Free Mating Thomas Brac Pack by Lynn Hagen

Chapter One
    “Something on your mind?”
“Huh?” Thomas looked up from his glass of wine. Reginald was sitting across from him, looking worried.
His thoughts had been far away. Thomas glanced around the restaurant, guilt swamping him as his eyes finally settled on Reginald. The man had been nothing but sweet and kind to him, and Thomas repaid him with thoughts of wishing Reginald was someone else. Reginald was nice and all, but there wasn’t any magic zing between them. Thomas wanted someone that made his heart flutter. Someone who made his damn toes curl. Reginald was about as exciting as peeling paint.
Just forget about it.
“You seem a little preoccupied. Is everything okay?”
No.
Yes.
Hell if he knew anymore.
Thomas pushed the wayward thoughts out of his mind as he smiled at his dinner date. “Everything is great. The basketball competition went off without a hitch, and the kids had a great time.”
“I’m glad to hear everything went so well. I’m sorry I couldn’t make it. Work seems to get in the way of a lot of things. Would you like to go away for the weekend? I want to make things up to you.” Reginald pulled his napkin from the table, setting it in his lap as the maître d’ brought their food to the table.
Once again Thomas looked around the restaurant. He was used to eating at a diner, grabbing a burger here and there, or just cooking at home. This place was swank, somewhere Thomas would have never voluntarily picked. He wasn’t sure how he had ended up going out to dinner with a top executive of a prestigious law firm, but here he sat across the table from him.
Reginald wasn’t what one would describe as handsome, but Thomas wasn’t vain enough to go by looks alone. It was the person inside that mattered. The guy wasn’t butt-ugly, though. He sighed inwardly as he looked around the restaurant once again. He felt so out of place here.
He tried to tell himself that money didn’t matter, but he was starting to feel like Reginald’s arm candy. The man had flaunted him around to his colleagues before they had left for their date, acting as if Thomas were the pretty little wife. Reginald had even made a few comments in that direction.
That bothered Thomas.
He smiled at Reginald as a dish he couldn’t even pronounce was set in front of him. He wasn’t sure if he should eat it or place the work of art on his wall. There was barely any food on the plate, but everything seemed to be placed with care, as if the plating and preparation was more important than the food itself.
“Is there something wrong with your food?” Reginald asked. His dinner date picked his fork up and began to eat as he looked at Thomas for an answer.
“No, nothing.”
Thomas stared at the forks in front of him, unsure which one he should eat with. Why were there three forks sitting in front of him? Never had he been to a place where more than one fork was required.
Half the time Thomas ate food that required no silverware at all.
He heard a low chuckle as Reginald’s hand came into view and pointed at the utensil he should use. His face heated as he picked the fork up and began to eat.
His mouth stilled.
Oh hell. Where was a trash can when he needed one? It tasted like crap. Thomas forced himself to chew, feeling his gag reflex kick in. It was like chewing his damn loafers. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he prayed he never had to eat this shit again in his life.
It should be outlawed.
“You never gave me an answer.”
Thomas swallowed his food, trying his best not to grimace. Gah, that was awful . “About what?”
“Our weekend getaway,” Reginald replied
Thomas shrugged as he stabbed at another piece of food on his plate and quickly shoved it into his mouth. This time he did gag as the slimy, squishy… whatever slid down his throat. There was no way he was going to eat anything else on his plate.
A HazMat team should have served the food.
He quickly gulped down his wine, trying his best to remove the nasty taste