I laughed. “Always,” I said, “but the car was a present to myself when I first made partner. It was the car my mom always wanted. I would have gotten it for her, but she passed before that could happen.”
Alex’s smile dimmed a little. “I’m so sorry.”
I shrugged it off. “It’s been years,” I said.
“You can still miss her,” she pointed out.
I nodded. “I do,” I said, “but it’s easier to remember her now. When everything was fresh, all the reminders of her were too much, you know? But now, I can think about her and smile.”
“I’m glad,” she said, leaning against my arm for a second. The sweet vanilla scent of her perfume hit me, and I bit back a groan. “Where are we going?”
“Have you been to Ardor?”
She shook her head. “I’ve heard of it, but it’s a little... out of my price range,” she said. “Most first dates I’ve ever been on haven't been so extravagant.”
Ardor was hardly an extravagance. I made good money, and I didn’t have a family to spend it on. I had never been big on romance. Dates were a means to an end, mostly. But for Alex, I wanted to be the guy who could do the romantic things. She deserved it.
I led her around to the passenger side of the car and opened the door for her. “Thank you,” she said, almost primly. It was a little bit of a drive to the restaurant, but Alex didn’t seem to mind being in the car. “Tell me about law school,” she said as we crawled through traffic.
I snorted. “I would have done better in clown school,” I said honestly. “Jake and Zach were top of the class types, you know? I played too much, and I barely scraped by most of the time.”
Alex laughed. “You?” she asked. “Play around too much?”
“Careful, you,” I warned and waggled my finger at her. Alex grabbed at my hand, holding it for a moment before she placed it on her thigh. Her skin was soft against my palm. There was a moment where neither of us breathed, but when I didn’t move my hand, she relaxed. “Seriously, law school was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. Second only to the Bar. I got through it, but it’s not something that I necessarily enjoyed.”
“I’m not worried about enjoying it,” she said. “I just want to make sure that I can finish it.”
I squeezed her thigh a little, bringing her eyes to me. “I have no doubt in my mind that you’ll be top of your class, just like Jake and Zach.”
“Why do you say that?”
I squeezed her thigh again and felt her jump a little under my touch. “I’ve watched you at work,” I said. “When you’re on a project, you have a laser focus. That’s exactly what you’ll need for school... and it’s the thing I never had.”
“What got you so distracted?” she asked.
I laughed. “Girls, mostly,” I said.
“So you haven’t changed much since then, huh?” she teased.
“Nah,” I said. “Before, I was throwing myself at any girl who would give me the time of day. Nowadays, I’m only interested in getting one girl’s attention.”
Alex’s warm, honey eyes sparkled. “Charmer,” she accused.
“I’m trying very hard,” I said. “Is it working?”
She hummed softly. “Guess you’ll have to see.”
When we arrived at the restaurant, I valeted the car, and the hostess took us to a small table out on the terrace. It was lush and green and private. Just what I had hoped for. We sat, and Alex’s eyes were a little wide, like she couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. “This is literally the nicest place I’ve ever been to. Is this dressy enough?” she asked, looking down at herself with such doubt that I had to reach out and grab her hand, bringing her eyes back to me.
“You’re the most beautiful woman in the room,” I said. “You’re the most beautiful woman inmostrooms, as far as I can tell.”
Alex made a noise of disbelief. “I’ve been in rooms with some of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. There’s no comparison.”
I shook my head. “Hollywood is all smoke and mirrors and plastic surgery.”
She laughed. “And you think I’m not? Do you know how muchenergygoes into looking good?”
“I’ll bet any amount of money that you would look just as good in a pair of sweats and a T-shirt,” I said, and she rolled her eyes like I expected that she would. “Well, we’ll just have to test out my theory sometime. For science’s sake.”