Page 13 of My Haven (Bewitched and Bewildered #16)

Genevieve sat across from her assistant at a small chic cafe, at the corner of the only intersection in the town she was visiting. She took a sip and sighed happily. “Thank goodness they can do coffee.”

Arlo took a sip of his sugared coffee concoction and shuddered. “That last town we were at should be struck from the face of the earth for the coffee they served.”

“I remember. You’ve said as much, daily, since then.”

“Maybe if I repeat it enough, lighting will strike.”

“Wouldn’t you feel sorry for those poor baristas?” she asked, teasingly.

Arlo opened one eye and glared at her. “They should be ashamed for calling that brown water, coffee. It was almost worse than hotel coffee.”

“Ouch, not hotel coffee.”

Arlo opened both eyes and stretched. “Franklin has proven to be pleasantly quaint. When do we leave?”

“I was going to try and head out this morning, but last night an interesting invite came through my email.”

“Your email? Your actual email? Not the channel email?”

“Yup, which means I know this person, or they know how to get my details.”

“Invite for what?”

“An exclusive, pop up eating event. The way it’s worded they’re treating it like a speakeasy. Invite only to get in.” She turned her phone to him. “VIP even.”

Arlo eyed her phone. “Hidden Delights? If it’s only food, I’ll be disappointed.”

“Get your hormones under control for a second. What do you think? Should we chance it?” she asked.

He pulled out his own phone and began scrolling. “Girl, I think we’d be crazy not to go. It’s trending hot right now.”

“Really? It’s legit?”

He kept scrolling. “Not only legit, but high profile as well.”

She chewed on her lip. “I didn’t air out any black-tie outfits.”

Arlo looked up, disappointment on his face, then waved to their surroundings. “Hello? Boutiques are up and down the street. We can go shopping, hit that lovely salon for a facial, go back to the hotel for a shower and be ready by six.”

“You want to come with me?” she asked, surprised. He hardly ever joined her for her restaurant adventures.

“I’ll beat your cute lil’ ass if you try and leave me behind. This may be the social event of the year,” he threatened.

“We both know you wouldn’t risk breaking a nail fighting,” she said, meeting his eyes.

“One of us has to be girly, you’re just a lil’ Kirby,” he retorted.

“You know I hate that nickname,” she groused.

“It’s adorable and so are you when you’re eating, just like Kirby.”

She threw her napkin at him causing him to laugh. “I can’t help it, I love food.”

“No one would know you had degrees in nutrition. All they see online is you trying different restaurants.”

She shrugged. In her videos she tried to share what she learned in her reviews. She not only liked food, she loved healthy, nutritious, flavorful food. There was a surprising lack in dishes that were all three.

Arlo downed the rest of his coffee and stood. “We better start now, you take forever picking out clothes.”

Shaking her head, she also finished her drink and threw out her cup.

Looking down the long street that was the shopping district, she could already feel her feet begin to ache.

Arlo wouldn’t be happy until they hit every single store.

“I won’t complain, much. But, we are stopping in two hours for a snack. ”

“Deal!”

She smiled at him to keep from groaning and followed along behind him to hit the shops for a little black dress.

*****

Arlo brushed powder across her forehead and nodded. “Good. Get dressed.”

She dropped her robe and stepped into the little black number Arlo insisted was perfect. She long since abandoned modesty when he was in the room. Right now, the man was more concerned with her shoes, than her uncovered body. She pulled on the dress and walked over to him to zip it up.

He held out two pair of heels. “The black ones scream old Hollywood glam, but the silver ones add pizzaz.”

She pointed to her back, and he zipped her up. When she faced him, she pulled the black pair from his hands and put them on. “I like these ones.”

“You’ll never date if you don’t add some spice to your life,” he chided.

“Why do I need to date when I babysit you?”

“Rude!”

“But, true.”

“Fine, go with the black shoes, you’re wearing the silver shrug,” he countered.

She smiled and let him have his way as he wrapped her up in the silky, silver wrap he found. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Though, I don’t know why you always buy your outfit at the last store we go to.”

“Because, if I buy my clothes any earlier, I’d have to carry them around while you drag me from store to store, it’s a survival measure.”

“Bitch.”

“You love me, and you know it.”

“Lord help me I do. Why did we never date?”

“Because, when we met freshman year in college, you had just discovered men and by the time you remembered you also like boobies, we had settled into our now comfortable bestie relationship.”

He sighed lustfully. “College was fun.”

“College? Didn’t you go out with that waiter in the last town we were in? I distinctly remember you saying, ‘if the room is rocking don’t come knocking’.”

He laughed. “Oh yeah, that was fun too.”

She took her phone out and looked at the invitation. “It’s just a couple blocks down. They must have paid a pretty penny to open in downtown.”

“I’m just glad we don’t have to Uber . If I drink, I can just walk or stumble back.”

She picked up her clutch making sure she had her ID, cards, taser, hotel key and cash. “How do I look?”

“Marvelous darling. With your dark hair and blue eyes, you’re simply striking.”

She preened a bit at his compliments. “I knew I kept you around for a reason.” She eyed him up and down. “And you sir, with your blond hair and green eyes, scream good boy next door. The locals won’t know what hit them.”

He gave her a sweeping bow and offered her his elbow. “After you.”

“Thank you.”

For some reason, she felt like she was heading home after being gone for a long time. Smiling she enjoyed the warm feelings in her chest, as she let Arlo escort her to their dinner date.

*****

“Oh my god, do you see this line?” Arlo asked.

She sighed, feeling slightly defeated. It would be hours before they’d even see the door. She turned to him. “Let’s skip it.”

He shook his head pouting. “I wanna go.”

“Baby.”

He was about to respond when an extremely large, handsome man walked up. He looked at his phone, then at her. “Are you this person?” he asked, holding out his phone to her.

When she saw her YouTube channel, she nodded. “That’s me.”

The man smiled widely. “Welcome, come this way, please.”

Arlo shot her a victorious look and checked out the guy’s ass all the way to the door.

When they walked in, she was surprised at the interior.

The owner really leaned into the age of the building, using the exposed brick, aged pipes and dark woods to create a step back in time.

She looked at Arlo who was looking around, eyes wide.

He saw her staring and gave her a short nod. He was impressed as well.

“My name is Hunter, if you need anything and can’t find anyone else, come find me,” he offered.

“Not that I’m not grateful, but why do we get to skip the line?” she asked.

“Because you got one of our rare VIP invitations,” he explained. He looked around. “Caiden, these two are all yours.” He winked at her, then went back to manning the door.

The man that walked up wasn’t as tall as the one who had escorted them in, but no less impressive. It was as if he wore power, the air around him crackled. When his eyes met hers, she was sucked into their silver, grey depths.

“Welcome! My name is Caiden Ironwood, I’m so very glad you could make it. Let me show you to your reserved table,” he said, offering her his arm.

Without thinking twice, she accepted it. His arm under his hand was warm and very firm. She kept glancing up at him as they walked. How could a man be ruggedly handsome and beautiful at the same time?

“Here we are," he said, pulling out her chair.

She noticed the way he eyed Arlo as they sat.

Arlo must have noticed too and blew the man a kiss.

She was afraid for a second, he would be angry.

Straight men rarely took such a thing well, but the gorgeous man simply looked relieved.

“We have a set menu, so our waiters will simply be bringing out the courses in order; each come with a wine pairing, but if you’re wanting something else, please don’t hesitate to ask.

” He waved over a young man with red hair.

“This is Nigel, he’ll be taking care of you.

I’ll be on standby over by the bar if you need anything in particular,” he gave her a heated look.

She felt herself blushing. “Thank you,” she murmured.

He walked away and she began to fan herself.

Nigel gave a half bow. “Tonight, we’ll be starting with our Vegetable Medley. It will be served with a white wine, but a sparkling rosé is also available.”

“Which vineyard?” Arlo asked.

Nigel smiled. “We’ll let you taste them first and see if you can identify them.

” He pointed to the small, printed card that had their courses listed.

“Next, we have a homey tomato soup. Not glamorous, but definitely delicious. It will be served with a toasted cheese bread.” He leaned in.

“I could honestly live off the bread.” He straightened.

“To clear the palate, a sparkling water is served with the soup.” He pointed to the menu.

“The main course is tender cuts of fresh pork, boar actually, killed just this morning. I have it on good authority that it converts steak lovers.” He smiled.

“And finally, a specially chosen dessert. Dark chocolate, raspberry truffles, served with a chocolate liqueur.” He propped up the menu against the wall so they could reference it. “Any questions for me?”

Arlo shook his head, but she nodded. “The boar, was it killed humanely?”

Nigel scrunched his nose. “It was a quick kill, if that’s humane.”

She sighed in relief. “Yes, thank you.”