Page 27 of Painting Together a Family
He couldn’t remember having a nicer evening or a nicer man to spend it with, and he hoped there would be more like it. Many more.
CHAPTER SIX
Dev sat on the terrace at the Velvet Bean, drinking his double caramel oat milk latte and scrolling through his phone. He kept checking the time and looking around. Bryan was meeting him here at 12:30, which was now only a few minutes away. That he’d been waiting for twenty minutes was his own fault for coming down early, but he was excited.
Bryan was ostensibly meeting him so he could take the guy out for lunch, but that wasn’t the real reason. Oh, he was taking Bryan out for lunch, that was true, after all, their date night plans for last Saturday had fallen through when Dylan had caught a stomach bug and gotten sick, but before they had lunch, he had something to show Bryan. A very big, very public something. And he couldn’t wait to see Bryan’s reaction.
He looked up from his phone again to see Bryan about halfway down the street and headed his way. Grinning, he jumped up and started wandering toward him. Bryan waved as soon as he saw Dev, and Dev waved back.
They hugged when they got to each other, and if it was a tiny bit longer than a simple hug between friends, Dev certainly wasn’t going to complain. He liked Bryan. A lot. In fact, he waspretty sure that while he wanted to be friends with Bryan, he wanted a whole lot more as well.
“Thanks so much for the invitation. I don’t think I’ve had a non-business meal out without kids in… well, maybe since I had the kids.” Bryan laughed.
“It’s a little easier when they’re both in school, isn’t it?”
“It is nice to have some time every day to get stuff done,” Bryan admitted.
“I kind of brought you here under false pretenses.”
Bryan tilted his head, frown putting lines in his forehead. Dev wanted to smooth them away.
“So we’re not doing lunch?”
“Oh, I’m still buying you lunch, but there’s something important I have to show you first.”
“Okay…” Bryan looked confused, and Dev didn’t blame him. He was being all mysterious, but only because he wanted it to be a surprise.
He turned Bryan around, the man letting himself be manipulated into place. Then, standing behind Bryan, he put his hands on either side of Bryan’s head and tilted it upward.
“What are yo— Oh my god!” The words came with a gasp, Bryan’s jaw falling open. “Wow. That’s… wow.”
“Do you like it?” Dev looked up to admire theitin question. A huge billboard had pride of place where two of the busier streets in the city met and on it were the wordsBeware of this man; he is a thief and will steal your money, alongside a picture of Grant’s face. An unflattering picture at that.
“I don’t know what to think. I mean, yes. I like it. That’s… bigger than life.” Bry sounded rather awed, whether at the billboard itself or the fact that Dev had followed through on the idea wasn’t clear.
“I thought everyone should know.”
“You aren’t going to get in trouble for it, are you?”
“I don’t care.” And he didn’t, but hehadchecked with his lawyer first. “But if he wants to claim it’s libel or slander, he’ll have to take me to court and that would open up a whole can of worms for him, given that he did steal. From me, from you, from husband number three. I’m hoping the new fiancé will see it and won’t become husband number four.”
“He’s going to plotz when he sees it. If he sees it.”
“There are two others up in the city; he’s going to see it. And I wouldn’t be upset if the shock of it led to a heart attack and death.” Apparently, he was supposed to forgive and forget—for his own peace of mind. This seemed to be doing the job for him just fine. And he’d wanted to do it for Bry.
Bry turned around and grinned at him. “You’re crazy.”
“You love it,” he countered.
Nodding, Bry looked back at the billboard. “I really do. You should tell him you’ll have them taken down if he pays you back the money he stole from you.”
“I might be willing to do that. If he pays me back with interest.”
That made Bryan chuckle, his gaze still on the billboard.
“So, are you hungry, or do you want to stay here a little longer and admire it?”
“Tempting as lingering is, let’s go eat. All I had for breakfast was a piece of toast and some coffee, and that was a long time ago.”
