Page 3 of My Dear Mr. Corporate

CHAPTER 2

Tate

“We didn’t have to eat out tonight,” Bryan murmured when the hostess sauntered away after wishing us a pleasant evening. I glanced from the woman who was sending me signals, to the man who had me more worked up than I’d been in a long while. I was trying to be patient with him. I really was but I couldn’t help thinking that things between us had shifted somewhat. We were no longer in the cabin by ourselves. Our synchrony which had been explosive in the cabin was off and it had to do with how aloof Bryan had become all of a sudden. His eyes were full of trepidation.

“I know, but we are.” Sometimes I sounded too sharp with him, and this was one such time. He questioned me about everything as if he thought I was a child incapable of making a decision. I didn’t appreciate this especially when I was doing everything I could to ensure we became the sort of couple I had sensed in the cabin. I’d never been in a relationship with a man before, and I’d been pleased at how smoothly we had started off, but today we’d made several steps backward. All because Bryan felt we were moving too fast. I had to respect his decisions of course, but it didn’t mean I had to like it. I didn’t like it one bit. And that part about sleeping in separate rooms…total bullshit. He had given in to sleeping in my bed but we were still at a stalemate when it came to sex.

“People are staring at my face,” he remarked.

I grimaced because I hadn’t thought of that. The cut above his eye and to his lip was evident. I’d been so intent in spending the evening with him and reclaiming some of what we had in the cabin that I hadn’t thought how he would feel in public. Whenever I focused on what Keith had done to his face I wanted to return to his condo and beat the shit out of him.

“They probably think you did it,” he said. At my look of alarm, he chuckled and touched the cut above his right eye. “I’m kidding. Well, maybe some probably think that, but it doesn’t matter.”

“We haven’t ordered yet,” I pointed out. “Do you want to go? We can pick up pizza or anything you like on the way home.”

Home. The word echoed in my head. Except for the cabin, I had not thought of anywhere in the city as home in two years. Not since the sudden deaths of my wife, Rachel and my daughter, Kathleen. To the best of my knowledge I’d never referred to my estate as home either. I owned the house because of a rash decision I’d made following Rachel and Kathleen’s death. I hadn’t been able to set foot in our house without being struck by grief. I had sold the house on impulse and left the decision up to my best friend Giovanni to find me a new house, while I beat a hasty retreat to the woods, to mourn and lick my wounds.

“We’re already here,” Bryan said, and I forced away the black memories to focus on him. “It doesn’t really make sense for us to leave just to order somewhere else.”

“Fine, we’ll stay then.”

We spent some time poring over the menu. I already knew what I wanted to eat, and while I waited for Bryan to decide, I glanced around the restaurant to catch a sign of Gio. Perhaps I should have warned Bryan that the owner of the restaurant was my best friend. We had met in college where we had completed our first degree in Management. While he went on to culinary school however, I’d completed my master’s degree at MIT. He had been the best man at my wedding and had catered for the event.

“Hello, I’m Cassie,” a young woman in her late teens greeted as she approached our table. “I’ll be your waitress for this evening. What are you gentlemen having to drink?”

“You ready to order?” I deferred to Bryan to find out if he needed more time. He was so skittish already that the last thing I wanted was to rush him.

“Yes, I am.”

The waitress took our orders but before she could go, I stopped her. “Is your boss here tonight? Giovanni?”

She glanced at me then Bryan, her eyes full of curiosity by the time they returned to me. “Yes, he’s overseeing things in the kitchen.”

Yup, that was Gio. Although he was the boss, he usually was up to his elbows in dough. “Please, will you inform him that Tate Rosenbaum is here?”

“Sure, I’ll let him know,” she replied. “But he’s extremely busy tonight.”

“Just deliver the message.”

She nodded and left. I turned to find Bryan frowning at me. “Why do I have a feeling this is more than just a dinner date?”

I shrugged. “It’s just a dinner date. No hidden motives.”

“And the guy you just asked after?”

“A friend.”

Bryan’s nostrils flared a bit and he narrowed his eyes at me. He glanced down but not before I saw the jealousy in his eyes. After the way he had left me pissed by walking our relationship backward, seeing his jealousy rubbed a little bit off my annoyance.

“Gio and I are just friends,” I assured him. “He’s not gay.”

He snorted. “If I had a penny for every man who claims he’s not gay but turns out to be.”

“Well, it’s not like that with Gio and me. We went to college together and we’ve…” I trailed off when Gio’s presence loomed in front of me. He was a tall guy, only one inch below my six-foot-two-inch frame.

“Tate!” he exclaimed. “I didn’t know you were passing through. Why didn’t you call me? I’d have taken the night off.”

I chuckled and stood to hug him while we pounded each other’s back. “I couldn’t imagine taking you away from the one thing you look forward to every day. This place.”

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