This was a bold plan. A crazy plan. Hell, it was barely a plan at all, if he were honest with himself. This was little more than an excuse to take Jayden out to dinner, and if he could just admit that to himself he could maybe admit it to Jayden, too.

They'd talked it over some more that evening. They needed to go somewhere where gossip would travel back to at least one person on the board, maybe two or three, and that meant going somewhere high-profile enough that either they or their friends were regular customers, or the paparazzi would be out in force.

For all his protests that he wasn't like other rich people, Jayden was able to secure them a reservation for the next evening at the kind of place that had a six month waiting list for people like Lucas. Assuming people like Lucas were willing to wait six months to pay three hundred dollars for a meal.

It was beyond ridiculous and well into obscene, but it was also part of the plan, and he had to remind himself of that so that when he arrived in a rented tux to collect Jayden on Sunday evening, he didn't look like a jumpy cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

There was no convincing anyone on the team that this was just a fake date for show, either. Marcus knew him too damn well, for a start, and they all had the same training he had in spotting a liar. It was one thing to breeze through briefings without saying a word about his feelings for Jayden, but another to have them there to protect Jayden on a date.

This was a date date. Like an actual, real, proper date.

He hadn't really thought it through at all, had he? As he waited in the lobby for Jayden to come down in the elevator, he began to wonder whether this was wise at all. They could just call it off. Go back to just having a whole lot of sex and... And just leave it at that.

He wasn't sure he could, really.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. At first it was Kendrick who came out, checking the lobby for threats, and Kendrick was a big guy, maybe bigger even than Lucas himself, so if Jayden was in there he was well hidden, sandwiched between Kendrick and Marcus.

Then Jayden stepped out, and Lucas' breathing stopped.

Jayden was beautiful. Utterly magnificent. His chestnut hair was swept back from his face, neat and glossy. His tux was a tailored thing which emphasized how tall and slender he was, and he wore it with a bright blue bowtie which matched his eyes. His glasses just added to the air of sophistication. With a little grooming and a change of clothes he'd switched from hipster to gentleman like he'd shed an old skin.

Yeah. There was no way this was gonna be fake anything. Lucas had butterflies in his goddamn stomach like he was a teenager. What the hell was that about?

Jayden's entire face lit up when he saw Lucas, too, like somehow Lucas was worth looking at.

The guy was obviously deranged.

"Hey! You look amazing!" Jayden took his arm and leaned in to kiss his cheek.

To their credit, men who had known Lucas for two years now didn't so much as smirk.

"You're talking outta your ass," Lucas muttered. "But you? You look like a million dollars."

"Pfft." Jayden steered him toward the doors, and Kendrick went on ahead while Marcus fell in behind them. "Five hundred at most. Why spend a fortune on a tux when you wear 'em once every five years? Though if this is gonna become a thing I could maybe get a better one."

"Oh stop it." Lucas rolled his eyes and squeezed Jayden's arm.

"Only if you do. Accept a compliment, man. You're drop-dead gorgeous and I'm lucky to have you with me. Deal with it."

Lucas opened his mouth to complain, then shut it again, and just shook his head as Kendrick led them out to the waiting car.

The restaurant was fancy with a capital fancy. Lucas had been inside these kinds places before, for work.

Never as a guest.

It was weird. Maybe a little uncomfortable. The maître d’ met them at the door, was some grade-A level of smarmy as he led them to their table, and regaled them with the life history of half the dead animals on the menu before he left them alone.

Lucas stared down at the bewildering options on his menu, and felt himself floundering. Adrift.

He didn't belong here.

He didn't know what a fucking confit was. Was it part of the duck, or something that got done to the duck? Who even ate duck?

Fancy motherfuckers, that's who.

"Are you okay?"

Jayden's question was spoken softly, and it jolted Lucas out of his line of thinking. He looked up to find Jayden leaning forward across the table, one hand sliding out toward him with fingers upturned.

Lucas took the offered hand like the lifeline it was, and he huffed. "What even is half this stuff?"

"Oh, God. Don't ask a waiter. Honestly the last thing you want is to have some dude explain to you shit it feels like everyone else here knows. Here." Jayden withdrew his hand and grabbed his chair, then shuffled it around the table so that he sat next to Lucas instead of opposite, and then he rested his hand on Lucas' thigh as he leaned against him. "Okay. Now we just look like we're discussing options." He gave a quick, conspiratorial grin.

Lucas found nothing mean in his smile, nothing but kindness in his voice.

That was Jayden, wasn't it? Compassion and understanding, not ridicule or divisiveness. He understood immediately the nature of the problem and he set out to solve it.

Yeah, he was a scientist all right.

Lucas thawed slowly as Jayden talked him through the menu. "So, confit is just a means of cooking. It's slow-cooked. No, not in a Crock-Pot." His laugh was soft, easy, and he squeezed Lucas' thigh.

Lucas was unwinding under his touch and his gentle, caring explanations. He wasn't used to finding a situation so tense, and it took him a while to unpack why that might be.

He wasn't trained for falling in love.

That was what it boiled down to, wasn't it? He could wait forever in the freezing cold. He could sneak through enemy territory and kill them in their sleep. He knew so many ways to tell whether or not a person on the street was a threat to his client, and how to handle each and every one of those ways. But this wasn't in any manual. No drill instructor had made him practice it for hours upon hours. There wasn't a handy motto he could cling to if he wanted to tough it out.

Shit.

This was the real thing.

He ended up picking the damn confit of duck out of pure curiosity, and their waiter quietly reset the table to move Jayden's cutlery to his new position. No muss, no fuss. It was done in moments, and then they were alone.

Well, alone in a sea of diners and the obnoxious occasional flashgun from outside.

"I think it's working," Jayden whispered. His hand remained on Lucas' thigh as though he wouldn't ever take it away. "I've seen a couple of people check us out."

"Jayden," Lucas began. He cleared his throat, then slid a hand under the table and settled it over Jayden's. "I need to say something."

Jayden blinked up at him, and his eyes creased in concern. "What is it?"

"Nothing bad. I hope." He took a breath and let it out slowly. "I dunno how to say this. It's not my usual kind of... I mean, I don't have a lot of experience with..." He huffed and pursed his lips. "What I mean is that I'm glad we're here. You and me. Together. What I mean is that I would do this again with you, any time. Not as a show, not as any kind of rustling the grasses. I mean I..." He felt the heat in his own cheeks, and he squeezed Jayden's fingers. "Fucking hell. I think I like you, Jayden. That's what I mean. You mean everything to me, okay?"

Wow, that wasn't anywhere near as romantic as it sounded in his head.

Jayden stared at him with lips parted. His face was flushed and his eyes wide. His throat bobbed as he swallowed, and for one crushing moment Lucas thought he'd screwed everything up.

"Oh God," Jayden breathed. "You have no idea how glad I am it's not just me!"

Lucas stared at him now, caught in the bright gleam of his eyes like a deer in headlights.

"Did you just..." Lucas licked his lips, and tried to pick his words with care. "Like, are you saying..."

"Yes. Of course I am!" Jayden laughed faintly and leaned in against Lucas' shoulder. "Man, you're amazing, you know that? And cute. And like crazy sexy. But you're more than all that. You're..." He halted and shook his head. "You're special, Lucas. You're the kind of guy that comes along once in a lifetime. I can't lose you."

Lucas ran out of words. What could anyone say to that? So he raised his free hand to cup Jayden's cheek and turned to kiss him.

It began softly. A delicate thing that risked being crushed under the weight of their need. Lucas handled it with care, nurtured it, sucking gently on Jayden's lips until they parted, and then easing his tongue past them to meet with Jayden's own.

Jayden's breath was hot as it flooded his mouth. Lucas' skin burned as Jayden's hand reached his face. As they shared the same air, as their tongues danced as though they knew one-another, they ceased to be two.

They were one. Lucas didn't know where he ended and Jayden began. He didn't care. It didn't matter. Right here, now, they were whole and complete. Not even the onslaught of flashing lights could separate them.

Jayden's fingers slid over Lucas' jaw and past his ear. They curled into his hair and cupped the back of his head.

Lucas ran his thumb across Jayden's cheek and withdrew his tongue, pausing to suck gently on Jayden's lower lip before he broke free and they became two people again.

His breath came hard. His heart thrummed in his chest. And he could feel the boner pressing up against his pants.

Fuck. He'd never had a kiss like that, and he reflexively checked the room to make sure no stray assassins had snuck in during it.

"Well," he croaked. "I think that settles it."

"Yeah," Jayden said, equally hoarsely. "That's pretty hard evidence right there."

Lucas snorted. "You too, huh?"

Jayden's fingers slid out from beneath his hand and nudged up against Lucas' erection under the table, so Lucas figured it was only fair to return the favor, and then they both laughed like mischievous schoolboys who were passing each other dirty jokes at the back of the classroom.

"Oh my god!" Jayden pulled back and reached for his water. "You're so bad!"

"Me?" Lucas propped an elbow against the table and tried to look casual. "You started it!"

"That kiss was you, mister." Jayden raised his head and feigned innocence.

"Only me?"

Jayden gave him a sideways glance. "Maybe a little bit me," he conceded.

"I wouldn't call it little."

Jayden almost choked on his water, and Lucas patted his back while he coughed.

"I'm gonna damn well get you later," Jayden promised.

Lucas grinned at that. "Not if I get you first."

Yeah, there was no going back now.