Follows on immediately from Fic Nuggets ch 10: The Auction.
Dean shook the hand that was offered to him, the hand belonging to the man that had paid quite handsomely to win his company. While it might not have been his idea to take part in the auction, thanks Becky, he did still appreciate the fact that this Shane guy had made quite a substantial contribution to their fundraiser and a lot of good would come from his momentary discomfort.
"Hi. Nice to meet you too. That was a pretty awesome thing you just did there, thanks for your donation."
"What can I say? I get to kill two birds with one stone...do a good deed and get to spend a little time getting to know the man who once used the words 'It's quite space-efficient, being so dense with evil.' in a product review. That was pure poetry."
Dean took too much pride in his work not to be pleased at the compliment.
"Thanks. It was also accurate. There's no universe in which that monstrosity deserves to exist. Seriously, it was an abomination."
He remembered the reason why he was currently talking to this attractive man.
"Hey, you can I get you drink?"
The pair headed towards the bar at the back of the room, grabbing a couple of beers before drifting towards a relatively quiet table with a few empty seats. They chatted amiably for a little while, Shane revealing that he was quite a fan of Dean's columns, Dean starting to become quite a fan himself of the older man. Eventually the conversation returned to the subject of Shane's prize.
"So...how does this work then? Does this count as our date or what? I've never bid on anyone in a bachelor auction before."
"My first time too," Dean gave a smile as he raised his beer bottle to Shane in salute. "It's kind of a package deal, we have a table reserved for eight tomorrow night at Mezzaluna, if that works for you...all covered as part of your winning bid. As to what happens after, I think we have a VIP table at some jazz club near the restaurant."
"Sounds pretty good...but I get the feeling it's not exactly what a real date with you might entail…"
Shane's tone was playful, a twinkle in his eye as he spoke. Dean wasn't sure where this was going, but he was happy to play along for now.
"I'm not sure if I should be offended by that. Are you implying that I'm not a classy kind of dude?"
"Not at all, you do seem like the kind of man who wouldn't be so bound by cliché. I imagine that any lucky woman…"
"Or man."
"...good to know...any lucky woman, or man, who was so fortunate as to have the gift of your company would be up for something far more interesting than dinner and a jazz club, no matter how fancy."
Shane drained the last of his beer and reached into his pocket for his phone. He offered it to Dean.
"Add your number, will you."
Dean did as he was asked and handed the phone back to Shane, watchings as the other man's fingers danced deftly over the screen, his own phone vibrating in his pocket a moment later.
"My number and address. I'll expect you at seven thirty. If you can't think of anything else, Mezzaluna will be fine...but I'd much rather get the full Dean Ambrose experience."
With a final dazzling smile, Shane rose and left the table, leaving Dean to save his contact in his phone.
The sudden reappearance of Becky in a whirlwind of fiery hair and laughter, dragged his attention back into the room.
"Well, well, well, didn't you luck out there, Deano. Is he a silver fox or what? I thought my knicker elastic was going to disintegrate when he came over to the stage and said hello."
Dean rolled his eyes at his friends customary over-enthusiasm.
"Dolph's pure raging too, you know. You've beaten his all time best record of six grand. Remember? When your woman Vickie from advertising got really carried away? He seems nice though...I'll bet he looks really gorgeous in a suit...do you think he'll suit up for your date? Will you suit up…"
"Becky, please...do you ever breathe? Yes, he's not bad looking, and yes, I think he would look really good in a suit, but no, I don't know if I'll get to see that tomorrow…"
"Why not?"
"He kind of challenged me. He wants to see what a real Dean Ambrose date is like...and I think I'd like to show him…"