I turned my head and gave him an embarrassed smile. “Sorry,” I whispered, then pecked his lips. Turning my attention back on Kyle, I said, “This is Jackson, my boyfriend. And this is Kyle, one of my coworkers.” They shook hands and Kyle promised to call me after his meeting with Rino. Maybe Daisy and I could persuade Rino to let us be a three-person team? I could always hope.
We sat down again as I waved goodbye to Kyle. “Sorry about that. I haven’t seen him in over a year,” I explained.
“He’s a good friend then?” he asked, his tone suggestive, which I ignored.
“Very good friend. We trained together when we were both sixteen. Just after he turned seventeen, he got a chance to work on a big case in Europe, and he couldn’t pass that opportunity up.”
“Did you two ever…?”
“Nope. He’s gay too, but we’re simply too much alike. He’s gorgeous and kind but I struggled with containing my anger at his sunshiny mood 24/7. It’s cute and endearing in small doses, butmandid I want to kill him after a week of nonstop smiles and optimism.”
That had Jackson laughing. “Am I not a happy sunshine-y person, then?”
“You are, but not on his level. I think no one is truly at Kyle’s level of endless optimism. It’s rather scary. And besides, I was already hooked on a certain blonde with tattoos, remember?”
He just shook his head at me and continued eating. I eyed him with a warm smile. The next step would be dessert and I was definitely offering myself up for him.
Chapter 20
Jackson
Today was perfect. I’d had sex with Pete for the first time, then gone on our first date. And seen him interact with a friend. How could I not love him? Then after I’d admitted defeat and placed my knife and fork down, he’d told me he was my dessert.
I was a dead man.
I also shouldn’t have eaten so much. If I’d known he would be up for more today, I wouldn’t have bothered with the fourth plate. But I was weak and the food was too enticing to refuse. Now, I regretted it.
“You sure you want to sleep over? Not that I’m complaining.” I had to ask. We both knew Mike would be there.
“We need to face Mike at some point, and he’s been nothing but supportive of us being together. Now we just need to get used to the change when all three of us are at the apartment. We can’t sleep over at my mom’s. Especially not with Ida sleeping in the next room. Call me a terrible brother, but rather Mike than my mom and Ida.”
I laughed and he joined in. “Poor Mike. He’s got no clue what’s going down tonight.”
“Nope. Which is why we won’t tell him.” I liked that Pete was so set on us being together for real that he wanted Mike to get used to it faster. Nothing so far had shown me Pete and I weren’t a good match, quite the opposite. I kept seeing how perfect we were together. It was a surprise, but a nice one.
We drove the rest of the way in comfortable silence, both of us full from the delicious dinner, and both content to justbe.
After parking, I got out and opened Pete’s door for him. Ever the gentleman. “Be careful, I might begin to expect this,” he teased.
“I plan on it,” I replied with a wink.
As we walked up the stairs he asked, “So, you liked the restaurant?” I could tell the place meant the world to him.
“Iloved it. Hopefully we can eat there at least once a month, but I plan on going once a week.” His entire face lit up.
“Really? You wouldn’t mind eating there often?”
“Not at all. There’s so much variety there, I could easily go once a week and never tire of the place.” That had been the right thing to say, from the way he looked at me, with those big brown eyes full of adoration and love. I kissed his nose, then unlocked the front door.
“Hey!” Mike called from the living room.
“Hey!” Pete and I called back in greeting.
We removed our shoes and coats, then walked in to see what Mike was up to.
“Date night?” Mike asked, eyeing Pete’s clothes.
“Yes, I took him to Spring Roll.”
