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I wondered what kind of restaurant he would take me to. Hayden was, after all, a multi-billionaire hotel mogul. He would probably take me somewhere incredibly fancy. A place where the menus don’t have prices and the food comes out in bite-sized morsels on dainty plates. I’d never been to a place like that and I hoped I didn’t embarrass myself.
Or him, for that matter.
I slid into my dress, slipped into my heels, and let my hair fall around my body. I pulled it back with a clip so it would spill down my back but stay out of my face. I studied myself in the mirror, taking in my winged eyeliner and my glossy lips.
I added a bit of blush, shook out my hair, then I was ready to go.
I stood by the window of my apartment and waited for him. I paced, watching the minutes tick down on my phone. I was anxious. Nervous. What if he didn’t show up? Hayden wouldn’t do something like that, but it wouldn’t be the first time I was stood up. Back in college, I had a coffee date planned with one of the doctors on my floor. It was just after my twenty-nine-hour rotation and I was ready to guzzle an entire gallon. I sat in the coffee shop for two hours drinking endless amounts of coffee before I got the picture that he wasn’t going to show.
The thought of it still hurt a little.
I looked at my phone and saw it was four minutes past seven. Hayden was officially late. I took another peek outside to see if I could see his car, but all I saw was someone parked at the curb and a bunch of empty parking spaces. Maybe I needed to call him? Maybe something had happened?
Ugh, what if something had happened to his hip?
Panic flooded my veins. I knew this was too soon. Our encounter had put too much strain on him. I unlocked my phone and quickly scrolled to his number, then pressed his name and held the phone to my ear.
If he didn’t pick up, I was calling an ambulance and sending it to his place.
The phone rang and rang, and I was so preoccupied with him picking up that I didn’t hear another phone ringing behind my apartment door. Tears rose in my eyes as his voicemail picked up, but a knock sounding at the door pulled me from my panicked state.
I hung up the phone and raced over to the peephole, and once I looked through I felt relief shroud my shoulders. I cleared my throat and blinked the tears away, trying to make sure my cascading emotions weren’t evident.
That was definitely not how I wanted to start this evening.
I reached for the doorknob and opened the door, but I was confused when I saw Hayden standing there. He looked magnificent, as always. But he wasn’t in a tailored suit like I thought he would be. Instead, he was in a pair of slim-fit dark-wash jeans, a button-down top fitted to him, and a jacket that was buttoned one time around his waist.
My eyes panned up to his and I could see a playful grin on his cheeks.
“You look stunning,” he said.
“I think I might be a little overdressed,” I said.
“Nonsense. You’re dressed exactly how you should be.”
“Then does that mean you’re underdressed?” I asked.
He chuckled and held out his arm for me, but didn’t answer my question.
“Shall we?” he asked.
“Where are we headed?”
“To a place I think you’re going to love.”
“So we’re going somewhere I’m familiar with?” I asked.
But still, he didn’t give me an answer.
I could feel his eyes on me as I closed and locked the apartment behind me. He led me down a flight of steps before his hand slipped around my lower back. I leaned into his touch, feeling my head lay upon his shoulder as we walked into the parking lot.
But instead of taking me to his car, he took me to the car I saw sitting out on the curb.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“An Uber,” Hayden said plainly.
“Are you expecting us to do a lot of drinking where we’re going?”
