CHAPTER37
TANNER
The email Larisa had sent with the designs attached was haunting me, tempting me to open the files and pore over every detail of what she’d done. Despite how curious I was, though, I didn’t peek. I kind of liked the idea of it being a surprise.
Maybe it was insane not to look at them since it was such an expensive endeavor, but I trusted Larisa. Plus, after she’d mentioned liking reality shows at the lake that weekend and then I’d found out what she did for a living, I took a guess at what kind of reality shows she might like. It turned out that all my streaming services had interior design and renovation shows available, and after I’d watched one episode, it had become my guilty pleasure.
It looked like fun to walk into your house after the professionals had done their magic, and that was what I was after. Fun. For me and for her. I’d promised her free rein, and it didn’t get much freer than this. Besides, it couldn’t be that insane if people did it on shows that streamed globally all the damn time.
Instead of giving in to my curiosity, I simply forwarded the email to the company who would do the renovations. Then I closed out my emails, hoping that the temptation would fade into the background if I wasn’t staring at the attachments.
After speaking to Larisa, I called up the restaurant I wanted to take her to and got a reservation for tomorrow night. It was a nice expensive place, and while I knew she had zero problems with bar food and burgers, I’d meant it when I said I wanted to treat her.
I was also excited that she’d agreed to me picking her up. It felt like we were moving in the right direction again. If everything went well, maybe I could finally prove to her that I wasn’t just a player who was only interested in one thing from her.
If she knew where I’d be taking her, she wouldn’t have agreed to let me pick her up. In fact, I was pretty sure she’d have turned me down completely, but the place was renowned for their award-winning chef and the experience dining in his restaurant offered. I’d been wanting to go there for ages, but it wasn’t exactly the type of place I could hit up with the guys.
Since it felt like things were going well between me and Larisa, it was an experience I was looking forward to having with her. Fine dining wasn’t usually my thing, but I could enjoy it just as much as the next person on occasion, and taking her there might show her yet another side of myself.
Just because I preferred casual didn’t mean I couldn’t hold my own in a suit on a date with a beautiful woman. I could be a gentleman along with the best of them, and I wanted her to know it since my track record with her on that front wasn’t great.
Once I’d hung up with the restaurant, I checked my watch and cursed under my breath. Fuck. I’m going to be late again.
I was meeting the guys at one of our favorite sports bars, which meant I’d be picking up the tab now, but not even that could get me down this afternoon. I was flying high, going on a date with a girl I thought had written me off for good, and nothing was going to touch my good mood.
It wasn’t like I couldn’t afford to get the tab. Having to pay for my friends was nothing in comparison to having had her agree to go out with me.
With everything now in place for our date, I was going to be able to relax a lot more easily with my friends, too. If I’d still had to make the reservations or think of a place to go, I’d have been distracted all night. And that would’ve resulted in me getting shit over said distraction. I could take it, sure, but I was happy I’d be having a low-key night out without every one of my friends giving his two cents on my dating life.
As I’d expected, Shawn, Bart, and Jeremiah were all already there when I got to the bar. My eyes narrowed when I approached them, looking around for Steph. There wasn’t any trace of her at the table that indicated she was already here and had just run to the bathroom.
I grinned as I sank down in my seat. “Ha. Would you look at that? Steph’s picking up the tab tonight.”
Jeremiah laughed, shaking his head before giving me a very fake sympathetic pout. “Nope. Sorry, brother. She’s not coming. There’s some stuff she wants to finish off for work, and then apparently there’s some new book series out that she wants to dive into. Tonight is on you.”
I sighed, but I’d been prepared for it, so it didn’t really matter. “Damn it. I miss the days when all my nights out were on Bart.”
The man in question snorted and lifted his arm to tap the black smartwatch on his wrist. “I’ve been getting reminders on this thing. How awesome is it that you can put something into your calendar and then your entire arm starts vibrating when it’s time to go?”
I snorted. “I thought you were a techie. How are you only figuring that out now?”
“I’m not.” He smirked. “I’ve had one of these for years. I just never used it until now, and even then, I’m only using that specific feature when I have to meet up with you assholes. I’m tired of paying for your shit.”
“How’s Larisa?” Jeremiah asked before leaning forward and taking a sip of his beer. “I’m fucking curious to see what she’s come up with for your house. Have you gotten anything from her yet?”
“Yep, but I’m not showing you. I haven’t looked yet, either. It’s going to be a surprise.”
He stared at me, jaw slackening when he realized I was being serious. “Jesus. You’re that disinterested?”
“It’s not disinterest,” I protested. “I just want it to be a surprise.”
He rolled his eyes and exchanged a look with Bart, who shook his head at me. “You better let her know that’s what it’s about. I wouldn’t have been very happy with you if I was her. She’s put a lot of effort into her work and you don’t even want to look at it?”
“I told her I wanted it to be a surprise,” I said, but as I looked around the table at their various expressions of disbelief and disapproval, I sighed heavily. “Fine, I’ll talk to her about it again, but it’s really not that I don’t care or that I’m not curious as fuck. I do and I am. It’s just more fun this way.”
“Fucking up with her really comes naturally to you, doesn’t it?” Shawn tipped his bottle of beer at me before taking a sip from it. “You do realize you’re only putting up hurdles you’re going to have to get yourself over eventually? You’ve made it seem like you don’t care about what the place is going to look like or about all the work she’s put into it. Now you’re going to have to put in twice as much effort to prove that you do. You should’ve just looked at the fucking designs.”
“I’m so glad I asked for everybody’s opinions about this.” I snapped my fingers. “Oh, wait. That’s right. I fucking didn’t.”