry,” Maya said. “Ethan’s been colicky and he’s been crying a lot and it’s been driving us all nuts.” This was only partly true. Maybe Ethan had cried a bit more than usual when she’d spent time with him last, but that’s just what babies did. They cried. It hadn’t worried Maya all that much. But she couldn’t tell Beverly about what was really preoccupying her mind.

Beverly nodded as though she understood. She had three children and five grandchildren, after all. But she was the type of woman, Maya believed, who couldn’t be fooled for too long. She actually liked that about Beverly. If she really put her mind to it, Maya could probably have a wonderful time with her. They could strike up a long, meandering, satisfying conversation, if only Maya’s brain would give her some space to do so. But it felt so crowded up there, with all these images of Quinn screaming for attention.

Half an hour later, Maya was so appalled by her own thoughts that she escaped to the washroom so she could talk some much-needed sense into herself.

She looked in the mirror and shook her head. Whenever she tried to listen intently to something Beverly said, something she’d had no issue with last weekend—before—a little voice in the back of Maya’s head started telling her that she could be doing god knows what with Quinn right now and it wouldn’t be an effort and she certainly wouldn’t have to force herself to enjoy it. Because that was what Maya had been doing throughout the date and she knew it was ridiculous but not half as ridiculous as going on a date with Quinn.

And that was the real issue. Maya felt caught between a rock and a hard place. She already knew that things wouldn’t work out between her and Beverly, albeit through no fault of Beverly whatsoever. Although, as she stood there, admonishing herself in her head, Maya didn’t think it was really her fault either. It was Quinn’s. She was too irresistible. Too delicious. Too easy to be around. Too much fun. Her lips were too soft. Her fingers too nimble. Her tongue too…. Maya had to stop herself. She took a deep breath. “Get a grip,” she told her reflection. She no longer had the luxury of prancing around like a hormonal teenager. This was temporary, she told herself. It would pass. It had done so before. She squared her shoulders and returned to Beverly.

“What’s her name?” Beverly asked after Maya had sat again. “Or his, for that matter.”

“What do you mean?”

Beverly chuckled. “I’ll show you my driver’s license if I have to, Maya, and it will confirm I wasn’t born yesterday.” She shrugged. “A woman like you was always a long shot for me.”

“I’m sorry.” Maya looked into Beverly’s eyes, but she had to look away swiftly. “I really am. I had the best intentions, I promise you, but…”

“You’re besotted with someone else.”

Besotted? Maya wouldn’t put it like that. She had some work to do to get past this whole Quinn thing, yes, but she was hardly besotted. She still had her wits about her. She still knew what needed to be done. That was one of the reasons she was here tonight—not that it was working. “There’s someone else. She’s like a blast from the past that I don’t really know what to do with.”

“That’s a damn shame for me, because I really like you.” Beverly drummed her fingertips on the tabletop. “So much so that I’m feeling a little sting of rejection.” She sucked her lips into her mouth and released them with a smacking sound. “Although I do want to be the bigger person here and not end this date in an overly dramatic fashion.”

“Maybe we can be friends,” Maya tried.

Beverly scoffed. “I have plenty of those already. I had zero intentions of ever putting you in the friend zone.” She leaned over the table. “You are absolutely smoking hot, and I sincerely hope that this woman you’re so obviously infatuated with treats you right.” With that, she pushed herself up, and left.

Maya settled the check, took a deep breath and another generous glug of wine, before reaching for her phone to take Quinn up on her offer of taking Maya out.

Chapter 28

The smile on Maya’s face was the exact reason Quinn had brought her to Noches.

The club was in Queens and hardly around the corner from where Quinn lived, but Quinn could—hopefully—show