Save the Date (Modern Arrangements, #1)

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The club was packed tonight and I didn’t get a moment to think about anything other than work, which was great given my current train of thought. As I finished shaking up a couple of drinks I noticed a familiar face at the end of the bar. I poured the cocktails and placed them in front of the group that had ordered them before heading down to the dark, handsome man.

"Hey you," I smiled and leaned forward to kiss his cheek.

"Hey," Demitri replied back.

"Haven’t seen you for awhile?" I smiled again. "What’s going on?"

"I’ve been traveling for the past few months, overseeing different projects."

I nodded as I poured his whiskey and placed it in front of him.

"So…?"

"So?" I teased.

"Such a tease. What time do you get off tonight?"

"Not sure, how quickly can you make that happen?" I winked and he swallowed a gulp of whiskey.

"You never change do you?" He smiled.

"Would you want me to?" I batted my eyes.

"Never," he winked. "How about you let me drive you home tonight?"

I nodded and was just about to speak when Celia interrupted.

"Demitri, when did you get in town? We haven’t seen you around here in forever." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

"I’ve been in Vegas overseeing a project." He shrugged.

"Vegas huh? I would love to go to Vegas sometime." She smiled.

"Excuse me." Celia rolled her eyes and went to help the person yelling for a drink.

"I’ll see you after two, okay?" I said walking backwards to the other end of the bar.

"See you then," he shouted over the music.

The rest of the night went slow, but it was busy. I think it was the anticipation of seeing Demitri tonight. It had been awhile and it was needed. The batteries could only do so much.

At the end of the night, Celia stayed to finish up and I headed out to look for Demitri. Once I was out of the club doors I scanned the street for his black car. I caught sight of a familiar silver car but, before I could think too much about it, Demitri’s black car appeared at the curb in front of me. I climbed in. First stop his place.

Demitri stopped at a twenty-four hour diner with a huge neon open sign in the window. With sandwiches, soup and a couple side dishes, we went to his place. The building held multiple studio apartments. Demitri, of course, leased the largest on the top floor.

His place held minimal furniture; a couch, coffee table and chair. The light gray walls held a few modern artworks. The most intriguing piece lined the wall of the staircase leading to his balcony bedroom.

With no dining table or chairs, we ate on the couch, catching up on each other’s lives. After laughing about a story he told, things got physical. Starting with a tender kiss to my mouth, his ministrations soon turned urgent. Leaving a trail of clothing ripped from our bodies, we barely made it to his bed.

When I woke up next to Demitri and saw the first rays of light fill his room, I headed to his bathroom. After showering, I put on my clothes from the night before, grabbed my things from his room, kissed his cheek and left his apartment. This was the routine. We had a good time together and that was all there was to it. Demitri wanted a relationship with me at one time but soon realized we were best this way; friends with occasional benefits.

On the walk to the nearest bus stop, I grabbed a coffee and a bagel. Nibbling on my bagel, I waited for the bus to arrive. I couldn’t help but think about the prior night and smile. It was a much welcomed evening. Sighing, I took a sip of coffee. Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t see the strangely familiar silver car pull up.

"Get in!"

My eyes widened at the sight of Aidan’s car stopped in front of me.

"No!" I shouted back. "Stay away from me!" I growled, crossing my arms and leaning back onto the bench.

"I’m not leaving until you get in the car," he argued.

"Fine!" I stood. He smirked. Idiot! I threw my coffee and bagel bag into the garbage next to the bench and walked down the sidewalk, away from the bus stop and away from Aidan.





Chapter Eight

Stalker

Aidan

I didn’t know what I expected to happen. She would probably think me a crazy stalker but, still, I sat outside of the club waiting for her to emerge. I needed to apologize again for the way I’ve been acting. With the desperation of this awkward situation, I thought we could help each other out.

Lost in my own thoughts, I didn’t even see her walk out of the club until a sleek black car pulled up. She climbed in. Who the hell is that? Before I knew it, I was following the car.

Stalker.

The car stopped in front of a diner and a tall, dark haired guy hurried into the diner. When he emerged, he had a few white paper bags. Once he was in, they sped off until I was in front of a large apartment building, watching them walk in together.

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