When Noah stepped out of her room twenty minutes later, Alec was a little more than agitated. It was easy for him to throw on a collared shirt and slacks. Even though he would have preferred jeans and a t-shirt, they had to sell this. It had to seem like this date was romantic. A romantic date meant fancy clothes. People put more effort into people they cared about, didn’t they? Which meant he had to look nice.
Luckily for him, looking nice took all of ten minutes. Noah, on the other hand…
He kept glancing at his watch until he heard the door swing open. His mouth opened, ready to tell her that she wasted twenty minutes when all she had to do was throw on a dress, but the words evaporated on his tongue. How the fuck was he supposed to say anything when she looked like that?
The white dress clung to her body just a little too tight, which meant she must have had the dress since early high school. Alec knew she hadn’t filled out completely since senior year – not that he noticed this about just her; he noticed it about every girl on campus that was aesthetically pleasing – so the dress didn’t quite fit the same way it had when she was a freshman.
This meant, of course, that the dress fit perfectly. So perfectly, in fact, that Alec couldn’t take his eyes off of her. And he wanted to. Alec liked to play it cool. He dated numerous gorgeous women, all with characteristics or qualities that he found extremely attractive, but he always kept the things he noticed close to his vest. He didn’t make it obvious because he didn’t want to give them the power. Because before, dating – because it sure as hell wasn’t relationships – were a power struggle, and Alec always wanted to have the upper hand. This was why he stuck to dating. Even he knew it wasn’t the healthiest viewpoints to have.
But all of that didn’t explain why he couldn’t keep the upper hand with Noah. Granted, Noah was gorgeous and this wasn’t even a real relationship. At least, they both understood they were helping each other out. Regardless, it was something different, and since it was different, that made him notice it even more.
“You look…” He let his voice trail off, finally meeting her eyes.
“You don’t have to pretend when there’s no one else around,” she said quickly, pressing down the wrinkles of her dress. Alec would have said she was nervous if this was anyone but Noah. Noah wasn’t the nervous type, especially when they were going to a dinner that definitely didn’t mean anything.
Alec opened his mouth, ready to tell her he wasn’t pretending, but thought better of it. She was right. Even if he thought he was stating a simple fact, he didn’t want to seem like he was getting too caught up into things. How would that be for a power struggle?
“Right.” He clapped his hands together. “Ready to go?”
She fiddled with the hemline of the dress. “Yeah, sure.”
Alec decided the best place to be seen in Irvine was the Spectrum. He considered going to Newport and driving to a trendy bar on the Pacific Coast Highway, but considering how nervous Noah was presently, he didn’t want to put undue pressure on her. As much as he loved to step out of his car and hear both the crashing waves hitting the shore and the low murmur of pop music and glasses clinking, he thought it might be better to go somewhere more neutral.
The Irvine Spectrum was an outdoor mall where middle school kids got dropped off by their parents Friday nights and they could roam freely and pretend they were older than they actually were. Alec remembered coming to the big Edwards theatre and hanging out by the large fountain right in front of the food court. There was always such a mixture of people – businessmen in suits, kids in baggy sweats, women in tight dresses and the highest of heels – and no one ever felt like they didn’t belong. There was something there for everyone.
Alec pulled up to the valet and stepped out of the car. A valet attendant opened the passenger door for Noah and another handed Alec a ticket. Alec thanked him and the two headed over to the sidewalk. Tangy barbeque and buttery popcorn filled the air. The Spectrum had a wide range of restaurants lined up, but Alec knew exactly where he wanted to eat with Noah. It wasn’t terribly fancy, but you could go in a jeans or in suits and no one would blink either way.
“I’m going to put my arm around you,” Alec told her.
Noah nodded but didn’t say anything. He wondered if maybe she was going to change her mind about their plan to work together, to pretend to be together. Hell, he couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t as though he was her favorite person. In retrospect, he was an asshole. More than that, this whole plan benefited him more than it benefited her. She was doing him a favor, and he couldn’t remember thanking her for it or, at least, showing some sort of appreciation.
Alec slid his arm around her waist and brought her closer to him. Without meaning to, he managed to catch a whiff of the scent on her. He knew it was something floral, and while he couldn’t exactly recognize the different flowers, there was a hint of vanilla so the scent wasn’t as sharp. All that to say she smelled alluring, enticing, and if there was a way for him to bring her even closer to him, he would.
“I hope you like cheesecake,” he said as they headed past the theatre, past the fountain, and towards an aisle of shops.
Noah smiled. “I love cheesecake,” she said.
“Great,” Alec said. “We can share one.”
As usual, there was a crowd of people inside The Cheesecake Factory.
