His phone dinged with a text notification, interrupting his fantasy of Aiden rewarding him for a job well done. He picked up the cell and swiped it open to a message from Aiden.
Hey, Beefcake.
Surprised at the coincidence that Aiden was texting him when he’d just been thinking of him, Mike immediately texted back.
Hello.
I’m off tonight and I wanted to come over and see you. Do you have plans for dinner?
I don’t. Would love to have dinner with you.
Perfect,Aiden sent. I’ll take care of everything. I only need a little input from you for the plan for tonight.
Plan?
Yep. You like planning, right?
Mike had to smile, remembering their contentious start where he’d always wanted plans and Aiden wanted nothing to do with them.You know I do.
All right, I have two questions for you. I’ll give you two options for each question. All you have to do is pick one for each.
Okay.
Fries or onion rings?
Mike wrinkled his nose as he typed his answer. He didn’t like onion rings. Fries.
Your place or mine?
Mine.
See? That was easy.
You make it easy, Mike texted in response.
And do you like that?
Mike swallowed thickly. Lately, he was learning all sorts of things that he liked.Yes, I do.
That’s good to know. I’d better let you get back to work.
Mike didn’t want to stop texting Aiden, but he was right. He needed to finish up his tasks for the day.Okay. Looking forward to tonight.
I’ll be at your place tonight at seven with dinner.
Their text conversation over, Mike had an even harder time than before keeping his focus on work. He kept thinking about Aiden making the decisions for their date that evening. Thanks to his field experience, Mike was used to taking charge. He’d taken the lead in his previous relationships as well. But now, he was discovering the pleasure of stepping back and letting someone else lead. Naturally, he imagined what that would mean in bed with Aiden. He liked that thought. He liked it a lot. And that was the final blow to his concentration.
For the next hour and a half, Mike killed time with busy work that didn’t require much focus. After what felt like an endless eternity, five o’clock arrived. With a relieved sigh, Mike shut down his computer in preparation for leaving for the day. He’d cleared his desk and stored his files away when his cell phone rang. The encrypted number on the screen meant that it was either Caleb or Strong.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Caleb. I’ve got your updated glasses. Can you swing by the firehouse tonight?”
Mike did a quick calculation. It was a few minutes after five. Aiden wasn’t scheduled to arrive at his place until seven. Even with a detour to ACG headquarters to pick up the tech, he should still have time to get home and change before Aiden got there.
“I’m on my way.”
“Cool.”
