Page 52 of A Matter of Fact

“What? Oh, my God, no! No! But…now that you mention it.” Audra laughed and plucked at the strings of the apron she wore around her waist.

“He hasn’t tried mine,” Beckett said back, throat flushing warm at the memory of their last date. “But I enjoyed his.”

Audra’s mouth fell open like a fish and she laughed harder. “That’s what I love to hear around these parts, Bex.”

“I’m supposed to plan us another date,” he said, hoping to move the conversation away from sex because the last thing he wanted was to get an erection in front of his closest work friend.

“What are you thinking?” She gave a cursory glance around the restaurant. “Actually, hold that thought.”

“I’m holding.”

“You up to grab a drink?” Audra asked. “We’re done here and this conversation seems better suited to cocktails than cleaning spray.”

Beckett smiled, eager for the break from being home and appreciative that Audra was so dedicated at trying to move herself from work friend to actual friend, because Beckett sure had no idea how to do that kind of thing.

“That sounds great,” he said.

“Awesome. Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

Audra hauled him into the back and they clocked out, turned off the lights, and locked up. Standing on the sidewalk, Audra bent forward at the waist and peered down the street.

“Do you want to go to Lion?” she asked.

“Isn’t that a gay club?”

“And aren’t we?”

He chuckled. “Lion it is.”

She looped her arm through his and they headed down to the club. Lion wasn’t far, only a few blocks, and owing to the fact it was a weeknight, there wasn’t a line. The place wasn’t as loud as on a weekend, which was nice. They grabbed drinks and slid into seats in one of the booths in the back of the club.

“So,” she said, swirling her straw around her drink. “Tell me about your date planning.“

“I honestly don’t know.” He swallowed back a mouthful of gin and tonic, then squeezed more lime into the tumbler with a grimace. “He has a lot more money than me and he told me to plan whatever I wanted and he would pay for it.”

Audra leaned back in her seat, a dreamy expression on her face. “Shoe shopping in Paris.”

“I’m not a shoe guy,” he said, “nor would I ask him to do something like that.”

“I was joking.” She rolled her shoulders and leaned closer. “No one can do shit like that in real life.”

“He could.” Beckett stabbed the lime wedge with his straw. “Worse, hewould.”

“That honestly sounds like the opposite of bad news.”

“I don’t want him for his money,” he protested.

“I’m sure if he thought you did, he wouldn’t have put that open-ended offer on the table,” she said.

“I’m pretty sure you’re wrong.” He scrunched his nose. “I think everyone uses him for his money and he relies on being able to buy people’s attention and interest.”

Audra tilted her head to the side and took a series of small sips from her drink, her face twisted in thought. “That’s an interesting perspective.”

“I’m used to not having money,” he said. “It’s weird for me to think about being so frivolous with it.”

“It’s not frivolous to him, though.” She shrugged. “I know you might be uncomfortable with his money, and you don’t want him to think you’re using him, but there is a way to find a middle ground.”

“I don’t see how.”