Paradise Found

“Hey, sleepyhead, I’m ready for you. But if you want to have an early night, I totally understand.”

“No. Sorry, the bath was warm, and it lulled me off to sleep. The next thing I know you’re waking me up. I’m probably a giant prune now,” I say, looking down at myself.

“Gorgeous prune,” he says, kissing my nose. “I’ll meet you outside.” And then he’s gone.

I pull the plug on the spa and jump out, and as I do, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

Ew. I am a giant prune.That’s not sexy!

I quickly dry myself, then grab the black satin robe from the hook behind the door and wrap myself in it. I hang up the towel and head out into the room.

“Oh my god, Ali,” I say as my hands cover my mouth in surprise. The entire room is decked out in fairy lights, making it look magical, and then there’s a table set in the middle of the room with crystal glasses, porcelain plates with cloches, and a bottle of champagne chilling to the side.

“You like it?” he asks, seeming nervous as he shuffles from foot to foot.

“I love it. Thank you.” I try to keep my emotions in check as I hug him because no one has ever gone to this much effort for me before.

“Good,” he says, pulling out the chair for me.Such a gentleman.“Champagne?” he asks.

I nod, and he pops the cork and pours me a glass before taking a seat. He then takes the cloches off our dinner plates and right there in front of me is perfectly cooked lobster drizzled with herb butter. The smell is divine. It’s served with thick fries on the side. Simple yet elegant. I look up to see Alistair watching me intently.

“Do you like lobster? I should have asked if you had an allergy. Maybe I should have gone for the steak,” he rambles on.

“Ali,” I say, reaching out across the table. “I love it, thank you.”

“Cheers,” he says, raising his champagne glass. I do the same, and we clink them together. Then we fall into a happy silence as we eat our lobster.

The conversation flows after I told him we needed to set boundaries, and as much as I wish this was a proper date, it can’t be. I’m not allowed to know anything about him, even though I may have stalked his socials. It took a couple of moments of negotiating, but in the end, he agreed. He spoke about the work I already knew about, owning Minx, regaling me with tales about the craziness that is running a nightclub. He then spoke about his other clubs and things that had been going on with those.

We spoke about our love of travel, and I told him how Lauren and I used to get paid to party at all the clubs around Greece and Ibiza. He was annoyed that he hadn’t met me then as we were both there at the same time.

I told him about my modeling career that never took off and the crazy things photographers used to say to get the image they wanted.

In the end, it doesn’t matter that we don’t know about each other’s families or past because I still felt like I have gotten to know who Alistair King is without any of that other stuff.

I don’t think I’ve had a better date than this one.