Chapter 0154 Hannah


    "Can I take you out to dinner tonight? Just you and me


    T


    I blinked incredulously at Noah for a long time in the wake of his request, trying to figure out whether he was being serious, messing with me, or if he had something else up his sleeve just like thatst party that he invited me to. "Just the two of us?" I asked, cing one hand on my hip and shooting him a disbelieving look. "Why? Is it just going to be anotherworking event? Or perhaps Zoe will be there?"


    Noah sighed and ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head in annoyance. "No, Hannah," he replied tersely. "It''s just..." He paused, gritting his teeth before shaking his head again, this time more vigorously than thest time. "You know what? Nevermind. Clearly you don''t have an interest in going, so..." With that, he turned on his heel to leave. Despite myself, I felt a bit of panic bubble up inside of me; my hand shot out of its own ord to catch his elbow, stopping him from walking away before he reached the door. "Wait," I said, my voice catching slightly no matter how hard I tried to hide the tremor. "... I might be interested."


    Noah paused and shot me an amused nce over his shoulder, a ghost of another one of those infuriating smirks tugging at his lips. "Is that so?" he coped annoyingly, pulling his arm away from my grip and turning to face me once again. "Now you''re interested now that the offer is off the table?" the offer is


    I pressed my lips into a thin line. "Just tell me the details," I said. "And if it''s going to be another trick to get me to attend aworking event where you can publicly humiliate me likest time, I''d at least appreciate some warning." For a 1 a few moments, Noah just stared at me with an incredulous expression on his face. Finally, he sighed and threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. "It''s not like that, Hannah," he insisted. "Can''t you have a little faith in me for once?"


    "How could I?" I retorted with a wry chuckle. "Last time you said that you were going to take me out, it turned out to be aplete self-serve on your part; and let''s not forget how, that night, you admitted to not knowing the date of our anniversary to a reporter." Noah nched visibly at my words; clearly the memory still bothered him just as much as it bothered me. "Alright, alright," he said. "I know thatst thing was s***ty, and I''m sorry. But I swear, it''s just a reservation at Amici''s tonight for you and me. A private room, a bottle of Amici''s... One of the most romantic spots in the city. A cozy, intimate little Italian bistro nestled in the heart of downtown, overlooking the river. We hadn''t been there in some time. In fact, I couldn''t remember thest time we had gone. The prospect of going together now was tempting, that was for sure. But I still couldn''t shake the ideal that there was more to it. "What for, though? I found myself asking. "Is today a special day for you or something?" ten wrong for me to


    No."


    He shrugged nonchntly. "Is want to treat you?"


    Narrowing r


    my eyes, I searched his face for some kind of lie-but unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, I found none. Noah''s face was as open as could be, his green eyes flickering across my features. He still had that usual stony look in his eyes, but I knew he was telling the truth in in spite of it.


    Finally, I let out


    I let out a slow breath through my teeth and felt my shoulders slump in defeat. "Alright."


    He quirked an eyebrow at me. "So you''lle?"


    "I felt face redden beneath his and I quickly looked "I''ll go."


    Noah pulled the car up to the curbter that night, and I leaned forward to peer at the little bistro through the windshield. The soft flickering of candles emanated from therge windows, couples seated at white cloth-covered tables with bottles of wine between them. People walked on the sidewalk hand-in-hand, headed for the small park down the street that overlooked thenterns on the river.


    It was so romantic. Too bad my husband wasn''t the romantic sort, at least not when it came to me.


    "So, what made you pick Amici''s?" I asked, ncing over at Noah as he straightened his tie in the rearview mirror.


    He shrugged nonchntly-an infuriating gesture given how intimate the little Italian bistro was known for being. This wasn''t a date, of course, it couldn''t be. So why, then, did he want to bring me here, of all ces? "I like their gnhi," was all he replied.


    "


    I pursed my lips at his se attitude-The gnhi, I thought to myself wryly, having a feeling that it was more than just that-but said nothing more about it.


    We stepped out of the car and headed inside, where the sound of soft violin music and the clinking of silverware filled the air. No sooner had we stepped through the front door than a hostess dressed in an impable white shirt and a ck skirt had materialized in front of us, bowing her head respectfully. "Alpha Noah, Luna Hannah. Right this way," she said, gesturing for us to follow.


    As the hostess followed us through the dimly lit dining room and down a hall toward rows of private rooms, I couldn''t help but chance a sidelong look over at Noah. His face betrayed nothing, but his freshly-undered suit and sh***d face told a different story. He looked... perfect tonight. Impably dressed, clean-s****n, hair ge***d to a T.


    Meanwhile, I wore a slim ck dress that fell just above my ankles, a pair of strappy heels, and a velvet shawl to cover my shoulders. Gripped in my hand was a small red clutch, a pop of color that matched the shade of my lipstick. My own hair was perfectly curled and swept into an updo-I had gone all out tonight despite myself.


    I wondered if Noah was having the same thoughts of me as I was having of him; did he think I looked nice? Beautiful, even? If he did, he didn''t say it.


    The hostess finally stopped in front of the door to one of the private rooms and stepped aside to allow us entry. "Here you are," she said, gesturing to the door. "Your server will be right with you."


    With that, the hostess scurried away, her heels clicking on the tiled floors. My gaze followed her for a


    +23 BONUS


    moment


    t before snapping back to Noah, who still hadn''t entered the room-but now he was holding something in his hands.


    An extra necktie.All content is ? N0velDrama.Org.


    I furrowed my brow and gestured to it. "What''s that for?"


    Pausing for a moment, he held it out to me. "For your eyes."


    "My... eyes?" I blurted out.


    He nodded. "I''d like for this to be a surprise, if you don''t mind."