Wrong for Me (Bad Boy Romance) (13 page)

It was
finally Wednesday night. Alyssa was ready by 6:45pm and she spent the next 25 minutes
anxiously alternating between sitting restlessly on her couch, pacing back and
forth, or walking up to her door and then back again.

She
constantly checked her phone as if it would make time go faster. Finally, five
minutes early, her doorbell rang.

 
“Just a moment,” she called out before darting
into her bedroom to look over her reflection one last time.

She had
her hair up in a partial ponytail so that locks of her shiny, blond hair still
flowed over her shoulders. Her bangs were swept off to the side framing her
pretty face with light makeup, save for subtly smoky eyeliner and light red
lips. Her hair flowed beautifully onto the slightly shimmery champagne colored
dress that clung sensually to her breasts and wrapped around her slender frame,
ending just above the knee to give a teasing peak of her toned thighs. She
swiped the gold and black studded clutch from the table next to the front door
and opened it.

“Good
evening,” she greeted the driver with a smile.

“Good
evening, Miss McConnell,” he replied.

He stood
off to the side so she could walk out ahead of him. She walked at a slower pace
being careful to master her graceful yet confidently sexy walk in her tall
pumps that shimmered as the lights of the hallway hit them. She felt classy and
attractive without being too over the top. Whether they went somewhere more
casual or a bit more on the elegant side, she looked lovely and that was all
thanks to Jessica.

Her
friend also succeeded in calming Alyssa down, at least a little bit. Although
she was definitely more nervous than usual when heading to a first date she
felt a little
more calm
than she had before. If she
was going to go out with Philip, even if it only ended up being the one time,
she wanted to be herself.

 
There was no point in creating a persona to
mask who she truly was. Like Jessica had pointed out, there was absolutely
nothing wrong with who Alyssa was so there was nothing to hide anyway.

The
driver pulled open the back door on the passenger’s side and Alyssa slid in,
buckling her seat belt as he walked around front. He put up the privacy
partition. She heard smooth jazz pumping from the speakers as he drove her
toward downtown.

It
wasn’t long before they arrived at the city’s main civic center, in the middle
of which stood a tall building full of government offices. Alyssa felt confused
when the driver pulled around to the front of it and stopped the car. He opened
the door and she stepped out. Just as she was about to ask if he was sure he’d
gone to the correct place she saw Philip step out from the main lobby of the
building.

He was
wearing a slate grey suit with a black shirt and tie. His hair was swept back,
just as it was at the gala, and his smile made her knees feel wobbly. He walked
straight up to her, smile still in place, “Good evening, Alyssa.” He turned and
stood right beside her as he offered his arm.

Cautiously,
she placed her hand on it and tried to steady herself. She took slow, deep
breaths and remembered the words Jessica had used to help calm her down. They
stared walking toward the doors of the building and Alyssa slowed down while
turning to look at him.

 
“Why are we going into an office building?”

He
chuckled. “I know, it does seem a bit odd, doesn’t it? But I promise you the restaurant
at the top floor has delicious food and spectacular views.”

As they
continued to walk toward the elevators Alyssa didn’t want to mention she never
even knew there was a restaurant in the building. She wondered if that was
common knowledge or if it was the sort of place that was only frequented by
people of Philip’s status.

The
elevator took them straight up to the top floor and opened up to a small
welcome room where a man stood at a podium, a closed book in front of him next
to a pen. He peered up at them and his expression immediately turned to one
that was over the top. He was practically fawning over Philip. Then Alyssa
realized she had done something similar up until Jessica calmed her down a bit.
Was it just a reaction he brought out in people or was it because of his name?

“Good
evening, Mr. Walton. It is always a pleasure to see you,” the man said in a
greasy voice that was begging for approval.

He
turned to Alyssa and she noticed a slight shift in his expression. He had
judgment written all over his face. She could tell he was only going to be
extremely cordial with her to look good in front of Philip.

“Good
evening, Miss.” He turned back to Philip and smiled before opening the book and
checking for the reservation. “Excellent, I shall alert the host you have
arrived to escort you to the table.” He smiled again and bowed his head before
disappearing behind a door right next to the podium.

Alyssa
held back a chuckle at the thought the man was basically a fancy bouncer. She
wondered what it was like to stand there all day and be overly polite to the
people who visited the restaurant. The man returned with a young woman trailing
behind him. She was quite stunning and she looked at Philip as if they knew
each other, which made Alyssa feel a little uncomfortable.

 
It wasn’t that she was jealous or already
getting possessive of him, it was just awkward. She saw the way the young woman
looked at Philip and she couldn’t help but wonder if anything had ever happened
between them. She couldn’t blame the young woman for having an interest in a
man like him and she couldn’t blame Philip for finding the her attractive.

With her
large and perfectly round breasts, tanned skin, sparkling blue eyes and flowing
natural red hair she was a complete knockout. Alyssa tried to look at Philip’s
eyes to see if he looked at her in any way other than friendliness, but she
couldn’t without being obvious.

“Mr.
Walton,” the young woman said in a sultry voice. It was the type of voice you
could tell naturally sounded that way, even if she wasn’t trying to be sexy.
She smiled at him, two little dimples forming near the corners of her full
lips, as she walked up to them.

She got
a bit closer to Philip than Alyssa would have expected. Alyssa shifted her
weight uncomfortably to her other leg, standing further away from them. Philip
turned to look at Alyssa and she could have sworn she detected amusement in his
eyes.

“Cassandra,”
he said as he returned her smile and then took a step sideways to stand closer
to Alyssa. “This is Alyssa, my date for the night.”

Cassandra
turned to look at Alyssa and smiled. It looked genuine, but Alyssa was too busy
making up scenarios in which the young woman secretly hated her to fully
realize it. She returned a tight-lipped smile and automatically stuck her hand
out for a shake. Cassandra rather awkwardly took it and shook her hand before
turning around and leading them to the best table in the place.

It was a
table for two, slightly removed from the rest of the room and offered a
stunning panoramic view of the city. As the sun had already set the lights were
on, casting a glittery visage over everything. Cassandra excused herself, but
not before gently pressing her hand to the table right near Philip. Alyssa
caught it. It was the professional equivalent of her pressing her hand to his
arm. She gulped and looked out the window some more as she tried to push away
her negative thoughts and feelings.

“You
don’t much like Cassandra, do you?” Philip asked bluntly. His eyes locked onto
her face as he studied her reaction.

Alyssa
turned to look at him with wide eyes. She didn’t think many people would have
gone straight for asking such a direct question and confronting her about it.
Only it didn’t sound like a scathing accusation by any measure. He just sounded
curious. It was clear he had simply made an observation and was now asking her
about it.

“I can’t
say I dislike her,” Alyssa answered truthfully while trying to avoid the fact
that she felt awkward. She was usually very laid-back and confident. But there
was something about
Philip
that set
off reactions in her she didn’t know what to make of. She was quickly growing
tired of it. Even with Jessica having calmed her down before she left, new worries
kept arising and her mind. And the more she focused on needing to calm down,
the more she nervous she got.

Philip
looked at her for a few moments as if he were trying to sum up her answer and
catch something else through her facial expression. Just then, the waiter came
and introduced himself. Philip ordered a bottle of wine. Alyssa couldn’t
believe its cost when she saw the name on the wine list. When it arrived she
sipped it politely and enjoyed the flavor, but still was at a loss. Yet again,
she started to feel out of place. It seemed to be a recurring theme in her life
as of late. She let out a deep sigh as she stared out the window.

“Everything
alright?” Philip asked as he closed his menu and set it down on the table.

Alyssa
looked over the edge of her menu with a raised eyebrow and then softened her
expression. She nodded before perusing the menu. As she glossed over the
chicken selection she wondered what Philip must have been thinking of her. In
an effort not to panic, she focused her attention entirely on the steak
selection and ended up deciding what to have. After she ordered her dinner she
turned to see Philip looking at her with the expression of someone who was just
pleasantly surprised.

 
“What's that look for?”

“You
ordered a steak dinner,” he responded flatly. Alyssa stared at him, unsure why
that was important. As it slowly started to dawn on her he said, “It's quite
delicious, what you ordered.”

“And
unexpected because I'm a woman?”

“Well, considering
the reputation of most women eating only a quarter salad on a first date,” he
responded bluntly.

He spoke
as if it were obvious, but there was something else to his words and tone of
voice. None of what he was saying was coming from a negative place. He looked
pleasantly surprised, not affronted. He didn’t seem to believe that was how
women
should
order, but was rather
glad to be out with a woman who didn’t fall into that stereotype. Alyssa
reached for the bottle of wine as her head started to spin a bit. Drinking more
wine probably wouldn’t help, but she wanted more anyway.

Swiftly,
he took the bottle from her and poured wine into her glass. He looked at her
with a sly smile before pouring more into his own glass and setting the bottle
back down. As they waited for their salad to be brought out, he told her a bit
of trivia on the restaurant. Although he ended the speech claiming it was
something a lot of people found boring, she told him she had found it quite
interesting.

It
wasn’t until their salads had been brought out that he finally asked, “Why did
you accept the date?”

He was
staring straight at her with his bright blue eyes. Alyssa felt herself freeze.
He had a penetrating stare that made her unsure of what to do or say. It threw
her off each time he was so forward. Even though his forwardness was something
she was starting to like about him she was still taken by surprise. It wasn’t
exactly the sort of thing one got used to right away.

It was
especially interesting coming from him since he was so naturally charming and
of such elevated status that one would have expected him to be a bit more
reserved. Perhaps it was this type of charm that had given him such appeal with
others. He had a sort of direct attitude, something Alyssa was sure had helped
him through life.

“I don’t
know,” she said in a hollow voice. No sooner had the words left her mouth than
she felt incredibly stupid.

“You
don’t know why you agreed to have dinner with me?”

Hearing
him repeat it made her feel even stupider and it took every ounce of
self-control not to set her fork down in favor of burying her face in her
hands. She had never experienced the feeling of wanting the Earth to swallow
her whole as much as she was feeling it at that moment.

In the
interest of being honest and forward like him, she gave him a short explanation
about how uncertain she had been, but then decided for it because she was
intrigued by him and, like her friend said, she really didn’t have anything to
lose.