Page 33 of Mayhem
Two long fire pits ran the expanse of the restaurant, and she could feel the warmth of one from where she wassettling into the soft cushion of the couch. There was greenery around that Erin was sure was fake; lights twinkled throughout them. Now that she was sitting and looking around, she vaguely remembered Chayse telling her about one of Paetyn’s restaurants that Nik had taken her to. Still, it had been a year ago, so she hadn’t put it together immediately upon entering.
Erin was sure they hadn’t been seated a minute when their server appeared, menus in hand. He handed them out and asked if they were ready to order drinks or needed more time.
“Will you come back in five minutes, Frankie?”Paetyn requested.
“Of course, Mr. Silva.”With that, the young man walked away.
Erin opened her menu and looked it over. Everything sounded so good; the short descriptions given under each dish were like stories to entice her taste buds. By the time Frankie returned with three glasses of water, she’d narrowed it down to three things.
“What can I get you to drink?”Frankie inquired.
“Can I have a Caipirinha, please?”Erin requested.
“I’ll take a Scotch, rocks,”Cruz ordered.
“You can make that two, Frankie,”Paetyn tacked on.
“Of course. Are you ready to order, or do you need more time?”Frankie questioned.
Erin knew that she could ask for more time to decide, but she also knew she could try the other two dishes later. So, she placed her order and handed the menu back to Frankie. Erin leaned back into the cushion, taking in more of the restaurant’s décor as Cruz and Paetyn gave their orders. Her head volleyed between them because they’d ordered the other two dishes she’d been looking at.
“Did you order those because I was looking at them?”she questioned once they were alone again.
“If we did?”Cruz inquired.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“At some point, Angel, you’re going to realize that we’re going to do several things that you don’t think we have to. We know that we don’t. We’re doing them because we want to,”Paetyn told her.
“Why do you call me that?”
“Because it’s the way I plan on treating you.”
“Which is ironic, really,”Cruz spoke, pulling her attention to him. “Because we’re going to treat you as anything but an Angel behind closed doors when you’re ready. You’ll feel far from angelic.”
Erin licked her lips because she understood exactly what he meant, and his words caused heat to stir in her stomach. She believed him because his eyes spoke of everything he could and would do if she let him.
“He isn’t wrong,”Paetyn added.
Picking her glass of water off the table, Erin took a sip before placing it back down. She needed to change the subject because it had been far too long since she’d had something other than her fingers or a toy now and then to get her off. If the topic kept on the current track, she would ask them to take her to the nearest bed and show her all those things Cruz’s eyes, Paetyn’s voice promised.
Erin didn’t want to just tumble into bed with them. Yes, she’d had one-night stands before, but this was different. She knew them and had gotten to know them over the past two years, specifically the past few months. She didn’t know them in this capacity, the role of dating them, and she wanted to before she slept with them because Erin knew herself well.
“So, Paetyn, how many restaurants do you own?”
“Twenty-four,” he responded.
“Where are they located?”
“Three in the city, this one, eight in surrounding cities in Colorado, two in New York, two in Las Vegas, three in Los Angeles, one in Chicago, one in Atlanta, and two in Paris.”
“Paris as in France?”Erin questioned, and Paetyn nodded. “Wow. It has to be hard managing that many restaurants.”
“I handpick and train all my chefs before opening, and I have some talented and dedicated general managers,”Paetyn responded. “Construction, pre-opening, and the first few months after an opening are hectic, but I can leave it to my team once I’m satisfied. I do make surprise check-ins.”
Erin nodded, turning her attention to Cruz. “You’re working on some new software. How is it going?”
“Something seems out of place, but I can’t figure it out. Everything looks good; it works right, but I know there’s something,”Cruz responded.
