Fakely HIS

Chapter 29

Nick's POV.

I had expected a lot of things on my date with Hayley. I had expected that we'll bicker all the way on our drive to the hotel. I had expected we'll have a pleasant dinner, I'd expected to drop her back at her place before midnight; but what I hadn't expected from my date with Hayley was for me to actually enjoy it. I had known she was always easier to talk to, she never judged and she was a good listener, but what I hadn't expected was the conversation between us to flow so easily.

Another thing that I hadn't expected was for Hayley to agree to try the steak which I'd insisted on her trying. I thought she'd maintain on getting a Caesar's salad and that was that. This girl kept surprising me every step into our date – real or fake, that didn't matter what mattered was that I was enjoying every minute of it.

Once the desserts were placed in front of us, I looked up at her and tried not to roll my eyes at her. I'd noticed the moment I'd picked her up from her house, she was nervous and jumpy all through our ride here. I'd thought that it'll pass after some time, too bad, she was still nervous and jumpy even after our meal, all the way through the dessert. She was looking behind her as if she could sense someone watching her, which wasn't far off as I did notice someone in one of the tables spying on us.

I'd texted my bodyguards the minute I noticed them spying on us just few minutes into this restaurant and the moment we're out of this place, they'll be taken care of. Christopher will make sure of that. I really needed to know who they were spying on me for. Maybe they were some old business competitors. Or maybe it was Penny's doing all together, either way, I wanted to know who they were and why they were here.

I didn't want Hayley to know yes, she had a reason to be paranoid. I wanted to give her a good time tonight and that was the only thing she was going to get. In order to take her mind off of anything that could make her uncomfortable, I sighed, calling her name to get her attention, "Are you going to tell me what's bothering you?"

Her head snapped up and she immediately looked back down at her dessert, shrugging, "Not-" I already knew what she was going to say, so I cut her off firmly.

"And don't say nothing," I shook my head at her, "You were silent all through our drive here which was so unlike you, and then now, you're sitting there and fidgeting like you want to bolt. What's wrong?"

If she told me that the stare on her back was what that was bothering her, then we'd leave this place immediately. I looked over her shoulder at the two men in suit sitting in the farther end of the restaurant, they didn't know what watching someone subtly was – my best bet was that they were new. Our eyes connected for a fraction of second and without even thinking about it they snapped their head away from me. I smirked. Rookie mistake.

"I'm just..." Hayley trailed off sighing bringing my attention back to her, "I'm just nervous is all, Nick."

"The Hayley Dixon is nervous?" Raising both my eyebrows up a little, I asked her in a playful tone.

"Stop being difficult, Nick," she sighed, "This is the first time I've been on a proper date in a very long time. The gala was different since we had so many people around, but this is different, this time we're sitting one on one and it's making me jittery. I know this is not real and all, but it just unnerves me to sit here with you, on a date."

How long had it been since she went on a proper date? How long had it been since she actually dated someone? Had someone courted her recently?

"I understand," I nodded, taking a sip of my water, "This may not be a real date, but I understand why you're so nervous about it. When was the last time you went out on a date?"