“Unfortunately, yes,” Aiden admitted. “But I didn’t really mean the stripper thing.”
“Good,” Gio said good-naturedly. “I’d hate to have to beat you down on a full stomach.”
“I’d hate to be beaten down,” Aiden agreed.
Frankie picked up her beer and watched until Gio took another bite of his sandwich.
“Oh, and we had awesome sex last night. Crazy awesome.”
Gio choked on his sandwich, coughing until Frankie got up to slap him in the back.
“Goddammit. I hate when you do that shit.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The restaurant Frankie chose was a hole-in-the-wall Portuguese place sandwiched between an empty storefront and a hot yoga studio on a quiet street in Brooklyn. The tables had no cloths, and the menus looked as though they’d been printed from a back-office printer. But the smells coming from the kitchen were nothing short of heavenly.
Aiden silenced his phone and slipped it inside his jacket pocket. He didn’t want anything trying to steal his attention from the woman across the table. Frankie had worn her hair down and, in keeping with the casual atmosphere of the restaurant, she was wearing tight jeans, a sweater with a neckline that kept drawing his eye to her delectable cleavage, and soft suede boots.
She seemed… comfortable, perusing her menu, resting her chin in her hand. He tried to remember the last woman he saw who didn’t maintain perfect posture and actually asked for and remembered the names of the waitstaff.
“What?” Frankie asked, frowning at him over her menu.
“I was just…”
“If you say admiring the view, I’m going to throw up on the table.”
Aiden shook his head.The words that came out of her mouth…“Well, we can’t have that now.”
“Then why were you staring at me?”
“Because I like looking at you. You’re interesting to watch.”
“I’m going to assume that’s a compliment so we don’t have to start our first date with a fight,” Frankie decided.
“It was very much meant as a compliment. You’re different than—”
“What you’re used to.” She closed the menu. “Which brings me to my first point in what I hope will be a civil discussion.”
“You’re not going to threaten to rip my face off and feed it to me like you did your brother last night, are you?” Aiden asked.
“Har har, smart guy. Let’s just put this on the table. We have literally nothing but pretty spectacular orgasms in common.”
The word “orgasms” had his cock stirring. “I find it hard to believe there’s nothing else. How do you feel about puppies and apple pie?”
Her lips quirked. “Okay, let’s try this. What’s your goal this week? What do you plan to accomplish by Friday?”
The waiter returned with their glasses. It was a BYOB place so Aiden had raided his collection and settled on a decent bottle of cabernet. They placed their orders and handed over the menus.
“By Friday?” Aiden asked, filling her glass and then moving on to his own. “The board vote is this week. I plan to make sure it goes my way. Elliot needs to be reminded of his place in the family and the business. And I have a new acquisition that is experiencing some, shall we say, growing pains that need my attention.”
“Uh-huh,” Frankie said smugly. “You know what I’m doing this week?”
“I’d love to know.”
“I’m trying to ace my Corporate Social Responsibility exam on Thursday.”
“Exam?”