Page 162 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 2
“I would never do that.”
I laughed. “I know that. But he’s probably worried you’re going to fire him or something. Which you can’t do. Because we need him.”
“I’m not going to fire him.”
“Good.” I stared at him.
“Good.”
He hadn’t agreed to be nice. But I’d pester him about that later. Right now I needed to see what the hell was inside this tropical restaurant. I’d painted a picture in my head of very over the top tropical décor.
We walked inside and it was like we were transported to…well…some tropical place. If anything, it was more extra than I’d even pictured ahead of time. The walls were all painted with waves. The tables were made of worn-down beach wood. There were stuffed parrots perched on fake palm trees. I wasn’t even sure that was accurate. Weren’t parrots in rainforests or something? But it didn’t really matter. It all somehow worked, even though it was way too many decorations for a restaurant. I wondered if Matt and Mason’s parents went all out like this for Halloween. Probably. Mrs. Caldwell always threw a good party.
I swore one of the parrots’ heads moved as we walked to the hostess stand. “Did you see that parrot move?” I asked.
“What?” James looked over at the parrot. “No.”
I swore it was looking at me. Maybe I was already at a Halloween party. But then I heard music. Ah! My eyes abandoned the creepy parrot. There was a DJ and a dance floor. I hadn’t been expecting that. Right now the DJ was just playing some Beach Boys music pretty quietly. The restaurant had a romantic, intimate feel despite the creepy birds. But fingers crossed it was going to get crazy in a couple of hours.
Seduction - Chapter 4
Friday
Rob waved at us as the hostess led us toward their table.
“This place is insane,” I said when we got to the huge half-circle booth.
“Isn’t it perfect?” Rob said. He was at one end of the booth, his arm was wrapped around Daphne’s shoulders. Mason and Bee were already there too…smushed together in the middle of the booth. It was actually kind of funny seeing Mason sitting in a booth. He was still wearing his expensive suit from work and he stuck out like a sore thumb here. All the employees were dressed in bright, floral Hawaiian shirts. The vibe was chill and laid back and not at all what Mason was wearing.
James slid in beside them because he knew I’d want to be close to the end so I could go to the bathroom. I was barely showing and I already felt like I needed to pee every few minutes. I didn’t want to think about what it would be like in a couple of months.
Bee leaned forward. “So is the food really good here or something, Rob? Why’d you choose the weirdest place in the city?”
He laughed. “It’s not weird. It’s perfect,” he said again and looked over at Daphne.
She grabbed her glass of water and downed half of it without making eye contact with anyone.
I looked over at James. He was already staring down at me. And we shared the “what the hell is going on right now?” look with each other.
“They don’t even have darts,” Mason said. “How are you expecting to con me out of all my money tonight?”
“No kicking your ass tonight,” Rob said. “Just a memorable night with my favorite people. Speaking of which…where is Matt?” Rob rolled up his sleeve to check his watch. “He’s five minutes late.”
James and I both looked at each other again. Rob never wore a watch. And now that I thought about it…he was always late for our weekly dinners, usually the last to arrive. What the actual hell was going on right now?
“He said he’d be a few minutes late,” Mason said. “Speaking of being late…nice watch. Please tell me you’re not dying or something.”
Rob laughed. “Nope, I’m very healthy. Virile, actually. But I’m a grownup now and grownups wear watches.” He pushed his sleeve back down. “I’m a freaking adult.”
Oh God, is he dying?“Are you sure you’re feeling alright?” I asked. I couldn’t help but worry. He was acting very strange.
“He’s fine,” Daphne said and elbowed him in his side.
He smiled down at Daphne.
They’d only been dating a few months so they still had that thing where everyone else faded into the distance when they were together.
James placed his hand on my thigh. I looked up at him and he was staring at me the same way Rob was staring at Daphne. I guess we still had it too. I felt my cheeks flush. This was the look I was worried would fade though. Once I was the size of a blimp.
