Page 63 of Open To Negotiation

“I won’t use it, I promise.” I grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the door. He stayed close, his hand my back until he helped me in the car. Once we were buckled in, he kept his hand in mine, rubbing his thumb on the back of my hand.

His hands were distracting. The strength of them, the veins, the things they could probably do.

“Can’t believe you made me work this hard to get a date,” he teased.

“Will you get bored of me after this?” I tried to keep my tone equally as light, but I knew it didn’t work when he put his free hand under my chin and made me look at him.

“This is not a game to me, Quinn.” I knew it was serious with the way he said my name. “You are not a game to me. The only thing that is going to happen after this is you’re going to have an even harder time keeping me away.” He squeezed my hand, emphasizing his words, his eyes locked on me.

“I’m okay with that,” I replied softly.

He didn’t drop his hand or my eyes. “Tell me you believe me.”

“I believe you, Theo.”

And I did. Despite some of my earlier lack of confidence in his interest in me, I believed him now, especially after the conversation I’d heard between him and Asher the night at his house. It might not last, but he wasn’t playing a game.

When we were spending time together, he was focused and engaged. He listened, made eye contact when you talked, I saw him do it with me and all the guys. I really liked that quality in him. Even though sometimes it was a little intense.

He waited another moment before he nodded, satisfied by whatever he saw on my face.

The conversation in the car flowed easily after that. He told me how his day was and the new project he was looking at undertaking for Knight Enterprises. He told me about a time in high school when Noah had decided that for a senior prank they should drive the principal’s car from his house and leave it in the school. He’d seen it in a movie. Asher and Theo weren’t thrilled but the three of them did it together, because that’s what they did for each other.

They were caught and driven home with nothing but a shake of the head from the security guard. Noah’s mom was pissed, but his dad laughed which had them being sent to their rooms and the dad getting a lecture.

I ate up every piece of information he was sharing, the glimpses into his life were fascinating and thrilling for me.

Before I knew it we were pulling up to a restaurant with valets out front. Theo helped me out and the second Theo gave his name, we were shown a table despite the line.

I was relieved to find that although the place seemed nice and popular, it wasn’t overly stuffy or so fancy that I felt out of place. The lights were low and the music was soft so you could still have a conversation. Booths surrounded the outside with tables in the middle, all done in dark fabrics that gave the place a rich feel.

We were given a private table near the back. Menus were placed in front of us, a wine appeared like it had been already selected and then they left us alone telling us they’d be back for our order soon.

Theo lifted his wine glass up. “To finally getting to take you out properly.”

Smiling, I clinked my glass against his. “To your persistence.” That got me a small twitch of his lips as we both took a sip. The wine might have been the smoothest I’ve ever had, probably because I usually went for cute bottles that were under twenty dollars. I didn’t even want to think about how much this glass of wine cost.

“I haven’t been here before but Will told me it was great,” Theo said as he picked up his menu before looking back at me. “Can I guess what you’ll order?” A cocky look crossed his face.

I thumbed the corner of the menu, looking it over quickly before meeting his eyes. “If I can guess yours.”

“Do you need a minute to look it over?” He put the menu down and leaned back in his chair grabbing his wine glass.

“No.” I copied his posture. “Shall I go first?” He lifted his hand, offering for me to continue. “Well, the most expensive thing on the menu is the steak so Mr. Money Bags probably goes for that.”

His lip twitched again. “Sides?”

I smiled, leaning forward. “Potatoes, probably mashed and the side salad with the dressing on the side, since you hate when food has too much sauce.” I’d eaten around him enough over the last few weeks, noticing that he didn’t like things dripping in sauce or getting soggy.

“Impressive,” he said with a tilt of his head. I smiled widely at him but considered for a moment.

“Would you actually tell me if I was wrong?” I asked, taking a sip of my wine. I wasn’t so sure the man would.

“Your turn.” He put his glass down, evading my question. Which probably meant I was right and something about him letting me be right had my stomach feeling all gooey. “If we weren’t on a date, you would have ordered hot wings with a side of fries.” I gave him a surprised look. Because that was my go-to order. “So instead, you’ll order a Cajun chicken sandwich with the side of fries, of course, because you would prefer if fries were considered a main food group.”

I blinked at him for a second. He was a hundred percent right. “How did you know that?”

“About your love of fries?” I nodded at his question, trying to remember if I’d said something. “You mentioned it as part of another story on our first coffee together.” I was rambling a lot that day, answering his questions. I couldn't even remember what I’d told him.