Page 62 of The Arrangement

Surprisingly, my answer wasn’t as hard to find as I expected. It appeared first as an advert I spied on my walk back to the shop. A few calls later, to double-check a few things, and I not only had my confirmation but also a reservation. Now all I had to do was get Marc there and hopefully in a halfway decent mood.

As the day wound down, my excitement increased, and I was clearly doing a piss-poor job of keeping it in check if the furtive glances Marc kept shooting at me were any judge. I waited impatiently as he walked across the shop to flip the sign to “Closed” and locked the front. Then he cracked his back with a groan.

I chuckled, and he shot me a look. “How about you take a hot shower, glow stick? I’ll finish up down here.”

He narrowed his eyes at me as he walked back toward the counter. It wasn’t as if the shop was a mess, but there were littleodds and ends to take care of. “Why do I feel like you’re up to something?”

“Probably because I am.” I gave him a wide smile, loving how adorably his eyes widened with surprise.

“Should I be concerned?”

I walked around the counter to stand in front of him. “No. But after you get cleaned up, you should put on something nice.” I watched entranced as his Adam’s apple bobbed.

“Nice?”

“Mhmm. Nothing ridiculous. Just standard going out on a Friday night, nice.” I clarified.

He blinked. “But it’s Thursday,” he replied. Then what I’d said seemed to register, and his eyes got even wider while the faintest hint of pink touched his cheeks. “Wait, nice like a date?”

I leaned closer, testing the waters, curious if he would pull away or put distance between us as he had all week. When he didn’t, I chanced using a single finger to sweep his hair to the side. God, I missed touching him. “Yes, baby boy, like a date,” I practically purred.

“Oh, um, okay. Where are we going?”

“Thatis a surprise.” I booped his nose because he always made the cutest face when I did that. “Now go get ready. I’ve got this.” He searched my face for a moment, but ultimately didn’t protest before leaving me to it and heading upstairs to shower off and change.

By the time I finished cleaning up the shop, he’d finished showering and was picking out clothes when I hopped in to rinse off real quick. Getting dressedinthe bathroom filled with steam was less than ideal, but I was also trying to give him space while also preserving a semblance of “first date” vibes.

“Now will you tell me where we’re going?” he asked when I walked into the living space, standing from where he’d been seated on the sofa. I took him in from head to toe. Baby boydid not disappoint. He was a goddamnsnackin his dark, low-riding jeans and vibrant green Henley that made his eyes pop. I resisted the urge to tackle him back to the cushions and maul him within an inch of his life, or better yet, until he was writhing in ecstasy.

Down, boy.

“Nope, but you can have the directions.” His pout was so cute that there was no stopping my laugh, which ‌morphed his pout into a scowl and made me laugh more. I walked closer and placed my hands on his waist, restraining myself from wrapping my arms fully around him. “I promise you’ll enjoy it, and if I’m wrong, you can decide how I make it up to you.”

He continued to give me a dubious look for a few more seconds before finally caving. “Fine, give me the directions.”

I wanted to kiss him more than anything, but I was behaving. So I texted him the bare-bones address, and we were off. Probably shouldn’t have surprised me that he got more anxious the closer we got to the restaurant. After all, I’d gone out of my way to make sure it was one he’d neither been to nor heard of.

“Are you sure this is the way?” Marc asked, his driving slowing down to a veritable crawl on the dirt road.

“Just follow the directions, baby boy.”

He shot me another frown—pretty sure we were up to eight now—and muttered under his breath. Then he turned around a copse of trees, and the dirt road opened onto an equally gravelly parking lot. But that wasn’t what made Marc gasp. No, that honor belonged to the wooden structure on stilts at the back of the lot that butted right up to the water. Lights hung in lanterns from picturesque eaves, and the slight rust effect on the tin roof added to the charm-like quality of the place. There was even a little pier off to the side, lit by twinkle lights.

Chapter 31

Marc

Iwas beginning to worry I’d left my brain back on the road as I parked the car and we headed insideBayou’s Basin Fish and Grill. This place was something straight out of a fairytale. I mean, a swamp fairytale for sure, but a fairytale nonetheless. As if the perfectly placed lights and overall homey atmosphere weren’t enough to solidify the feeling, the second we stepped inside it started to rain, creating musical pings on the tin roof.

I looked at James in disbelief as he walked up to the hostess and gave his name. He’d made a reservation? As we followed her to our table, I couldn’t keep my gaze from wandering everywhere. The swamp seemed as much a part of the inside of the restaurant as the outside, but in the best way. Embedded lights glowed in a steady twinkle, emulating fireflies; actual foliage graced the walls, weaving through mounted nets and around stunning photography of the bayou. There were even sections of the restaurant with special lighting to make it look like you were underwater.

“So, what do you think?” JD asked once we were seated and the hostess had walked away.

I quickly turned away from my intense study of a remarkably stunning picture of a gator that’d been blown up to life-size proportions. “I’ve never been here before.”

“That was kinda the idea.”

Normally I might have taken issue with his smug smirk, but again, I’d left my brain on the road. I was having a difficult enough time with normal tasks, like talking in meaningful sentences. “How did you find this place? I’ve never even heard of it.” Which, if we were being real, was the truly impressive part.