Page 42 of Due Dilligence (Takeover)
“Ah, but you’re going to.” Todd started in on his cake. “I promise, you’ll love every minute.”
He never made promises he couldn’t keep.
***
When Fazil reached for the bill folder, Todd lifted it away.
“At least tell me my share.” He had plenty of funds, and could get reimbursed for part of the weekend.
“Nope. My treat.” Todd fished out a credit card—a gold one—and stuffed it into the folder. “Don’t worry about today.” He handed it to the waiter.
He wanted to argue, but Todd gave a small shake of his head and the reasons for splitting the bill—the normal ones—were gone. “You’ve already paid enough.” Fazil wasn’t talking about money.
A glimpse of frustration swept across Todd and was gone. “Not all of it was your fault.”
But most of it was. “Todd...”
“Z, it’s okay.”
Yeah, it was. And no, it wasn’t. Laughing and turned on one minute because he was with Todd—hot, sexy, funny Todd—then horrified the next because he’d abandoned the friendship for so many years. He still didn’t know what had happened to Todd the year after he’d left. Fazil had the feeling it was bad. “I can expense a few things.”
“Think Eli’s expensing the weekend?”
Not if he was taking horse-riding lessons. “No. But I bet he’s paying his way.”
The waiter brought back the bill and Todd added a tip and signed. Fazil craned his neck to see the total, but Todd blocked him. “Nope!” The rejection was musical and lighthearted.
“Oh, come on!”
Todd put the pen down and closed the folder. “Look. You paid for everything when we were kids. Most of my comics and books. Movies. Trips to the shore. Our times out, even when we went in a group.”
He had. Todd scraped and saved and skimped and barely had enough to put gas in his car—the one he used to drive everyone around in. “But I could. I did it because I could.” His mother had once given him fifty bucks to buy Todd a winter jacket that wasn’t threadbare.I worry about him. It’s rough for your friend.
Then he’d left, leaving Todd high and dry.Shit.
“Fazil.” Todd rose. “I’m payingbecause I can.” He held out his hand. “Come on. Let’s see how close you can get to the edge of the outside observation deck.”
He scooted out of his chair and took Todd’s hand. Why the hell not? Anyone close probably guessed they were a couple.
A couple. His fingers tingled. And followed Todd down a stairwell to the observation deck. The past crashed into the present and mixed with a glimpse of the future Todd had hinted at.
Did he want that? Could he even have it? Todd was here in Seattle and he wasn’t. Not for the long run.
They had tonight to play out all of his fantasies, at least. He must have made a noise, because Todd squeezed his hand. “If it’s too much we don’t have to go outside.”
“No.” Fazil breathed the word out. “I was thinking about later.”
“Oh.” Todd shifted his fingers and ran one against Fazil’s palm. “How about this—if tonight is not as hot as you imagined, you can pay for everything tomorrow.”
Warmth settled in Fazil’s core. “Fair.” He couldn’t imagine anything hotter than what was going through his mind, especially when it came to the mysterious dragon dong and that look Todd had given him during brunch, the one that said,Knees. Now.
“But you have to shut up and let me pay for everything today.” An edge to that. Money had always been a sore point.
“Fair as well.”
The observation deck was much like the restaurant, except ringed with an outdoor portion. From the inside, it didn’t looktoobad.
Another short set of stairs led to the outside door. Todd paused and pinpricks rose on the back of Fazil’s thighs.
