AllFreeNovel
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“Mmm… I recognize two or three. You get all kinds of people here. That guy’s an All Black. The woman over there is an actor—she was in that James Cameron movie that came out last week. And that dude’s the lead singer in Paua of One.”
“Oh shit, you’re right. Jesus, Kip, why did you bring me here?”
“Because it’s the best place in Wellington, and I wanted to show you off.”
Her gaze comes back to me, flattered but puzzled. “Why? I’m nothing special.”
I look at her fine features, her bright-blue eyes, her wavy blonde hair, and her gorgeous figure, and feel a swell of smug pleasure that she doesn’t know how beautiful she is, because she’s not had any guy whispering sweet nothings to her in the darkness. I was the first man to taste her, to be inside her. I don’t know why, but I find that an incredible turn on.
She blushes. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you want to eat me alive.”
I let my lips curve up. “Now you’re talking. I don’t really need to see the menu.”
She laughs and opens hers up.
“You haven’t answered me,” I say, “champagne, a cocktail, or something else?”
She nibbles her bottom lip. “I’ve never ordered champagne in a restaurant.”
“Then champagne it is.” I smile up at the waiter as he appears—a good looking Maori guy in a white shirt and black waistcoat and trousers.
“Kia ora,” he says, “can I get you a drink while you look at the menu?”
“We’ll have a bottle of the 2009 Louis Roederer Cristal, please,” I tell him.
“Of course,” he says without batting an eyelid, and goes off to fetch it.
Alice stares at me. “It’s over five hundred dollars a bottle.”
“Yeah. It’s good stuff. It scored a hundred points in Wine & Spirits Magazine.”
“Out of what?”
“A thousand.” I give a short laugh at the look on her face. “Out of a hundred. Very rare.”
“You like to tease me, don’t you?”
“I do. It was created by Louis Roederer for Alexander II of Russia in 1876. He ordered that the champagne be bottled clear, with a flat bottom, so nobody could hide a bomb in the punt.”
“The punt?”
“The dip in the bottom.”
“I didn’t know it was called that. Wow. That’s a fascinating story.”
“Plenty more where that came from.” I open my menu. She doesn’t reply, and after a few moments I look up to find her watching me with a smile. “What?”
“You,” she says. “I was worried I wouldn’t feel the same way about you.”
My heart skips a beat. “And do you?”
She meets my eyes, and we lock gazes for a moment. “Oh yes,” she whispers. Then she drops her gaze to her menu. “Ooh,” she says, “risotto. I love a good risotto.”
Smiling, I turn my attention to the food, and we spend a pleasant few minutes talking about options. Wiremu comes back with the bottle of champagne, pops the cork, and pours us both a glass. She takes a sip and gives a girlish giggle. “Mmm. Lovely.”
