He pressed a hand to my chest, staring into my eyes. “Get to work. I’ll see you at home.”
“Okay.” And damn if I didn’t walk back to the entrance of the alley and watch him drive away. This wasn’t a life I expected, but one I was ready to fully embrace. It wasn’t often a man like Calvin came along, even rarer that he was willing to put up with me.
When Max hadn’t shown up by four-thirty, I started to worry. The only way I could reach him would be to call Club 83 and ask Eli for his information, and I didn’t want to do that. I already felt weird that Calvin had called in a favor to make sure this shift was covered for me tonight. At almost five o’clock, the office door burst open as Tony led Max inside.
“Hey man, sorry I’m late. Didn’t know Eli had whored me out to you for the night.” I groaned. I trusted Max to filter his crude comments tonight, but I couldn’t be certain.
“No sweat. You have everything you need for tonight?” I looked him up and down, impressed by how well he cleaned up. Truth be told, Max looked more professional than a lot of our servers. “Everything should be set up and I asked my baby brother to cut up all the garnishments. They’re in the cooler under the bar in the private dining room.
“I’ll show you where we’re going and Tony will come in to show you the register. It’ll be easy since it’s an open bar, but we still have to ring up everything for the final bill.” Since I was itching to get out of there and home to Calvin, I ushered Max and Tony out of my office. I didn’t miss the way Max checked out Tony, his eyes pausing on the middle Marino’s backside. I so didn’t want to think about Max and Tony. “Don’t waste your time. I’m the only brother who swings your way.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Max quipped. Tony split off from us at the kitchen, mumbling about needing to check with Freddie to make sure he was ready for dinner service to begin.
A few minutes later, I left Max in Tony’s capable hands and made one last round to make sure everyone was cool with me taking off. The guys had even called Enzo to come in for the night. I was grateful he was willing to pick up shifts when we needed him. He might be the second youngest of the bunch, but he was the peacekeeper. If Tony pissed off Freddie, and he would before the night was over, Enzo would make sure there was no bloodshed.
11
Frankie
Music streamedthrough the house when I got home, and Calvin greeted me at the door with a kiss before taking my messenger bag while I toed off my shoes. “You’re not going to need this for the weekend.”
“My laptop’s in there,” I argued when he set the bag inside his home office and made a show of locking the door.
“As I said, nothing you’re going to need for the weekend.” Calvin laced his fingers through mine and led me to the living room. There was a tablecloth draped over the old chest he used as a coffee table, with two place settings and a candle in the center. Since it was still a couple hours before nightfall, he’d pulled the drapes to block out the afternoon sun. He pointed to the floor. “Get comfortable. I’m going to grab dinner.”
I couldn’t smell anything permeating through the air, so I was pleasantly surprised when he walked in carrying a cardboard flat filled with Chinese from the takeout place down the street. There were baggies filled with egg rolls and crab Rangoon, two of my favorites. When he set down a container filled with garlic shrimp, I swear I just about launched myself over the chest to kiss him. Again, it was a favorite dish, but I never brought seafood into the house because I knew Ryan was allergic.
“I hope this is okay.” He took the plate from in front of me and started heaping it with food. Before I could tell him I couldn’t eat that much, he cut off my protest. “You never eat enough. And I plan on keeping you active all weekend, so you’re going to need the energy.”
Well, that certainly sounded appealing. I waited for Calvin to fill a plate for himself before eating, even though my stomach was growling. I had, in fact, forgotten to eat today. “Thank you for this.”
“You’re welcome.” He smiled, reaching over the makeshift table to brush the hair out of my eyes. I sighed, wondering how in the hell such an innocent touch could turn me on. Calvin smirked, as though he knew what he was doing to me.The bastard.
As we ate, we went through getting to know you pleasantries at the pace of speed dating. It amazed me how little we knew about one another despite the fact we’d been roommates for months. Again, that made me think about how I’d kept people at a distance and how out of character that was for me.
“Hey now, what’s this?” he asked, scooting around so he was sitting next to me. He traced a finger over the creases in my forehead. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No, it’s nothing like that,” I responded in a rush. God, I was going to give the guy a complex if my mind kept going to unpleasant places whenever we were together. “Tonight’s Frankie fun fact: I tend to overthink things a lot. Sometimes, at really shitty times.”
“I’d already figured that one out.” Calvin smirked and pulled me into his lap. He leaned back against the front of the couch, pulling me with him. I swear, this was my new favorite position. “Do you realize how the tension melts away when we cuddle?”
“Mmmhmm.” I closed my eyes and tried to live in the moment. Each slow, deep inhale filled my nose with the scent of spicy aftershave and Calvin.
He reached around and started undoing the buttons on my shirt. I shifted so my back was to his chest, offering him easier access. The graze of his fingertips down my sternum tickled, causing me to fidget. “I think we should move this someplace more comfortable.”
“I’ll clean up dinner, then we can go wherever you’d like.”
“Leave it,” he told me. That was one order I couldn’t follow, because I knew the mess would drive him crazy, and I had no plans on either of us leaving whatever bed we landed in unless it was to shower before the next round. I’d pull out every seduction skill I possessed if needed, but I was going to get well and truly fucked before the night was through.
“It won’t take me long.” As much as I’d have liked to stay in his lap, I got up and started tossing empty containers into a plastic bag. He scooped the tablecloth off the chest and took it straight to the laundry room. By the time we met up in the kitchen, there was no sign we’d eaten in the living room tonight. “There. Now we can both relax tonight.”
I tried to hide my disappointment when Calvin led me to my own bedroom. Maybe it was stupid, faulty logic, but I couldn’t help feeling like he was trying to maintain a safe distance between what we were doing and his real life. After all, he had the bigger bed, one I assumed didn’t sag on both sides with a huge hump in the middle. I’d never complained about the bed in his former guest room since it was a piece of furniture I didn’t have to buy, but the thing was hell on my back.
Calvin massaged my shoulders as he guided me to my dresser. “Grab yourself a fresh pair of underwear. At some point, you’ll need them.”
“Uh, okay.” That was a slightly disturbing demand. I was keeping an open mind to exploration this weekend, but I did have my limits.
“Relax, Frankie. Nothing will happen without us talking about it ahead of time,” he reassured me, kneading my shoulders as I rummaged through for a pair of something other than formerly white. For the first time in my life, I wished I’d listened to Mama when she tried teaching us boys how to properly do laundry. “I need to take care of a few things in my room and you’re going to take a shower.”
