The Beauty of Us (Fusion #4)

“Like you’re terminally disappointed in me.”

“I didn’t mean it like that. But Trevor is sweet, with a good job, and he’s sexy. You seem to attract the exact opposite of that.”

“Like you used to, before you met Jake,” I remind her, and she nods with a grin.

“Exactly.”

I look back to where Trevor is chatting with a camera guy. He nudges his black-rimmed glasses up his nose and shakes his head, adamantly against whatever the other man just said.

A muscle in his jaw ticks, and I have to look away.

“I can’t be into him,” I whisper to Addie, who just scowls.

“Why ever not?”

“Because he’s only here for a couple of weeks,” I hiss.

“You’re not marrying him, Ri, but you might have a bit of fun.”

“Do not say the sexcation word,” I reply. “Kat already won in that game.”

“And how,” Addie says with a laugh. “Who knew that a sexcation could turn into love? Anyway, you’re not on vacation. But it’s okay to enjoy him. You guys seem to like each other.”

“He’s easy to talk to,” I admit. “I don’t get sick of him after three minutes. At least, not yet.”

“If I was you,” Addie says quickly just as Trevor glances our way and begins to walk over, “I’d enjoy the fuck out of him.”

“Ladies,” Trevor says with a smile as he approaches. Oh yeah, I’m attracted to him. I mean, the man is tall, and although I haven’t seen him without clothes, I can tell that he takes care of his body.

And the way he smiles when I’ve said something to make him laugh? Holy baby Jesus, it makes me tingle.

“Who’s first?” he asks.

“Sorry?” I have to clear my throat and pull my thoughts away from sexy Trevor and focus on work Trevor.

“Who are we interviewing first?” he asks again.

“Kat,” I reply, and look around for her. “She has an interview for a new bartender soon, so she’s going first.”

“Great,” he says, and winks at me as he turns to look for Kat.

“He likes you,” Addie says.

“Oh, goodie. Be sure to tell him in study hall that I like him too.” I roll my eyes and open my folder for today’s itinerary.

“Whatever,” Addie says with a laugh. “I’m just glad that you guys get along so well, since you have to work together. He seems nice, and if you’re just friends, that’s cool too.”

“Just friends,” I stress, and make a note for Cami’s interview later this morning. “I hope the interviews don’t go too long. We’re running a bit behind.”

“We’ll only get three in this morning,” Trevor says, surprising me. I glance up to see him standing at the table, arms crossed over his chest. “We’ll do the other two tomorrow.”

“Okay,” I reply with a nod as Addie stands and walks into our office. “That makes sense. That way, if we go over we have wiggle room.”

“Are you all chatty?” Trevor asks.

“We can be, especially when we talk about Seduction because we love it so much.”

“That’s awesome. Should make for some good footage, then.” He points to the stage, where we’ve set up a table and chair for each of us to sit in for the interview. The camera and lights are set up and ready to go.

Kat is seated at the table, looking awesome in her blue rockabilly dress, her lips red and hair up in a fun ponytail.

“Are you doing the questions?” I ask him.

“Yep. You’re welcome to watch.”

“Oh, I planned on it,” I reply. I’m nervous about this. I mean, I trust my friends. They’d never say or do anything to jeopardize our business, but they’re also very outspoken.

Especially Kat.

I stand, gather my notes, and walk with Trevor to the stage. We’re both sitting out of the range of the camera. Kat looks beautiful under the lights; very sophisticated, fun, and put together.

Which describes her to a T.

“Are we ready?” Trevor asks the sound and camera people, who both nod.

“The sound guy and I should be going out to dinner later,” Kat says with a wink. “He’s been up and down my shirt all morning.”

“Well, now we can hear you,” Trevor replies with a grin. “And I’m quite sure the up-and-down-your-shirt thing was as horrible for Shawn as it was for you.”

“Horrifying,” Shawn says with sarcasm as he holds the sound equipment, big earphones on his head, and a boom overhead.

“Let’s get started,” Trevor says as yet another production guy holds the clapboard in front of Kat.

“Interview with Kat, take one.”

“This is all very official,” Kat says with a grin.

“Kat, can you tell us a bit about yourself, where you come from, and how you came to be friends with your four business partners?”

“Sure,” she says, and shifts her gaze to mine. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Kat look nervous, until today. I smile with reassurance and give her a thumbs-up. “I was raised here in Portland and also in California. My parents are scientists, and work in both places.

“I was homeschooled, graduated from high school early, and went to college at sixteen, which is where I met Mia, Riley, Addie, and Cami.”

“And how did the five of you end up opening a restaurant together?”

“I think it was Riley’s idea,” she says, looking to me for clarification. “It just made sense, because with all of our individual talents, we each bring something special to the restaurant.”

“And how did you come up with the theme of the restaurant?” Trevor asks.

“That was Riley’s idea too,” she says with a grin. “And I think we were all over at Addie’s place, drinking too much, thinking about how we wanted to go about the business. One thing that we all decided on was that while there are plenty of delicious places to eat in Portland, there really wasn’t one that catered to couples. I mean, if you want to go on a date with someone you’re in love with, or even just interested in, you want to go somewhere fun and romantic. We really wanted the restaurant to be an extension of the romance experience. So Mia researched the hell out of aphrodisiacs and how to incorporate them into a menu, and the rest is history.”

“It’s such a smart business move,” Trevor says, and I feel myself sit up straighter, proud of what we’ve done here.

“We’ve had probably close to two dozen marriage proposals here, and I can say with confidence that we’re a great place to bring a first date,” Kat says with a nod. “We truly wanted all of the senses to be titillated at Seduction.”

“Can you tell us about the bar?”

“My baby,” Kat says with a sassy wink, and I can feel myself start to relax, just a bit. She’s doing so great!

“Well,” she continues, “if you want to have a restaurant that caters to adults, it makes sense to have a bar in-house. I’ve always been interested in wines, how to pair them, how to serve them, and so on. We have an extensive wine cellar, but if wine isn’t your thing, we have hard liquor and local beers as well. But I have to say, if you don’t like wine, we can’t be friends.”

We all laugh as Kat flips her ponytail over her shoulder.