Taking a few deep breaths, I stepped into my black heels-like Kevin had suggested-and fastened the straps before grabbing a black clutch for my phone and keys.
I lived on the third floor, and I hurried down the stairs, afraid whoever was picking me up would come up to my apartment if I took too long. I really didn’t want any of them to find out how crappy my apartment was. I bet they all had penthouses or something equally impressive.
A very masculine car was parked outside my apartment; it looked so out of place in my street where the only cars here were used middle-class. I didn’t know much about cars, not anything really, but I knew a fancy car when I saw one, and this was extremely fancy. It was matte black, had heavily tinted windows, and was sporty looking.
Chris leaned against my building, waiting for me. He was texting on his phone and hadn’t seen me yet. I took the time to look him over; he was dressed in another fitted suit, and in opposition to Chris, he looked born in them. Not to say Chris looked bad in them, hell no, but it seemed too formal for him.
As I approached Chris, I almost staggered at the power rolling off him; it was immense, even when he wasn’t doing anything to assert his dominance.
He must’ve heard me because he quickly shut off his phone, looking up at me, the beginning of a smirk frozen in place as he took me in from my head to my toes and up again.
I shivered, not from any cold, but from the way he was undressing me with his eyes.
“You look beautiful. Ready?” Was all he said, pushing himself off the wall and walking to the passenger seat, opening the door for me. And thank God he did; it was one of those car doors that opened upwards. I would’ve slammed it right in my face if I’d tried.
“Thanks, and yeah,” I answered, and in a lower voice mumbled, “As much as I can be.” I was careful sitting down, not wanting to flash him anything-not that he hadn’t seen it before…
“Where are you taking me?” I asked as soon as he got in the car.
“A friend of mine’s restaurant.” He didn’t say much on the ride to our destination, which suited me just fine. In the meantime, I found myself staring at his hands and how they handled the driving stick and steering wheel. There was something sexy about watching a man drive.
Those fingers had been inside me. It was weird to think about but equally hot. I couldn’t believe how I’d managed to catch the attention of the three most handsome men I had ever seen. This felt more like a fairytale, albeit a naughty one, than real life.
My eyes widened when I saw the building. Zaveri, a neatly written sign said, and fuck me, literally zero point zero one percent of the New York population could get a table here. This couldn’t be happening. I was totally fangirling right now. Not to mention, it was a two-star Michelin restaurant.
“This place is impossible to get into,” I commented, awed by the thought of eating here.
He smiled at my obvious excitement. “It helps that I’m friends with the owner,” Chris answered casually.
Parking the car, he got out, and opened my door for me. He gave the keys to the valet and grabbed my hand.
The bouncers didn’t blink as Chris guided me indoors.
I took in every single detail as we went further inside. The interior was lavish and expensive looking; It was light, with white and golden touches. I bet they used crystal glasses and real silverware here.
A host welcomed us and led us to a private room, where Chris and Gideon already sat. They’d been talking about something when we entered but stopped when we walked in.
This room was smaller, more intimate; The lights were lowered, so the lit candles came more into focus. It almost looked… romantic, but that wasn’t quite right. Sensual, that was the correct word.
“Your menus are placed at the table for you. Your server will be with you in just a minute.” Our host said before leaving us.
“Gorgeous, you look… wow,” Chris whistled after he saw me, making me blush under his intense gaze.
Gideon’s eyes tracked my every movement, from when I stepped into the room and to when I sat down. They were almost entirely black as he took me in; he really did have unusual dark eyes.
“Thanks,” I smiled at Chris, taking the seat beside him. Gideon sat on the other side, and Chris took the chair at the head of the table because, of course, he did. Just by spending a short amount of time with them, I got the sense he was the unofficial leader in their little group.
“Zaveri? You’re friends with Zaveri?” I asked as soon as I had settled in my chair. I was still amazed I was at this restaurant. I was a huge foodie, but I rarely had money to eat out, and I could only dream about eating here.
Huh, sometimes dreams really did come true.
“Friends with him?” Chris laughed. “He helped him start this restaurant.”
I blinked, “Oh, really?” I directed the question to Chris.
“Yeah, we met at college. I could see he had real potential. I only loaned him some money. Zaveri did the real job. Besides, it wasn’t completely selfless; I get to eat here as much as I want for free.” He shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal, but it was. He helped change someone’s life for the better. “I take it you know of him?”
“Yeah, I’ve always wanted to try his food, but it’s almost impossible to get a table here. And it’s not entirely affordable for a college student.”
Chris nodded like he understood. But how could he? He was filthy rich. Wow, that sounded really judgmental of me. I just couldn’t see how he would know how it was to live from paycheck to paycheck, but I could be wrong.
We each took a look at the food option, and my eyes bulged at the prices. Automatically, I started looking for the cheapest option.
“Relax, Gorgeous, Chris and his guests eat here for free. Pick whatever you want.” Chris must’ve seen what I was doing, and I smiled at him in gratitude.
It wasn’t that I didn’t think they could afford it; I just didn’t like people paying for me-which might be weird considering I accepted a membership worth over a hundred thousand dollars. Even so, that money would have gone to somebody either way, so why not me?
Now that I didn’t need to stress about the price, I zeroed in on a steak that had me salivating just from reading about it. The server came in shortly after and took our orders.
The tension in the room grew after the server went. We all knew why we were here; to talk about this proposition Chris offered. After this night was through, I hoped I had come to a decision.