“And here is where exactly?”
“You're about to see.” I release her hands, taking a few steps away from her, and positioning myself. “Okay, you can take off the blindfold.”
She pushes the wrap up her forehead, blinking her eyes a few times to adjust to the sunlight. Her eyes dart around, unsure, and slightly confused. “What am I looking at?”
“This is our new restaurant.”
Her eyes grow big and her mouth falls open. “What?”
“Our new restaurant. I was thinking we could maybe call it Arisa’s. What do you think? I think it has a good ring to it.”
“You're joking. Are you being serious right now?”
“Very serious.”
Tears bubble up over her eyes as she throws her hands to her mouth. “Holy shit, Monroe, we have a restaurant. A place that's ours.”
“That's the plan. The Roost was my father's, The Backyard is mine, but this, this is for us. I want a place we can build together. Something that's not just mine, but yours too.”
Arisa bounces in place, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I can't believe you did this. I'm shocked.”
“You deserve this. You've worked so hard, and I think we can make magic together.”
She flaps her hands in front of her face, trying to dry her eyes. “I don't know what to say. Thank you, thank you so much for believing me in.”
I grab her around the hips and yank her in. I wipe her tears away with my thumbs, and give her a kiss. “You want to go inside?”
“Can we?”
Reaching into my pocket, I pull out the keys and dangle them in the air. “Absolutely.”
She jumps up and down, clamping her hands together in front of her chest. “Let's go!”
“You do the honors.” I pass her the keys and she takes them eagerly.
Arisa darts to the front door and jams the key in the lock. “This is insane, Monroe. I can't believe you did this.”
“It's going to be our project. We can decide on the theme, the menu, the décor, all of it. I want to see you in this place, too.”
She pulls the door open and steps inside the abandoned the restaurant. The bones of the building are great. The outside is a gorgeous stone, but the inside is rundown, dusty, and looks like it hasn't been updated since the seventies.
There's a dirty brown and orange carpet with circular designs all over it in the main entrance. The bar looks like it came out of the basement of a cabin in the woods. Everything is dark, made of cheap wood and paneling I haven't seen since my grandmother's house when I was a kid.
But I can see the potential. This place is in a busy spot of the city. The foot traffic will give us constant exposure, and we're close to several big businesses. None of the aesthetics really matter because we're going to redesign from the inside out.
“What do you think?” I ask her.
“I love it.” Her eyes are huge and bright as she spins around the room. “This place is perfect.”
“It will be once we're done with it.”
Arisa slinks her way back to me and curls her arms around my torso. “I can't thank you enough. You're too good to me. How did I get so lucky?”
“You? How did I get so lucky? I mean look at you.” I take her hands and push her back, looking her up and down. “I'm lucky I even get any work done with you around.”
She smiles with thin lips, stepping back in close to me. “You and me both. You're a hard man to resist.” Her fingers dance across the top of my jeans, dipping in slightly and pulling me closer. “Especially right now, I'm a little turned on.”
“From me or the building?”
“The building of course, I mean look at this place. The sex appeal is just too much.”
We both laugh. I grab her roughly by the hips and pull against my chest. The tip of my nose tickles hers. “It's all the wood, isn't it?”
“You got me. A good hard wood makes me so damn wet.” Her voice lowers, turning to a sultry coo. “You should feel just how wet I am.” She pulls one of my hands off her hips and slips it down the front of her pants.
My finger slips between warm, wet lips. She's soaking, dripping with arousal. “You are really wet.”
“You do that to me, Monroe. You make my body beg for you.”
A thick growl spills out from the back of my throat as I dip my finger in her heat. Fingering her, Arisa's eyes roll back in her head and she moans. Her juice drips off my finger as I pull it out.
I suck her sweet flavor off my finger with a groan. “Mm, you taste like candy. So sweet, so delicious.”
“I don't want you to taste me, I want you to fuck me,” she says. Her hands tug at my jeans, popping the button free. “Take me right here and now.” Her breathing is picking up as she wraps her fingers around my cock and pulls it out.