Chapter Thirty–One
It took me over three hours to decide what to wear. And after that, it took me another hour to finally convince myself to step out of the hotel. The result was that by the time I came downstairs, Ethan had been waiting for over thirty minutes.
My heart stopped at the sight of him standing in the lobby, holding a bouquet of white roses and wearing a crisp black suit which hugged his frame nicely. He looked like he was waiting to escort the prettiest girl in school on her prom date, and when he ran his fingers through his hair, I had to stifle the shiver that was attempting to creep down my spine.
In contrast, I was wearing a simple, sequinned black dress, with a low–cut neckline and a small slit reaching up to the middle of my thigh. I’d paired that with a pair of heels, and a silver purse which matched my necklace and earrings. I wasn’t sure where exactly we would be going, so wanted to look presentable at least. It was better to be overdressed than underdressed anyway.
Ethan turned as I came down the stairs, and the line on his forehead disappeared immediately. He smiled like a kid who’d just walked into a candy store, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling as well.
“Hi, Ethan,” I said as I stood in front of him. “I’m so sorry for keeping you waiting.”
He tilted his head to the side, and I held my breath because it reminded me so much of Marcus. But when he smiled, it was warmer than my ex–husband’s had ever been, and the light in his eyes was certainly brighter.
“It’s fine, Liv,” he said. “You look beautiful, so you get a free pass.”
I blushed as he handed me the flowers, and he awkwardly looked down at his feet as he did that. I realised with a jolt that this was probably new for him, and he probably hadn’t been in a relationship in recent times. That was something I definitely needed to find out tonight.
Amongst other things, of course.
“Thank you,” I said, accepting the flowers from him. “The flowers are lovely,”
He beamed at me, and when I walked over to the receptionist and asked to have the flowers delivered up to my room, I saw him giving himself a high–five of the corner of my eye. That brought a smile to my face.
“Shall we?” I asked when I returned to him, and he offered me his arm. I almost jumped when I laced my arm with his, and I realised how perfectly they fit together. I felt a jolt when he placed his hand on mine, and I tried to keep my face turned away from him so he wouldn’t realise how heavily I was blushing-
“I thought we could take a short walk before we get to the restaurant,” he said as we stepped ou
into the chilly evening air. In hindsight, maybe I should have worn a jacket. But I gritted my teeth and nodded as we turned left and started walking, before Ethan readjusted so that I was on the inside of the sidewalk. That little gesture warmed my heart, and I beamed up at him.
“So what’s the idea behind walking to the restaurant?” I asked. “Is it to make sure that we’re properly hungry when we get there?”
“I doubt a ten minute walk will do anything to make us hungry,” he said. “Actually, I just wanted us to talk for a bit. In my experience, trying to have a conversation while eating is a very difficult task to balance. And we barely know anything about each other, so I thought we should change up the date formula a bit and get to know each other a little bit.”
“Oh, so this is a date?” I asked sarcastically. “I thought I was just getting dinner with a guy I recently met.”
He looked flustered when I said that, but I quickly placed my arm over his to reassure him that I wasn’t making fun of the evening.
+25 BONUS
Chapter Thirty the
