Love & Loyalty by Tere Michaels Read Free Book Online Page A

not too far from the station, but Griffin Drake vetoed that immediately. He started pressing buttons on his BlackBerry, muttering now and again, then gave Jim directions to a ritzier neighborhood, one he clearly didn't venture into very often.
    “Here?”
    “Pull up to the curb. Valet's waiting for you.”
    “Valet?”

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    Griffin looked at him under the dim lamp of the truck's overhead light.
    Jim could see the intelligence brewing in those dark eyes, and the furrow of his brow was easy to read. Jim was busted; this guy was a writer and that meant research, and that meant he knew Jim Shea had an excellent relationship with what fork to use at a restaurant like this one.
    “We're probably not dressed for a place like this…” He made one last attempt, and Griffin smirked.
    “Good thing you wear a suit to work and I'm about to flash a black American Express,” he said drily, opening the door.
    Jim clearly had lost both the first and second rounds of this evening.
    Inside was dark and quiet, murmured conversation, and the clinking of glasses as waiters dodged around narrow tables, their all-black outfits making them seem like ghosts haunting the place, with platters of delicious-smelling food. The model-pretty girl at the front grabbed two menus and led them into the back, far from the narrow tables and into an intimate booth.
    Jim tried not to physically react. Was this a date? This wasn't a date. Was this guy gay? Yeah, he was pretty sure the guy was gay, and he was gay, but this wasn't a date. Right? This couldn't be a date.
    “Raul is your server this evening; he'll be right over,” she said smoothly as Griffin slid into the booth and waited in the middle for Jim to move.
    Aware he was a split second away from appearing a spectacle, Jim sat down.
    “Thank you,” Griffin said, all charm and floppy hair. He opened the menu, then looked up to see Jim hadn't moved. He tapped the cover with two fingers.
    “Order anything. I'll expense it. This is a business dinner, after all.” There was something about the way he said it, something that poked Jim in the stomach and made him fidget.
    “And it's your birthday.”

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    Tere Michaels

    “The waiters here don't sing, right? Or do a burning pile of ice cream with sparklers?” Jim resisted the urge to pull at his collar.
    “I highly doubt it. But if you want me to find a place…”
    “ No .” Jim picked up his menu and squinted at the fancy script of the menu, desperately searching for the word “steak.” They sat in silence until Raul materialized at their table, hands clasped behind his back.
    Before Jim could get anything out, Griffin ordered a bottle of expensive wine with their dinner—steak, but in French—and for starters, two beers.
    Jim's jaw dropped a little.
    Raul evaporated.
    “Was that forward?” Griffin said suddenly, leaning forward. Jim could see the tiny tic under his left eye. “That was forward, wasn't it? I'm a little nervous.”
    “Why?”
    “It isn't like me to be so…bold.”
    “Bold?”
    “Have you ever noticed you talk predominantly in glares and one-word sentences?”
    “I—sometimes.” Jim tried to remember when his guard had fallen away completely and he was left sweating in the dark. Or maybe the tiny disc of a candle in the center of the table was producing way too much heat. “This whole movie thing is weird, okay? Having dinner with someone is weird too,” he admitted reluctantly, drumming his fingers on the table.
    “That's…”
    “Pathetic?”
    Griffin shrugged. “I spend many a night eating takeout with a laptop. My main social life is acting as an escort to my best friend at movie premieres, Love & Loyalty
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    which sounds glamorous but really boils down to standing around and not getting enough to eat.”
    Jim raised one eyebrow. “Is this a contest?” Griffin smirked, leaning his elbows on the table. “When's the last time you went grocery shopping…”
    Jim opened his