“Bad day at work?” I guessed.
“I’ve had better. The boss walked in on our phone conversation yesterday. He decided since I had time to talk to someone on my personal cell during work hours, I should be able to complete all the reports by this morning. I worked until one in the morning, and then I slept through my alarm, which made me late for work. He was less than impressed with me.”
“I didn’t realize you taking a call at work would be that big of a deal,” I replied, feeling a little guilty.
“It’s usually not, but he already can’t stand me.”
“I know the feeling.” I muttered, smirking as the waitress set my margarita down.
A brief flicker of emotion crossed his features before the waitress turned toward him. “Can I get you another beer?” she asked, squeezing closer to him.
“No thanks. I’m good,” he answered.
“Holler, if you change your mind. Your food should be out soon,” she said, her brightest customer service smile in place.
Ben nodded, watching her as she walked away.
“Can we get on with the planning?” I asked through gritted teeth, annoyed that he was checking out our waitress.
His gaze snapped back to me like he just remembered I was still sitting here.
He took a pull from his beer. “I got UFC tickets for Jack and all the guys who RSVP’d.”
My brain short-circuited.
“Wait... what?”
Jasmine chose that moment to bring our food. I gave Ben a wide-eyed stare from across the table while my brain played catch up. He’d gone and planned all this without a single text or phone call. I’d waited to finalize any plans, and he’d already bought tickets.
“The fights start at 11,” he continued, oblivious to my barely concealed rage bubbling just under the surface. “I figured you could plan something for Olivia and the girls while the guys go to the fights and then we could meet up afterwards to do the hen and stag thing. Did you make reservations anywhere for dinner?”
“I reserved a room at a couple of different places, but I didn’t want anything set in stone because you said you wanted to help plan it. I wasn’t expecting you to come here with a full day of events planned for your half of the party. I could have had the rest of it done had I known what you were planning,” I groused.
“You took your sweet time calling me. I knew the UFC fights were that day, and Jack’s been talking about wanting to find a time to go for ages. I wanted to make it happen for him.” He shrugged as he piled meat and veggies onto his tortilla. “If I’d waited much longer, I wouldn’t have managed to get the tickets.” He eyed me as he took a large bite of his fajita.
“Right.” He was throwing me off my game. I tried to regain some of the control. “What about a nightclub?”
He wrinkled his nose and shook his head back and forth. “Jack and Liv aren’t really into the clubbing scene,” he said, shooting down my first idea with ease. I couldn’t even argue with him. I knew he was right.
I dug into my flautas, crunching into the tortilla as Ben worked on loading up his second fajita.
“What about that new burlesque place?” he suggested. “Viva la Vaudeville. I’ve heard good things.”
My lip curled up in distaste. “Is that the vibe we’re going for? Half-naked women dancing around a stage?”
God, I sounded like my mother. This was really ruining my appetite.
“It’s not some sleazy strip club, princess. The performances are supposed to be extremely entertaining. I’ve been wanting to check it out.”
“Do that on your own time, O’Connor. This night is for Jack and Olivia, not to fulfill some voyeuristic fantasy you have,” I said with a wave of my fork.
He snorted, rolling his eyes away from mine. “Fine. Did you have a better idea?”
I perked up now that the ball was back in my court. “What about a booze cruise? They go around the bay. There’s dinner, drinks, dancing and a fireworks show that night.”
“Sure, that sounds like fun. Although I stand by what I said about the burlesque place. It’s supposed to be an upscale show for couples, not just an audience full of men with hard-ons and a desire for an overpriced lap dance.”
“Then you can surprise your next date by taking her there. I’m sure she would be thrilled,” I deadpanned.
