A Little Bite of Magic (Little Magic) Read Online Free PDF

followed his gesture. “Oh.” He chuckled. “Looks like Dom is busy. Do you want to sit here for a while?” He hoped that sounded casual. Really, Frankie wanted to hog-tie the guy to the bar and kiss him breathless.
    “Sure.” He got another one of those hesitant smiles. “So, um, Frankie, what do you do?”
    “I’m a chef.” Addison looked a bit uncomfortable at that. What's wrong with being a chef?
    “Where do you work?”
    “You’ve probably never heard of it. Little place. L’Osteria di Pomodoro. It’s in Cole Valley, right by the Haight.”
    “O-oh. I’ll have to check it out.” Addison turned pink.
    Frankie smiled at his awkwardness. It was adorable. Addison had to be at least twenty-seven or twenty-eight, but he acted like a bumbling teenager. Frankie loved it. Made him feel experienced.
    “I think I can arrange that,” he replied with a smile. “What do you do?”
    “I work at a newspaper. The Chronicle .”
    He was lying about something. Or evading. Frankie could easily tell. Addison's face turned red, and he looked at the counter. Why Addison was lying wasn’t so apparent. Maybe he just worked in the mail room or something and was embarrassed by his grunt job. Frankie nodded and let the topic go. He didn’t want to do anything to make Addison walk away.
    It took Frankie an hour or so, and a few more glasses of pinot, to get Addison to loosen up. Once he did, they had a great time talking. Frankie wasn’t surprised. Addison was flirty and had a sharp, sarcastic sense of humor that Frankie loved. They talked wine and food and San Francisco versus Louisiana. Addison told him his Southern accent was sexy. Frankie blushed, which he hadn’t done in years. They shared the basket of cheese straws and another of fried zucchini with a creamy pesto dip. In between comments to Addison, Frankie decided he was going to have to experiment with something pesto based soon. He hummed around a mouthful of zucchini. Addison smiled and handed him another.
    “Don’t you like it?” Frankie asked. He suddenly realized he’d eaten far more than half of the crunchy-soft zucchini slices.
    “I think I might be in the mood for dessert,” Addison answered with a wink.
    Frankie moaned. He wondered if Addison had any idea how dirty he’d just made that sound. God, he's hot.
    “I think I can arrange that,” he said again. “If you really want some.”
    Addison had been rubbing his free hand absentmindedly along Frankie’s jean-clad thigh while they talked. He nodded and stood. “You want to go say good night to your friend?”
    Frankie looked over to where Dom had a tan blond laughing at his jokes and leaning closer and closer. “I think he’s fine.” He did take out his phone to text Dom that he was leaving, though. “What about your friends?”
    “They left a long time ago.”
    Frankie vaguely remembered Addison's friend Jillian giving him a big grin and a thumbs-up as his group had slipped out the door.
    “Um, do you want to go to your place?” Frankie asked as soon as they were on the street. He knew how it usually worked. He had a feeling it wasn’t the same with this one, though.
    Addison hesitated. Frankie wondered if he’d read the man all wrong. “I do, but my mom has a key and an awkward habit of showing up on Saturday mornings.”
    Frankie chuckled. “Don’t worry. I know all about mothers who pop in unannounced. My place is up on Strawberry Hill, but I know somewhere closer.” He took Addison’s hand and laced their fingers together. Addison seemed surprised at first but then sighed and smiled.
    Frankie was nervous, which was strange, since he’d already decided he wasn't going to have sex with Addison. He realized as soon as they’d stood to leave the bar that this one was too important for a one-night stand. Maybe that was the source of the nerves, the lack of a clear agenda. Or the fact that he already wanted there to be a future with this guy. There had been boyfriends before, of