“I guess, but you’re putting out tonight,” he said in his stern, teasing voice that I recognized instantly. I could picture his smile now. His eyebrows would be furrowed, and he’d be crossing his arms, but his lips would be wavering, struggling not to smile.
I giggled.
“You got it. Okay I gotta go, text me with the reservation info, love ya,” I said and quickly hung up.
Stacie did her quick speech for the cast and we launched into rehearsal. Everything went smoothly and the time just flew by. Next thing I knew, I was getting dressed back into my street clothes and sending Thomas the details for dinner tonight.
“It’s a new French restaurant called Chérir,” I told him. He was looking at his phone. He nodded and then looked up at me, he looked embarrassed.
“Cassandra wants to know what you’ll be wearing,” he said tentatively. I chuckled.
“A cocktail dress of some sort and Mark will be in a suit in tie. Nothing too fancy, just like a normal date. She really shouldn’t worry so much.”
“I tell her that all the time. Hopefully this dinner will help.” He reached out and hugged me, taking me off guard.
“I really appreciate you doing this for me.” He said. I told him that it was nothing and that it would be fun before we left the theater.
I called Mark on the way home and was surprised to find that he was already home and had showered.
“Adrian was practically falling asleep standing up, so we just called it an early one. I don’t know what suit you want me to wear so I’m just going to wait here for you- naked,” he teased. I laughed.
“Okay, I get it. I owe you one. I’ll be home soon.” By the time I walked through the doors Mark was sitting on the couch in his boxers and an undershirt. He gave me a fake glare.
“The dogs needed to go out. You missed out on some crazy naked man action.”
I nodded and hurried over to kiss him.
“Sorry sweetie. Okay, I gotta get showered and dressed. Come up in a bit and I’ll pick you out a suit.”
He grumbled but did as I asked. By the time I was out of the shower he was in the closet, picking out dresses.
“How about this one, or this?” He held up a very short, very tight, maroon dress in one hand, while in the other he had a similar dress in navy. I shook my head.
“I’m thinking something a little longer, like this,” I pulled out a powder blue, knee length dress. It was off the shoulder and formed tightly to my body. Sexy, but covered everything. He frowned and put the other dresses away.
“Okay, now what do I wear?” I pulled out a few suits from his side of the closet and settled for a simple black on black. We finished getting ready separately, and by the time I was done with my hair and makeup, he was downstairs waiting for me.
When I started down the stairs, he came out of the living room. He looked up and his face burst into a huge grin. It made me feel amazing. When I reached the landing, he leaned over and kissed me hard. I felt his arm twitch, and instead of picking me up he opted for a light hug.
“You look stunning. Everyone is going to be so jealous of me when we get there,” he told me on the way to the restaurant.
We arrived first, so we had time to get a drink and relax at the bar.
“White Russian for me,” Mark ordered, and the bartender looked at me.
“Cosmo please,” I told her. She made our drinks and we quickly paid her and turned to watch for our dinner mates. Ten minutes later I noticed Cassandra enter, followed by Thomas.
“They’re here. Why don’t we go meet them?” I suggested, getting off my stool.
We took our drinks and went to the front of the restaurant where they were talking to the maitre d, Thomas saw us first and gave us a small wave. He looked at me first, and then I watched his eyes go to Mark. His face hardened ever so slightly as he took him in. I wondered if Mark was doing the same thing. I assumed so because he suddenly put his good arm around me.
My attention turned to the woman beside my co-star. I gave her a smile and pulled away from Mark to hug her. She looked surprised but accepted the hug.
“Cassandra, it’s so nice to see you again.” She gave a similar response, but I could see that her smile and nice words were very forced.
I turned to the two men who were awkwardly shaking hands.
“Thomas, this is my husband Mark Lacey, Mark this is my costar and old friend Thomas Reynolds.” The two nodded at each other. They were formal, but neither particularly friendly.
