DANAI

Hours later, Danai was happy to find that the restaurant Ev chose did have good lighting. She'd have to see about the food, but the warm atmosphere heightened her anticipation as she walked through the doors of the restaurant Everitt had chosen. Sparkling chandeliers were paired with soft lights, and the surfaces were sparkling as though they'd just been polished. Candles were placed in the entryway, low enough to be seen but high enough that there wasn't a real concern about someone knocking one over. The host smiled at her from behind a marble host stand, flashing her all these teeth like he was actually happy to be at work. She never was when she'd worked at restaurants.

"Welcome in. Do you have a reservation?"

Nai nodded, "Hi. It should be under Riley."

As the host looked through his tablet, accents of amberwood and campfires wafted past Danai's nose before she felt a warm hand on the exposed skin of her back. Everitt's voice was in her ear seconds later, "You're early."

He kissed her cheek, then her neck, before giving the host a polite smile. The man in front of them looked up, eyes wide, and his cheeks turned crimson. Danai would've found his embarrassment cute at any other time, but she herself was trying to process the public display of affection she'd received from the alpha next to her. Kissing her on the cheek was one thing, but her neck?

Nai turned to look at her date, "I'm..." She took him in, his dark grey dress shirt tucked into black slacks, tight enough for her to see the muscles in his toned arms. He'd left a few buttons open, exposing his collarbone and a gold chain he wore. The woody scent she'd come to crave was complemented by a smoky aroma that was new to her. He was already doing things to her. She blinked up at him, clearing her head, "We said 7pm."

Everitt smirked, "And it's just barely past 6:50."

Danai opened her mouth to argue when the guy behind the counter cleared his throat. When they looked his way, the host picked up two menus then nodded towards the dining room. "If you'll follow me."

The walk to their table took longer than Nai expected as the restaurant was huge. They passed table after table on their way to their own, and Danai tried not to stare at the different people at the tables. Not that she had much time to do so. They walked past mostly couples, a few people in suits sitting together, and one single omega which she could tell by the man's collar. She was so busy glancing at the people themselves that she barely noticed what kind of food they had.

The host took them up some stairs before they stopped at a table in a more private corner of the establishment. They had a beautiful view of the city, streetlights and lit windows making it sparkle in the evening's darkness.

"Thank you," Everitt said to the host, promptly dismissing the smiley man. Ev pulled out Danai's chair, and she smiled shyly at him. This was all very new to her, and she fully expected to be pulling out her own chair.

Nai waited for Everitt to sit across from her before she said, "thanks, you didn't have to do that."

He shook his head, "I wanted to."

A male server, Leo, with a few tattoos and his hair pulled into a bun, came by to get their drink orders, returning with glasses of water and leaving them alone soon after to mull over their options. They were quiet as they looked through their menus. Danai glanced up a few times to see if Everitt was still looking through his, and each time he was. She wanted to ask if he'd eaten there before, because she wasn't sure what to get. The pasta dish looked good, but she loved seafood as well and wasn't sure whether or not to combine the two for this particular dinner. Her eyes travelled to the tables around them, doing their best to see what other people had ordered. Nai spotted several steaks, table bread, salads, and flatbread. No pasta, though.

'Are their pastas bad?' She wondered, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

As she sat there considering her options, Everitt watched her from across the table. Here and there, he'd take a sip of his ice cold water, but his eyes stayed on her for the most part. She looked up from her menu to ask him what he was ordering, only to find him staring intently in her direction.

Nai swallowed, "Is there something on my face?"

While she knew that was unlikely, she wanted to go into her bag and fish for her compact to double check. Nai had spent over an hour getting ready, and another twenty minutes before that deciding on which outfit to wear. She was literally in her fitted black halter dress when, at the last second, she decided to put on her green satin gown. It felt like a little too much as she stood by her front door but, by that point, it was too late. The green piece showed off the top half of her back, as well as the dip of her cleavage. Her hair was curled, thanks to some flex rods she'd kept in right after she got back from work, and up in a kind of messy bun. She prayed it wouldn't get too cold that night because she hadn't brought anything to keep herself warm.

Everitt's eyes scanned her face, making Danai suddenly aware of every inch of it, before his gaze met hers. "You're beautiful."

She smiled, feeling a little self-conscious, and touched her face just in case there was something there. Danai opened her mouth, ready to deliver a funny deflection to his compliment to diffuse her own discomfort from the attention, when she felt a fabric brush her leg underneath the table and promptly exposing the skin to the cold air. She glanced down and lifted the table cloth slightly, sure that the material had just tickled her. When she found that the sensation on her leg was travelling, she dropped the table covering and looked up.

He smirked, seemingly aware of what he was doing to her senses. "Something wrong?"

"I..." Nai wasn't sure what to say, feeling like she was getting lost in Everitt's green eyes, which seemed to see right through her at every turn. She looked around him, trying to find something else to focus on when their server finally came back. Nai let out a sigh of relief, promptly pulling her leg away from Everitt and clearing her throat.

Their server smiled down at them politely, addressing Danai then Everitt. "Ready to order, or do we still need a few minutes?"

She beamed up at the man, "Have you tried the white wine seafood pasta? It looks good but I'm not sure."

He looked up in thought, then focused on Nai as he replied, "I'd say it's great, but I prefer this one with mushrooms. They pair really nicely with the wine that's used in the dish." He pointed at another option in her menu.

Danai read the description quickly, then bit her lip. It looked delicious, but she still wasn't sure if she wanted to get that or the flatbread. "Would the margherita flatbread be a better choice though?"

The server laughed, "Well, you could have an appetiser as an entree, but the flatbread doesn't hold a candle to the pasta. In my opinion." He added the last statement with a playful look in his eyes, a twinkle in them as he looked at Danai.

She nodded, "Well-"

Everitt cut in, "we'll get that as an appetiser, then." His eyes fixed on their server, his expression like steel, void of all the warmth she'd received earlier. "I'll also have the 18-ounce ribeye with a side of fries and asparagus. Could we also get a bottle of wine?"

The tattooed man cleared his throat, "Yes. Did you know which wine you'd like?"

"Could we try one of your sweeter cabernets and a chardonnay?"

As he wrote down Everitt's order, Danai shot her date a look. Everitt shrugged, and she raised her eyebrows. He gave her a deadpan look, to which she rolled her eyes. She looked back up at their server to find him watching them with a confused look on his face.

Danai smiled, "The pasta with mushrooms would be great."

"Thanks," Everitt added, grabbing both of their menus and handing them to their server.

"I'll be back with those wines," the man said, practically scurrying off under the watchful eye of Everitt.