"Are you having fun, Adley?"
Thank God, he got my name right. When he called me earlier to ask me to dinner I thought I heard the distinctive sound of a 'sh' after the A. I'm used to it. My name is unusual enough to be confused with one that rolls off the tongue with familiarity.
There are a lot more Ashleys living in this city than Adleys.
I lower the menu enough to peek over it at him. "It's been a slice so far."
He smiles wolfishly. It's the same smile that has landed him countless sponsorship deals. His face is everywhere right now. He's riding the high and I'm the one by his side, even if it's just for tonight.
"I'll order us a bottle of wine."
I rest the menu on the table. "Are you a regular here?"
I'm genuinely interested. I did my research on him early this morning after I sent Ellie a text message to tell her that Trey asked for my number. She's picked up a fondness for baseball since she and Nolan have season tickets. It's not my scene although I have tagged along to a few games with her. Watching her cheering on the hometown team is the best part for me.
I had no idea that typing Trey Hale's name in a search engine would result in more than ten million hits. I spent less than an hour reading about his rise to fame and looking at pictures of him with some of the most well-known female faces on the planet.
He's not a stranger to Nova. This seems to be his go-to place when he wants the media to include him in the next news cycle.
Since he's not making headlines on the field right now, he's working another angle and I happen to have landed in the middle of that.
He runs a hand over his close-cropped brown hair. "Can I make a confession?"
If it has anything to do with the way he keeps stealing glances at my breasts, it's hardly a confession. It's obvious that he likes big tits. In at least half of the images of him online, his eyes are honed in on the chest area of his dates.
"Confess your sins. I won't tell." I smile at him.
The hint of amusement in my voice relaxes him. I see it in his shoulders and the way his jaw stops ticking. "I don't know where else to go. Whenever I ask a woman out, she'll say she wants to go to Nova. I didn't ask you because, well, I thought you'd say the same thing."
I take a sip of the water that the server brought us after we were seated. "Where else do you like to eat?"
"Other than here, I only ever go to this pizza place in Times Square."
I watch him as he watches the people around us. He's hesitant, ducking his face down when someone looks in our direction. Maybe I misread him. Maybe he's not the famewhore I thought he was.
"If you could eat anything right now, what would it be?"
Shit. I stepped right into that one.
His tongue darts out to wet his lips. "If I said you that would be out of line, wouldn't it?"
"I don't…not on the first date."
"It's technically our second since I bought you a drink last night."
"I get free drinks at Veil East so technically you didn't buy me a drink."
He muddles that over with a glance around the room. "I got the feeling last night that you would have come home with me if I would have asked. I mean, before Benton showed up."
Looking back on that now, I'm glad Crew came to talk to me when he did. I'd had one or two too many free drinks. I was enjoying the moment and Trey's attention. I probably would have gone home with him and left his place with a hangover and at least a year's worth of regret.
"I try not to focus on the past. We're here now."
"So, this is our first date?" His eyes sparkle when he smiles. "We've established that you're not coming home with me tonight. I'm free tomorrow for our second date."
"I'm busy unless you understand that I won't be sleeping with you until I'm ready."
He laughs. His entire demeanor has changed since we arrived at Nova. He's more laid back now. "Understood. I like you, Adley."