Page 25 of Miss Typed

Why? Why had I made him sound so interesting? I should’ve said he worked in accounting, and I simply didn’t want to go out tonight. Instead, I was caught in my web of lies. “I couldn’t tell you for certain what he does with special forces. It’s all confidential and mysterious.” So mysterious, in fact, I didn’t know his name.

“What’s his name again, Chloe? I can’t recall,” Aiden inquired sweetly. He was clearly enjoying this game and could read my panic about being asked more questions.

Fine, I was in this now, and two could play. “Hank. Hank the Tank, on account of him being six foot five.”

Amusement sparkled in Aiden’s eyes while I was ready to kick him under the table. I was a terrible liar, so continuing the story was beginning to give me serious anxiety.

“Long-distance relationships don’t work. And it’s not like he’d know if you went out with us tonight,” Peter declared.

“Believe me. He’d know. He tracks her phone and car.” Aiden sipped his water, obviously enjoying the boys’ growing discomfort.

Jesus. Now he’d made Hank the Tank a stalker. A stalker who was good with his hands and lived in Germany. How the hell were they even buying this?

“You’re okay with him stalking you?” Peter asked, surveying the restaurant as though he expected special forces to drop from the ceiling any moment.

“Oh, yeah. Tracking me is the way he shows how much he loves me.” I said it with a straight face but then rolled my eyes at Aiden as if to say “what the hell have you gotten me into?” The bright side was the way he was smirking. I loved seeing this playful side of him, even if it was at my expense.

We paused with our storytelling when the waitress came over. The boys were quick to order more cocktails, clearly not slowing their roll, while I hesitated when I viewed the outrageous prices. Some of the steaks cost more than I allocated for a week’s worth of groceries.

“I’ll have water, then, um, I’ll go last to order food,” I said to the waitress.

Everyone put in their dinner requests, and the waitress came back to me.

“Maybe I’ll get a salad.”

Aiden frowned. “Don’t you eat steak? They have a great tenderloin here.”

I glanced up to see him studying me. “Um, I do, but I had a big lunch and—”

“Don’t.”

One whispered word from his beautiful mouth made me want to hide under the table with embarrassment. “Don’t what?”

“Don’t worry about the prices, Chloe. This is on the firm, and even if it wasn’t, you are an invited guest.” His voice was low, for my ears only. The waitress was busy talking to the boys about other places they could spend their evening out in Dubai.

I could feel my face heat with his spot-on assessment.

“Do you want the special? It’s what I’m getting.”

“Sure. I’ll have the special, too,” I finally said to the waitress. I had no idea what it was, but at this point, I simply wanted to escape the awkwardness.

“Also, we’d like a bottle of the Calera Ryan Vineyard Pinot Noir, if wine is okay with you, Chloe?” His vivid eyes were glued on mine again.

“Wine sounds lovely.”

Once the orders were placed, the conversation kept flowing. Unfortunately, the guys weren’t ready to let my fake Hank the Tank go.

“If your boyfriend is super possessive, doesn’t like you hanging out with other guys, and tracks your every move, then how does he feel about you spending time with your boss?”

“Oh, because Aiden has a boyfriend.”

Peter and Sean stared with their mouths half open while Aiden almost choked on his water. To his credit, he didn’t refute my statement. He just let it sit there marinating amongst us.

Peter cleared his throat noisily. “Didn’t see that coming.”

My boss coughed, covering either discomfort or amusement, and set his napkin in his lap.

I did the same with mine, hoping I didn’t violate fine dining etiquette during this meal. I’d never before been to a restaurant this nice.