All white—a fitted dress that hugged her curves without being obvious about it, stopping just above her knees. The fabric looked expensive, something with a subtle texture that caught the light. Her hair was pulled back in a low bun, elegant and simple. Gold hoops in her ears. A delicate gold chain at her throat.
She smiled when she saw me.
“Right on time,” she said.
“Always.”
I opened the passenger door for her, and she slid into the seat with practiced grace. The scent of her perfume—something floral and warm, jasmine maybe—filled the car as I closed her door and walked around to the driver’s side.
When I got in, she was already looking at me.
“You clean up nice,” she said, her voice teasing but genuine.
“So do you.”
I started the engine and pulled away from the curb.
The silence that settled between us wasn’t awkward.
It was charged.
I could feel her eyes on me as I drove—not nervous or uncertain, but curious. Interested. The kind of attention that made the air feel heavier, made you aware of every breath, every movement.
“So, where are we going?” she asked after a few blocks.
“Cochon,” I said. “You been?”
“Once. For a colleague’s birthday.” She shifted slightly in her seat, angling toward me. “It’s good. I didn’t expect you to pick something so… casual.”
“You thought I’d take you somewhere stuffy?”
“Maybe.” She smiled. “You have that look.”
“What look?”
“The kind that says you’re used to getting exactly what you want.”
I glanced at her.
She was still smiling, but there was something sharp in her eyes. Something that said she wasn’t intimidated by me—and that she liked the challenge.
“And what if I am?” I asked.
“Then I guess we’ll see if you can handle someone who doesn’t give it to you easily.”
The heat in the car spiked.
I kept my eyes on the road, but I could feel the shift—the way the conversation had moved from polite to something else entirely.
This wasn’t the woman I’d met at my mother’s house.
That Alexis had been pleasant, polite, careful. The kind of woman who knew how to navigate a room full of people who were judging her.
This Alexis was different.
Confident. Direct. Unafraid.
And the chemistry between us—the pull I’d felt at dinner with my parents but dismissed as polite attraction—was suddenly undeniable.
