Just Shy of Heaven
Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Chapter 7
“You can do this, Zander,” Tobias’ voice said to him. The gently encouraging tones made him open his eyes and try to relax his frozen muscles a bit. He could do this, yes. Tobias believed in him, and he believed in himself. He just had to convince the gibbering, panicked part of his hind brain of that fact.
They were sitting outside the restaurant where they were going to have their first ‘official’ date, but they hadn’t gone in yet because Zander had been seized with a sudden, intense bout of panic at the thought of entering the crowded restaurant. He’d begun breathing heavily, shaking in his seat. Tobias, realizing what was going on, had begun to speak to him soothingly and stroke his arm with one hand. This helped Zander to center himself, and he felt a bit better now.
“It’s going to be fine, Zander,” Tobias crooned softly. “Let’s just give it a try, okay? If you really can’t handle it, I’ll take you home and we can order take-out for dinner. All right?”
Zander turned his head to meet Tobias’ concerned eyes. “Okay,” he croaked, his voice a mere thread. “I’ll try.”
A smile. “That’s my Zander,” Tobias said, nodding approvingly. This gesture made Zander feel warm and brave and strong, especially being called ’my Zander’, by the Man in the Suit.
Tobias got out and came around to open his door for him, partially out of chivalry but partially because Zander would have had a hard time with the handle right now. He held out his hand, and after a moment Zander took it and let Tobias draw him out of the coupe. He clasped that hand tightly, giving it a squeeze, as he led Zander toward the restaurant. “Have I told you how great you look in that suit? ‘he added for Zander’s benefit. “Really nice. I could just eat you all up.”
He heard a gasp at his words, and grinned to himself. He refused to let go of Zander’s hand as they entered the restaurant and approached the tuxedo-clad maitre d’. The man practically bowed to them, and Tobias told him: “We have a reservation. Party of two, under the name Mackenzie.”
The maitre d’ consulted the reservations book and nodded. “Right this way, sirs,” he said, leading the way to a small table toward the back. Zander was distantly surprised to see that it was partially surrounded by large potted plants, blocking most of their view of the rest of the restaurant. It was as though their table was in a green cocoon. He sat down in the chair that Tobias urged him to sink onto, not feeling as panicky now. The maitre d’ left them with menus and the promise of a waiter coming to attend to their needs directly.
Tobias looked at him keenly across the tabletop. “Are you okay, Zander? I specifically asked them for a secluded table because I knew that you wouldn’t want to sit out in the open surrounded by people. This is better, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “Thank you,” he said softly. “This is…like being in a garden or something. Like it’s just me and you,” he glanced around at the plants blocking their view of the rest of the restaurant.
Tobias grinned. “Isn’t it? I like that feeling. It should just be me and you. Tobias and Zander, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g…” he sang, making Zander blush furiously.
Tobias chuckled. “You’re too cute when you blush, Zander. It only makes me want to kiss you even more.”
His mouth felt dry and his belly was clenched fiercely with a combination of shyness and acute lust. Fortunately(or unfortunately) their waiter arrived just then with water glasses for them. Tobias asked him to give them a minute more with the menus, but he ordered a bottle of wine off the wine list. The waiter departed, and Zander seized his water glass and gulped most of it down in one swallow. Tobias watched him in faint amusement mingled with desire. Watching Zander swallow was hard on him. Made him think of other kinds of swallowing that the cute little baker could try. Not a good thought to have while wearing tight, pinching suit trousers, he acknowledged dryly to himself.
“What should we get?” was all he said aloud, opening his menu. “The food here is supposed to be superb. I can’t wait to try it.”
Zander also opened his menu, staring at the dishes with a small frown on his face. He didn’t recognize some of the ingredients listed on it, and there were no prices anywhere. That made him nervous. He wanted to order something cheap, but how could he when he didn’t know what anything cost? “Hmm, maybe the beef bourguignon,” he heard Tobias muse. “Or the grilled brook trout. What do you think, Zander?”
“I…don’t know,” he said helplessly.
“Well, do you like fish?” Tobias asked him calmly.
“Yes.”
“You might like the grilled brook trout then. That’s something simple that they don’t smother in heavy sauces.”
He nodded. That did sound good. Seeing his expression, Tobias smiled. “Trout it is. I think I’ll have that too. Fortunately, the wine I ordered definitely goes with fish. Do you ever drink, Zander?” he added.
He shook his head. Tobias concealed his disappointment manfully. A little wine might help loosen Zander up, but if he’d never had any alcohol before this it would loosen him up a little too much. Ah, well. “All right, I’ll just have to drink the wine myself,” he remarked with a reassuring smile. “I’ll only get a glass, then. Since I’m driving, I don’t want to have too much alcohol in my system. I think they have other things that you can drink besides water, Zander. Maybe some tea or something.”
“Water’s fine,” Zander said softly. “I don’t mind just having water.”
Tobias nodded. The waiter returned with a bottle of wine, and Tobias ordered for them and asked the man to pour him a single glass of wine instead of leaving the whole bottle. The waiter left them with bread and departed to take their order, leaving a glass of white wine in front of Tobias and a refilled glass of water in front of Zander.
“Well, this is nice,” Tobias said, leaning back in his chair. “Just you and me on our first real date. I enjoyed all of the little ’mini-dates’ we had all week, but this is even better. I like taking you out to dinner and showing you off,” he told Zander, who blushed a little and nervously fiddled with the stem of his water glass.
“Here’s to our first real date,” he went on, lifting his wine glass in a toast. “May we have many more to come.”
His words made squiggles start up in Zander’s abdomen. He lifted his own water glass, then sipped at it to have something to do with his mouth. Tobias was watching him drink, and he almost choked on his water under the weight of that slate-grey gaze. The look in the Man in the Suit’s eyes was making him feel over-warm and twitchy.
“You really do look good, Zander,” Tobias husked, his eyes running over Zander’s suit-clad body appreciatively.
Oh, man, had the temperature suddenly gone up in the restaurant about a hundred degrees?! Zander panted and wriggled in his seat, feeling as though he might burn up at any moment. Tobias was calmly sipping his wine, a small smile on his handsome face. Zander began to think that he might be dating an evil man, despite how nice Tobias had seemed to be up until now.
The waiter came to their table with their appetizers, a mushroom risotto that smelled heavenly. Zander forgot about how evil Tobias might be as his stomach rumbled approvingly. He picked up a spoon and began to eat, practically humming in pleasure over how good it was. Tobias also began to eat, though he never looked away from the picture that Zander made as he did so. The expression of ecstasy on Zander’s face as he took a bite of the risotto made Tobias want to groan aloud, and he had to lock his teeth closed over the low sound so that it wouldn’t escape.
Zander wasn’t paying attention to his dinner companion right at that moment, or he might have noticed the hunger in Tobias’ eyes. Although maybe that was for the best, anyway…this way, he got to enjoy his meal without devolving into a stuttering, blushing mess in the face of Tobias’ obvious arousal.
“Mmm,” he made a small sound as he finished the last of his appetizer, and heard a choked gasp from across the table. But when he looked up, Tobias’ face was almost completely blank.
“Did you like it, Zander?” Tobias asked, sounding as though he were talking between his teeth a little for some reason.
He blinked. “Yes,” he replied. “It was really good.”
Tobias nodded, looking pleased. “I told you the food was supposed to be really good here. While we wait for our entrees, did you want to talk about something? A little light conversation to aide digestion?”
“Okay,” Zander replied.
“How’s your cat?” Tobias asked with a smile, thinking about his pleasure-loving tabby.
Zander brightened up. “She’s great! But I think she misses you. She really liked the way you petted her,” he told Tobias.
“Ah. I’ll have to come over and give her some love again sometimes soon. If that’s okay with you?” he asked Zander.
“Sure,” he said, liking the thought of Tobias being in his apartment again. Maybe they could kiss and snuggle on his couch…he blushed bright red at this thought, which raised Tobias’ eyebrows a little as he wondered what Zander was thinking about to cause him to look like a cherry tomato.
“I love cats,” Tobias mused. “I’d get one myself, but my life is too busy for me to take care of one properly. So I’ll just have to be a surrogate ‘mama’ to your cat. That’d be all right, wouldn’t it, Zander?”
He swallowed thickly. “Sure,” he husked.
Tobias grinned. “Cool. That’ll give me a good excuse to hang around at your place more often,” he winked at Zander a little, as the baker gripped at his water glass tightly as visions of Tobias ‘hanging around’ at his apartment flashed through his head.
He was out-of-it enough that it took about five minutes of Tobias talking to him before he could respond again himself in a sane, coherent fashion. But it seemed to be a gift of the Man in the Suit that he could set Zander at ease in an effortless way. They were talking like old friends again by the time that their food arrived. The trout was amazing, perfectly grilled and seasoned with a wonderful mustard sauce on the top. It seemed to melt in his mouth. Zander forgot where he was, and everything else, as he ate it. The expression of bliss on his face warmed Tobias’ heart(and other parts of him as well) and he was silently glad that this date was going so well. It meant that he could take Zander out on real dates more often after this; and he was looking forward to each and every one of them.
Chapter 8