“I wanted the same table outside. And now it’s a monsoon,” he huffed, literally huffed, as each pellet of rain on the windshield seemed to piss him off all over again.
“The restaurant inside is just as nice, and we could always go another time. I don’t care where we are, you know that.”
“I know, sweetheart. Getting coverage so that I could take a Saturday night off wasn’t an easy feat, and tonight is important to me, all right?” He grabbed my hand and entwined our fingers, his hold tighter than usual. His frustration was adorable.
“You’re cute when you’re having a tantrum.”
The Halston Hotel was a huge success and had reservations booked months in advance. A full hotel meant a busy restaurant, and Dominic pulled long hours until he built a staff he could trust enough to watch things if he took a night off. Both Beach Pubs were killing it this summer, and I loved watching my boyfriend in his element.
In fact, I loved it so much that Joe had caught us in Dominic’s tiny office behind the bar more than once. We’d been so happy this past year, it was almost spooky. But all the ghosts were gone—well at least at a comfortable enough distance to not affect us.
“I may have gotten you an anniversary present,” I told him as I tried to rub away the tension in his neck.
“Did you?” I spotted the side of his mouth curve up. “Is it you naked on our deck?”
I let my head fall back against the headrest as I rolled my eyes.
“Like I keep telling you, we aren’t having sex on the deck, Dominic.”
“Well, not in the rain, although you wet and riding me would be hot asfuck. We can wait until it clears up. Another reason this weather sucks.”
“Since when are you an exhibitionist? The neighbors are too close by.”
“I’ve never had a deck before. I want to make the most of it.” He reached over to squeeze the inside of my thigh as we pulled up to the restaurant.
“I guess I’ll pull the umbrella from the back,” he said on a sigh, his frown so low I thought it would droop past his chin. I wondered what was up since he wasn’t the type to obsess over a silly detail like that. That was more Joe than Dominic.
When he walked to the back of the truck, I pulled out the envelope I had for him, smiling when I took a peek inside. I couldn’t care less where we sat. This night was already perfect.
* * *
Dominic
“This isn’t so bad,” Thea tried to reassure me as we strolled to the front of the restaurant. The rain came down in buckets as I held the umbrella over us, the wind making it difficult to open the door to the front entrance.
This was what happened when you tried to make elaborate plans. Nothing cooperated.
When we finally got inside, Thea giggled as she shook the rain out of the ends of her hair. She’d even worn the red dress I’d asked her to wear last year, when I’d brought her here in a desperate effort to get her back and make her stay. Now, she was mine and was in my bed every night.Ourbed. Although, sometimes I didn’t come home from work until the early hours of the morning.
I didn’t mind working twelve hour shifts with Thea waiting up for me every night, although most nights she still passed out before I got home no matter how hard she tried. Waking her up was something else I could look forward to every night, too.
“Sorry, the patio is closed, but we have a great table for you by the window.” The hostess smiled and motioned for us to follow her.
“Wait, nothing in the back?”
I felt Thea’s eyes roll next to me. Yes, the window had a view of the water, which you couldn’t see through the heavy rain and dense fog, but I wanted some privacy. I wasn’t worried that things wouldn’t end up the way I wanted them to, but I didn’t want that moment to belong to anyone but us.
“Babe, it’s fine,” she sighed and slipped her arm in the crook of my elbow. “It’s fine. A table by the window sounds great. I’m starving.” She smiled at the hostess before giving me a narrowed side eye.
I smiled as she waved to some of the patrons she’d recognized on the way to our table. She’d always teased me about being too social, but since working so often with the residents of Pentier Beach and going back and forth to Ocean Cove, she knew more of the people here than I did. She had a beautiful personality to match the rest of her. As difficult as it was I tried not to tease her about all the new friends she’d made in a year.
“Why did you want a table in the back?” Thea crinkled her nose. “Looks dark and gloomy.”
“It’s not important.” I said, feeling an onslaught of nerves as I pushed in her chair. I blew out a long breath and sat down, my lips twitching when I caught Thea’s widened eyes as she searched the menu.
“I don’t actually remember what we had last time, but it all looks so good.”
“I don’t remember what we ate either, I was more focused on convincing the sexy blonde in the red dress to come home with me.”
