Chapters (45)
“Why discreet?” Their favorite places when they were younger—and Xingyu’s favorite places now—were the little hole-in-the-wall ones, always bustling with people, and when you sat down at your table you could hear the chef shouting orders in the back. When Xiao-Xiao was younger, he’d even said that these were his favorite restaurants too, because other than when Xingyu cooked, they were the closest they got to a home-cooked meal. “I thought you’d want to go to one of those little restaurants we always loved. That one on fifth—”
“Is closed.” Xiao-Xiao rested his elbow on the table and then his chin in his hand. It was a position that Xingyu would’ve been beaten for as a child, but Xiao-Xiao looked absolutely relaxed. “We need to be discreet because I’ve been having issues with the paparazzi.”
“Really?” Xingyu was a little baffled. “Why?”
The corner of Xiao-Xiao’s lip curled up. “It’s not important. If you need ideas on the restaurant, you can discuss it with my secretary. Tell her cost isn’t a concern. I’ll take care of the bill.”
“I mean, thanks, but really—why is the paparazzi bothering you? Can’t Ba deal with it?”
Xiao-Xiao’s expression hardened and he very deliberately returned to work.
“Is it embarrassing? Is that why you aren’t saying?”
“I’m not telling you because it is both irrelevant and none of your business. Now, I was under the impression that you were gong to hold off on disturbing me while I worked, and lunch will not begin for another hour and half. Please hold off until then.”
Fair enough. Xingyu knew how to look things up. The wonderful thing about being hounded by the paparazzi—perhaps the only wonderful thing—was that it was very, very easy to find out why; the paparazzi made no efforts to conceal exactly what they were after. In Xiao-Xiao’s case, apparently they wanted his photos because…
Xingyu stopped. His mouth dropped open.
“Xiao-Xiao, were you really named the most eligible bachelor?”
Xiao-Xiao glared at him. His expression was so startlingly different from the charismatic photographs the paparazzi had managed to capture that Xingyu laughed.
“How in the world did that happen?”
“Don’t worry,” Xiao-Xiao said, “I’m sure if you stay here any longer, you’ll take my place.”
Xingyu laughed again. “Believe me, the last thing I want to do is take your place.”