Reservations

What he saw made his heartrate speed up. Levi must have seen it too. His guy gave a side glance toward him, but didn’t say a single word, because seriously, what could be said? They watched as a somewhat uncomfortable-looking Kellus stood stiffly next to Arik who again had a mouthful of food and was lifting a bite of whatever he held to Kellus, seemingly unfazed by the cameras, or the small little fact that he was there to sell a product.

“Goddammit.”

“Thane,” his mother scolded.

“No!” Thane blurted. “I don’t think I can watch this. If I had known we could bring a third person, I’d’ve taken Luke and at least appeared interested in the show in order to sell our damn product.”

The HSN host moved to Chef Ferico, asking a question as he finished preparing the last dish. Okay, that was good. Ferico at least brought the conversation and visual back to the organic oils. When the camera again cut away, Thane threw his arm in the air, this time completely releasing Levi as his hands came to rest on his hips. Arik had walked off the set toward another kitchen setup. When the show panned to a wide angle view, Thane watched as Arik swiped a tray of leftover food before coming back to Chef Ferico’s station.

“What is he doing?” Thane asked. “What’s wrong with him? We went over this whole deal. He knew exactly what to do.”

The host, Chef Ferico, and the oils were forgotten as the camera remained focused on Arik. He could hear the production team begin to laugh in the background and his heart sank to the floor. “So much for our venture and making all that money. I should’ve just done this on my own.” Thane sighed.

“No, it’s good, Thane. Look at the sales,” Erin said sternly, pointing to the corner of the screen. “People are responding.”

“Guess he’s making it look too good to pass up,” Brock added.

Thane watched Arik reach in Chef Ferico’s pan and sop up the pineapple-flavored vinegar and oil mixture onto a piece of fruit. He put the bite in his mouth and rolled his eyes, giving an audible groan of delight. Thane’s blood pressure skyrocketed before he did finally look at the counter. The units sold were increasing by the thousands.

“Where did Kellus go?” Logan asked.

“I’m certain he took off and is hiding somewhere in the building. He knows he married a crazy man,” Thane answered, his eyes locked on the climbing number on the side of the screen as hope slowly began to filter in.

“Arik’s a natural and extremely handsome.”

Did his mother sound awestruck as she spoke? Oh for God’s sake, had she fallen under Arik’s spell too? Thane rolled his shoulders as the tension began to ease. He kept an eye on the products-sold counter, refusing to watch anymore of the shit show Arik was putting on. Levi’s strong hands slid along his arms and came to a stop when his fingers entwined with Thane’s.

“The sales are higher than you guys thought,” Levi said quietly then squeezed his hand.

“We didn’t ship this much product to them. Arik must have worked something out,” Thane said, glancing over at Levi, then back at the counter. HSN would have stopped the sale when the product availability ran out. Instead, both their allotted time slot and product sales were over their contractual agreement.

“Then it’s good?”

“It’s hard to say, but yeah.”

Levi shifted, his handsome face tilted as he bent in and placed a kiss on Thane’s lips. “You deserve good.”

“We deserve good, Levi.” HSN, Arik, and even the numbers scrolling across the television screen were practically forgotten as Levi turned in his arms, coming chest to chest with him. Thane’s heartrate sped up again, but for completely different reasons now. Nothing in the world mattered as much as this man. Levi’s tentative, encouraging smile brightened.

Laughter erupted in the room, and Thane didn’t bother to look over to see what Arik had done to cause such a reaction. Levi’s attention was on him—exactly how he liked it—and nothing else mattered.

Nothing but Levi Silva.

He pulled Levi closer and placed his mouth next to Levi’s ear. “Have I told you lately that I love you?”

He felt Levi smile. “Not in the last twenty minutes.”

“Well, in that case, I need to rectify that.” He drew back so he could gaze in his lover’s eyes. “I love you, Mr. Silva. I’m so totally head over heels in love with you that I can’t ever think of anything but you. You’ve ruined me.”

He grabbed Levi’s firm ass cheeks and started moving him backward out of the room toward the empty hall, needing a celebratory make-out session with the man who had completely swept him off his feet more than he needed any well wishes from his friends and family.