You jumped when Mallory jerked forward, nearly spitting her coffee all over you. "What?!" You gasped, pushing yourself away from her in the office chair you sat in. She looked at you with wide eyes, coughing.
"You-" She cut herself off to cough again, "You're dating who?"
You suddenly felt really nervous, like this was wrong. The way she asked it had you feeling like you were walking into a pit of fire with this one. "Niall Horan...?" You questioned, before adding, "He works at-"
"I know where he works," She rolled her eyes, "The CEO thing doesn't impress me. I'm just surprised that you'd go for him."
"Why?" You quickly asked, "Wait, how do you know who he is?!"
"Everyone knows," Mallory said, chuckling. "He's also a major manwhore. He gets around more than anyone I've ever met in my life. Be careful, pumpkin."
"What?" You asked in a quiet whisper. That wasn't the Niall you met during your boss's conference, in which your boss sat down with the CEO of another company and decided to drag you along. Niall was professional, funny, and extremely kind. Mallory raised her eyebrows at you while sipping from her coffee. "No, you've got to be talking about somebody else..." You said, more for yourself than for anyone else, "He's a really sweet guy. He's picking me up after work today for our first date."
Mallory laughed and switched her attention back to the computer in front of her. "Well of course that's the impression he's going to give," She snapped, "He doesn't want you to know he's some sex-crazed CEO of a very successful business. He just wants you to see him as a responsible businessman with manners and a good head on his shoulders. From what I've heard, he's anything but that." She must have noticed the disappointment on your face because she quickly added, "But that's all just talk. I've never been with the guy, I have no idea what he's really like. Who knows? Maybe he's a total sweetheart with a couple sour rumors going around about him."
You sighed, "Yeah." Gathering your paperwork into a neat pile, you mumbled, "I sure hope so."
The rest of the day went by agonizingly slow. You were done at 6:00 and part of you wanted that time to come quickly, while another part of you wanted time to slow down. After everything your coworker had told you that morning, you were nervous about going on a date with Niall. You didn't want to get yourself involved with some sort of sex addict. A sigh rolled through you as you watched the clock, glancing up when Mallory danced her way into your office. She sat on the edge of your desk and you stared up at her with a flat expression, holding your head up with your hand.
"You excited?" She giggled.
"Not really..." You mumbled.
She let out a breath. "Look, forget everything I told you this morning. Just don't think about it," She said, "Get to know him first. Like I said, it could very well be just a bunch of bad rumors. You know how people in the office love to talk." She glanced down at the skirt and blouse you wore, asking, "You're not wearing that on your date, are you?"
You perked up at this. "I have to," You said, dropping your eyes to your typical work outfit. "He's coming to get me right at 6:00."
"Oh my god, girl!" Mallory laughed, hopping off of your desk, "Go home and change. I refuse to let you go on a date in that cream-colored skirt. God, no. You need to look sexy." She glanced at your outfit and laughed before saying, "And that ain't sexy, honey."
You rolled your eyes. "I'll get in so much trouble if I just walk out to change clothes for a date," You said, "It doesn't even matter-"
"Yes it does matter!" Mallory hissed, "(Y/N), listen to me." You stared directly at her as she continued, "Forget everything I said. Pretend that conversation never happened. You're going on a date with a very attractive - and rich - man. You should be excited! Enough of this moping around. Get your butt out of that damn chair and go find a sexy dress to put on." She pulled your chair out from under you so that you fell flat on your bum. "Go, go!" She encouraged, helping you to your feet before pushing you toward the door. "I'll cover you, you're good," She whispered, before disappearing to her own office.
You sighed in frustration but listened to her anyway.
There was a red dress in the back of your closet, and you could only remember wearing it once. It had probably collected dust by now. You pulled it out of your closet and stared at it for a long time before finally deciding to slip it on. It wouldn't hurt, would it?
As you fit yourself into the dress, you tried to remember why you bought it in the first place. It had literally been sitting lonely in your closet for that long. You did have a pair of silver heels, however, that you remembered wearing more than once. You found those in the bottom of your closet, as well, and stepped into them. Stepping in front of a mirror, you grinned at your reflection. You weren't one to complement yourself, but you did look pretty good in that moment. You grabbed your makeup bag and touched everything up, making sure to apply a nice shade of red lipstick to match your dress. Lastly, you sprayed a little perfume around your neck and wrists, before hurrying out to your car to drive back to work.
You arrived with six minutes to spare, and relief washed over you when you discovered that Niall wasn't sitting in the parking lot. You grabbed your purse and ran as best as you could in your heels. Walking into work looking the way you did felt extremely awkward, and you tried your best to ignore all the strange looks people were giving you. When Mallory saw you, though, she only drew more attention to you as she jumped up from her office chair and gasped loudly. "(Y/N)!" She exclaimed, pulling you into a hug. Rubbing your back, she said, "You look beautiful. I'm so proud of you!" When she pulled away, she spotted your lips and exclaimed, "You even put on red lipstick! Ooh, girl, you're soooo ready for this date!" You blushed a little and dropped your eyes.
Mallory's hands were still on your shoulders when Niall walked in, three minutes early. He glanced at his Rolex watch as he strolled in, before raising his eyes. A smirk/smile thing crossed his face as soon as his gaze landed on you. You quickly turned to Mallory and whispered in a panicked voice, "He's here! Oh my god, this is happening."
She giggled and gave you an encouraging shove. "Go on," She whispered, "You look great, don't be shy." You took a moment to let your eyes trail over Niall's figure in the way he let his eyes trail over yours. He looked hot in a fitted suit with a striped button-down underneath. His shoes were classic and shined to perfection. His hair was comped up on top of his head and even from where you stood, you could catch whiffs of his cologne. He was so classy - just being in his presence made you feel rich, too. You spotted a pretty bouquet of roses in his hand. He grinned at you before bowing to you. He bent the hand that held the roses behind his back, and then folded his other arm in front of him, bowing his upper half to you. You felt like you could blush again. Instead, you smiled widely and caught your bottom lip between your teeth, probably smearing your lipstick everywhere.
"Hi," You shyly squeaked, unable to think of anything else to say.
Niall chuckled and held his arm out for you, saying, "M'lady?" He was one hell of a charmer. You quickly linked your arm with his and now that you were much closer, Niall intently stared at you and passed the roses to you. "You remind me of a rose right now," He commented, as you inhaled the aroma of the fresh flowers. "All pretty in red," He added and now you were full-on blushing.
You glanced back at Mallory, to see her giving you a thumbs-up, just before Niall opened the door for you and led you outside. Niall used a remote to start his car. The engine roared to life and the horn honked as the doors automatically unlocked. You reached out to open your own door, but Niall stopped you by opening it for you and saying, "Please, let me." You smiled at him and he waited until you were situated in the passenger's seat before carefully shutting your door. He jogged around to his side of the car, as to not keep you waiting, and then slid into his seat with ease. Music was softly playing in his car, but he turned the radio off right away. His car was in pristine condition and smelled brand-new, as if he had just driven it off the lot for the first time before picking you up. He rolled his window down the slightest bit, just to get a small amount of air circulating, before asking, "So how's your day been, ma'am?"
"Uh..." You dropped your eyes to the bouquet of roses that you still held. "Pretty good, I guess." You turned to stare at him from the side. God, even his profile was gorgeous. "Y-you?" You stuttered out, mentally punching yourself for being such a dork.
Niall, of course, didn't seem to mind that he made you nervous. You knew it probably served as a boost for his already large ego. "Oh, y'know," He shrugged, driving with only one hand draped over the top of the steering wheel. He was so relaxed, all the time. He glanced at you for a second, before bringing his eyes back to the road. With a grin on his face, Niall said, "My day's going splendid now that I have a beautiful woman with me." He glanced at you again and you could see the smirk on his face.
You didn't know what to say, so you blushed again. That was good enough for Niall. "Are you wondering where I'm taking you yet?" He asked as he rolled up to a red stoplight.
"Yeah, a little," You said, and he chuckled.
Niall ran his fingers through his hair and replied, "I'm taking you to a fancy restaurant where they have tables outside, like, on the beach. It's amazing and it's so beautiful, especially at night."
"You've been there before?" You asked him.
He shook his head and said, "I read the reviews online." You laughed and this brought a smile to his face. He hung a left and drove for a while before you finally arrived. He was right. The restaurant was super fancy. Niall pulled into the valet parking line and a man dressed in a suit without the jacket ran up, opening your door for you before Niall could. You stepped out and thanked him. He smiled at you and even grabbed your bouquet for you, which you almost forgot in Niall's car. Niall passed his keys to the valet guy and within seconds, his car was gone. Linking arms again, Niall led you into the restaurant. You waited in a short line once you got inside, but when a host was available, he showed you to the table Niall had reserved for you - which was outside by the beach. The view was beautiful, like Niall said, and you'd be able to hear the waves while you ate. You were so excited that you almost forgot to let Niall pull your chair out for you. "Whoa, calm down," He chuckled a little, quickly pulling your chair out. You smiled and sat in it, letting him push your chair back in afterward. He took a seat across the table from you and reached across the table for your hand.
Taking your hand in his, Niall pressed it to his lips and kept his eyes locked on you as he asked, "Have I told you how stunning you look, my dear?"
You blushed and shrugged. "Stunning is a new one. You've called me pretty and beautiful tonight, but stunning is on another level." Niall laughed and dropped his arm so that it rested on the table, still holding your hand. His eyes wandered around for a moment before he brought them back to you, slowly dragging his tongue over his lips. "Do you see that guy over there?" Niall spoke up, nodding his head toward a man at another table, whom was really trying to avoid looking in your direction.
"Yeah," You nodded, watching the man intently as Niall continued.
"He used to work for me," Niall squeezed your hand gently and then said, "Guess why I fired him."
Your gaze snapped back to Niall and a grin tugged at your lips. "I wouldn't have a clue, Mr. Horan."
Niall leaned closer to you from across the table, like he was telling a secret as he loudly whispered, "He once got really mad at me because I asked him to stay after his shift for twenty minutes. I needed some help finishing up paperwork. He stayed, but he was pissed the entire time. He kept complaining about how he needed to get home to his family and when he'd had enough, he said something like, 'You wouldn't understand. You have no one waiting at home for you, and you probably never will. When's the last time you've had a woman in your life, kid?' He was upset, I get that, but he shouldn't have spoken to me - his boss - like that. So I fired him." Niall smirked a little at you before adding in a normal tone, "Maybe I should walk over there with you and introduce you as my girlfriend. Wonder what he'd say to that."
You shrugged and asked with a smirk, "You want to?"
Niall chuckled, "Yeah." He then shook his head and said, "But I'm not about to use you just to get a few points on one of my ex-employees." He grinned and said, "You're worth way more than that." God, he was so good with his words. In a way, it frightened you. You knew he could use a sequence of words and turn you into a whole new person. You knew, if he really wanted to, he could use his words to make you do things you wouldn't normally do.
Thinking of this reminded you of the conversation you'd had with Mallory earlier. You were doing a great job at forgetting it up until this point. You wanted to address Niall about it at some time, because if he was what everyone said he was, you wanted to cut it off before it got too serious. But you didn't know how to bring up the topic without sounding rude. There really is no nice way to say, 'Excuse me, but, um, are you a manwhore?'
Somewhere in the midst of your thinking, Niall had ordered a bottle of champagne. When it arrived, only moments later, your waiter poured a glass for you and Niall. "I need this," Niall said, urging a giggle out of you as he tipped his glass to his lips. The way he sipped from his champagne glass was seductive. Jesus, was there anything about this man that wasn't seductive? His voice, his face, his eyes, the way he moved... all of it had some sort of hidden sexual ring to it and you were really finding it hard to contain yourself. He trailed his tongue along the rim of his glass to ensure ensure that he didn't miss a single drop of the sparkling beverage. And then he licked his lips and carefully set his glass down on the table, leaning back into his chair. You stared at him the whole time but he didn't call you out on it. Instead, Niall lifted his eyes to the dark sky overhead. And suddenly, he seemed entranced by the stars that hung above his head.
While Niall stared at the stars, you stared at the ocean. Your environment was just so breathtaking that the silence between you and Niall didn't even feel uncomfortable. You were just enjoying the moment. But Niall did speak up eventually, finally dropping his eyes to you again. "Do you know what I thought when I first saw you?"
You were taken back by his question and you didn't know how to respond so you just smiled and shook your head. He clicked his tongue and recalled the moment, which was really just a few days ago. "So, your boss introduced you to me and as soon as my eyes landed on you, I just kept thinking, 'God, she's beautiful.' And I really wanted to talk to you but I was nervous as hell because your boss was right there and I didn't want to make you look stupid in front of him. But, anyway, I was sitting there trying to pay attention to the meeting but I couldn't because you were sitting right across the table from me. I know you caught me smirking at you a couple times. I'm sorry if it came off the wrong way but I couldn't, like, I couldn't stop looking at you." You were blushing furiously as Niall continued, "And you know what? It's not even just that, but, like, your personality, too - you radiate something that makes me happy. I dunno. I just feel like I've hit the jackpot this time."
This time. Those words hurt you way more than they were supposed to. In fact, they weren't supposed to hurt you at all, but they did. How many other times had there been? "Uh, Niall..." You inhaled a shaky breath, deciding that now was the only time you'd have the courage to bring up the topic you so badly wanted to discuss. "I hate to - I hate to ruin the moment, but I... uh..."
You watched as Niall's face fell. "Oh," He said, lowering his eyes. "You already have someone, don't you? You're seeing someone." He instantly jumped to conclusions and you watched with wide eyes as he abruptly stood. "It's fine, I knew this w-"
"Wait, stop. Stop, what are you doing?!" You panicked a little, reaching out to place your hand on top of his. He froze.
"I was just-" He cut himself off, before sinking back into his chair to let you finish. Maybe this wasn't what he thought it was.
You let out a breath and said, "I'm not seeing anyone. I'm totally single, trust me. That's not, uh, that's not the issue." You watched as Niall breathed a sigh of relief. He chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair, clearly having been really stressed out for a minute there. "I, um, I was talking to one of my colleagues about our date and she-" You paused to try to calm your racing heartbeat. "She told me about some rumors and stuff and it just made me a little nervous, that's all." But that wasn't all.
Niall's eyebrows furrowed, "What kind of rumors?"
You closed your eyes. Just say it, (Y/N). Just do it. Get it over with. There's no way to dance around it. "That you sleep around a lot. She called you a manwhore and said that the way you're acting right now is all fake and that you're just pretending to be someone else so that I won't back away from you," You rambled, your words seeming to have no end to them. You peeled your eyes open and mumbled, "I don't know, she said you were sex-crazed and I just, I... Niall..." You didn't know what else to say now.
A number of emotions mixed into one confusing expression on Niall's face. He looked upset, confused, hurt... you didn't know how to interpret the look he was giving you. However, you could tell one thing by his face - those rumors weren't true. "What?!" Niall gasped, in awe that people were saying these things about him. He leaned forward so that his elbows rested on the table. He looked away from you and shook his head, wracking his mind for something that could've possibly led people to start those types of rumors about him. "(Y/N)," He said your name, settling his eyes on yours again. He took your hand in his and held it tightly, saying, "I promise you, I am not that type of guy. I don't know where that came from, I honestly have no idea." He then threw his other hand in the air and exclaimed,"God, I haven't even had sex in like three years!" This drew some attention and people at the surrounding tables turned to shoot icy glares at Niall, to which he paid no attention. You didn't really need to know all that, but for some reason, hearing it brought peace to you.
Niall wasn't a sex addict. He was a normal human being. You felt like you could relax now, and really take time to enjoy this date. "Thank you," You smiled, "I was so afraid I'd have to end this now."
"No," Niall insisted, "I swear on everything holy - none of those rumors are true. As soon as I get back in my office, I'm tracing them down to where they started. Those rumors are stopping now. I had no idea people were saying stuff like that about me."
"Well, you're a very successful and very attractive man, Niall," You shrugged, still holding his hand. "It makes sense, ya know? Someone was probably jealous of you so they started a little rumor about how you're an extreme whore who has slept with every one of his employees, just to keep the ladies away from you. That way other guys would get a chance with someone, too. Because otherwise, you know every single woman in your building would be falling at your feet."
Now it was Niall's turn to blush. "That's not true," He said, "They just like me because I'm a responsible boss."
"That and the fact that you're totally gorgeous," You said, smirking at him. He dropped his eyes as his face reddened. "Do you work on Saturdays, Niall?" You asked.
"Uh, not typically..." Niall trailed off, a bit confused as to why you were asking this when you were.
"Good," You innocently smiled, "Because I want you to take me home with you tonight."
Niall's eyes widened, "(Y/N)..."
"Niall," You whined, watching as he swallowed hard. "You just told me you haven't had sex in three years." You felt something new coming over you, and maybe it was his seductive aura that finally overpowered you. You pouted at him and teased, "That's way too long for a man like you."
**OKAY SO LEAVE ME A COMMENT IF YOU WANT A [DIRTY] PART 2 BECAUSE I WILL GLADLY WRITE IT FOR YOU**