A Muse Her

Chapter 39

"Enjoy your night, liefje." Mateo pressed a kiss to Maia's hand as they stepped out of the car. "I hope you'll want to join me later."

"I'm sure I will," she said, kissing his cheek. "Don't have too much fun without me."

"I don't think I could," he said, sliding his hand to the small of her back. "You in this dress is all I'll be thinking about."

Maia grinned. "You can thank Demetri for that," she said, stepping away from him to slip her arm through Eline's. "Come on, I'm sure Adrie's waiting for us."

"Yes and I'm ready to get drunk!" Eline exclaimed. "Enjoy your evening, boys!"

Mateo laughed, shaking his head at his sister as they walked to the illuminated red carpet of Luxe restaurant on the edge of the canal. He sighed watching Maia's hips sway in her short black dress that accentuated her curves and the ropes of beaded pearls that swooped over her bare back. His eyes trailed down her legs to her black stiletto heels and he bit his lip hoping and praying he'd get to have her with those shoes on later.

"So, now that Maia's back side is out of view," Demetri said, chuckling. "What do you have planned for us tonight?"

"We're going to have drinks with my friend Gerrit," Mateo said, grinning. "And when Maia's ready to meet up with us, I'm going to take you both to a members only club, if you know what I mean."

"Oh, I certainly do," Demetri said, smoothing a hand over his burgundy blazer. "And I'm honored, Prince Hendrik."

"It's just Mateo," he said, patting a hand on Demetri's shoulder. "I'm not a prince tonight."

"Well alright then, Mateo." Demetri nodded. "Let's get this evening started."

Mateo and Demetri walked further into the city past a few lively bars and clubs to a basement bar tucked away in a small side street. The tall bearded man standing beside the door nodded to them as he let them inside the smokey dimly lit tavern.

"Mateo!" A burly man wearing a bright red paisley top and a pipe hanging from his mouth called as he walked out from behind the mahogany gold plated bar. "I was wondering when you'd stop by," he said with his arms wide.

"I'm sorry it took me so long," Mateo said, giving the man a hug. "Cornelis, this is my friend Demetri, Demetei this is Cornelis."

"It's nice to meet you, Demetri," Cornelis said, holding out his hand to him. "Welcome to my little humble tavern."

"Thank you," Demetri said, shaking his hand. "It's a nice place you have here and it smells like you've got some good stuff here."

Cornelis laughed. "I certainly do and I've rolled out my signature blend for you guys tonight," he said, nodding to the back of the tavern. "Gerrit's at our old table in the back. Enjoy yourselves. I'll be around to catch up in a bit."

Mateo patted Cornelis on the shoulder. "See you soon. We'll be here for a while," he said as they weaved through the tables to the back of the tavern.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but how does someone like you become friends with a guy like Cornelis? He doesn't seem like he'd run in your circles."

"Yeah, I guess my circle probably isn't what you'd expect," Mateo said as he pushed through a solid oak door that led to a garden at the back of the tavern. "My closest friends and I were a bunch of prep school misfits who didn't really buy into the life that was expected of us."

"I see," Demetri murmured. "Oo, that handsome waiter from the bakery is here. Don't mind me if I ditch you and your friend to chat him up a bit."

"You won't need to do that." Mateo chuckled as they neared the table with the curly black haired gentleman sitting on his own with a bucket of beers and wine, rolling a blunt under a canopy of hanging plants and fairy lights. "That's Gerrit. He owns most of the bakeries in the city and we've been friends since grade school."