My Best Friend's Brother

Chapter 22

The bar was an intimate space, with small tables and flickering candles. I spotted Aaron at the back patio. He quickly stood as he noticed me approaching, his warm brown eyes panning over at me as I approached the table.

"Bethany..." Aaron trailed off his eyes wide making me chuckle. "You look amazing." He slid his arm around my waist before kissing me softly. His musky, intoxicating cologne engulfed me making my knees go weak.

"I better. My entire wardrobe is on the floor back at the Bed & Breakfast. I spent hours trying to find the perfect outfit." I said as he pushed my chair in for me.

"Mission accomplished." Aaron grinned as the waiter poured me a glass of red wine. "You look really great too." I smiled remembering him wearing something similar at the reunion and how uncomfortable he was in stuffy, sophisticated attire.

I actually preferred him when he was comfortable in his distressed jeans, fitted tee shirts and cowboy boots. It was more like him and I liked seeing him comfortable. I didn't want Aaron to change into someone he thought I would like more.

"It's been a while since I've been on a date." I confessed to Aaron as I sat anxiously at the candlelit restaurant. "Really? I thought back in L.A you would've been fighting guys off with a stick." Aaron replied. "Hardly." I scoffed before there was a short silence between us.

"This feels weird." I said making him smile at me with raised eyebrows amused. "Does this feel weird to you? It feels weird." I rambled looking around anxiously.

I was beginning to sweat and fidget. We haven't even got around to ordering yet, but I wanted to applaud myself for actually going through with this and managing to squeeze myself in this flattering dress.

Lifting my wine glass at an attempt to tame my obvious nerves. "Why is this weird, Bethany?" Aaron asked softly, his voice alone brought me comfort. "Because you're calling me Bethany." I expressed frustrated.

"That's your name." Aaron chuckled as my mind went fuzzy onto able to concentrate on anything but him and his drop dead smile. "Besides you hate when I call you Betty."

"That's not entirely true." I mumbled as his smile grew as we slowly got more comfortable with each other.

"And we already know everything about one another. There's nothing else to talk about." I said slightly frustrated as I sat across from him at the candlelit table outside on the patio.

"I'm afraid that we're only good at two things." I said as his eyebrows furrow. "Arguing.... and..." I trailed off in a low tone leaning closer to him over the table.

My dress showed off some of my cleavage making Aaron's eyes turned a shade darker. He cleared his throat sipping his scotch, adjusting in his chair.

"Don't worry. We are able to do a lot more than that. No matter how fun they both are." He grinned. "And besides there's gotta be something we don't know about one another." Aaron said as we began to eat.

"Maybe we can make a game out of it. You and I both know how competitive you can be." He said cutting into his steak making me scoff. "Me? Competitive?" I asked sarcastically knowing he was right.

"Alright, fine. What'd you have in mind?" I bit into my creamy pasta. "We can ask each other questions about ourselves that the other person may not know." He suggested as I silently thought about it.

"Okay. And what happens when I win?" I asked with a smug smile, making him smirk. "How about a back rub?" He answered as I tilted my head. "Cute. But I don't think so." I replied as he waited patiently for my counteroffer.