The Arrangement | Book 2 | Completed

3

Candace's POV

This dinner is going better than planned, and I honestly haven't been this happy in my entire life. Well, maybe my entire life is a pretty big stretch. I haven't been this happy in a long time, though. His smile, his laugh, the way he looks at me.....everything is just, perfect.

"Wait, stop. So you got arrested for what?" I laugh loudly, making sure I heard him correctly.

"Public nudity. It was an almost arrest! Like, they made me get in the cop car, but they only took me back to my car. It's only because Freddie convinced me to skinny dip and then took all of my fucking clothes!" He laughs in reply. Tears are threatening to spill from my eyes with how hard I'm laughing. I can tell that he is about the same.

Silence falls over the table as we both come down from our laughter.

"What?" I ask, blushing slightly when I notice him smiling at me.

"You look beautiful, tonight." He smiles.

"Thank you, you don't look half bad yourself." I laugh. "So what have you been doing? It's been a while." I ask, taking a sip of my margarita.

The best part about going out with Matty right now is that I can legally drink now. We aren't having to stay strictly to places where he knew the owner, or bribed the bartender.

"Well...a lot of work," He laughed, "But, I have been doing things I always liked to do, too. I've been working out again, doing a bit of reading, and just overall putting myself out there again. I missed that about myself. I feel like in Vancouver I didn't really have to do a lot of that. My friends were there, my family...so I never really was put in a situation where I had to meet new people and make new friends. This whole deal is nice. I really love it." He admits.

"That's great, Matty. I'm really happy for you." I smile in reply.

"What about you? What have you been up to?" He asked.

"Well, Pheobe just had a birthday as you already know. She got the card you sent her and she loved it. She has it hanging up in her room. We finally got out of my dad's house. I'm either going to fix it up and rent it out or sell it. I'm not too sure yet. I have someone who said they would help with all of the renovations, so that's good. I started renting a little apartment in town. It's not a lot, but it is enough for the two of us. We both love it. I left the diner, as you already knew from some previous communication. I was actually promoted to store manager at Lux. That's why i'm here. It's a store manager meeting with the CEO, and it could be some extensive training. I just...I love it. Sure, it may not be a lot compared to owning a building in Seattle or-"

"Woah, woah, woah. You being store manager is a huge accomplishment. That's amazing, Candace. Please don't downplay that. Don't compare your success to mine. This is a huge accomplishment for anyone. I'm so proud of you. The job, the apartment...everything." He says, cutting me off.

All of my accomplishments seemed miniscule compared to his. I was almost scared to tell him about it, thinking he might not view it as anything at all. I was wrong, though. He is proud of me. He has always been so proud of me.

"Thank you, Matty. It really means a lot to me." I say honestly.

"Are you still in school?" He asks me.

"Yes. Lux said that after my degree, I would get an even bigger pay raise. I don't have much longer, so that's exciting. I guess i'll just wait and see what happens. I may not even want to stay with Lux once I graduate." I shrug.

"That's a huge possibility. You never know. Hell, when you graduate you know you can come and work for me. Or, I should say work for Frailey- given you would be in Vancouver." He tells me, and my heart flutters at his words.