Identical

Chaper 7 - The Date (Part 2)

Cory's POV

James stops the car in front of Le Mer, the premier French restaurant in London. I'm a bit taken aback because, despite making a decent living from my work, I could never afford this place.

"You're taking me to Le Mer?" I ask.

James' brow furrows a bit at my question. "Yes. Is this not to your liking?" he asks.

"No. To the contrary, it's too good. For me, at least," I say, smiling sheepishly.

James seems to relax. "I suspect nothing is too good for you," he whispers, smiling at me before exiting the car.

He jogs around, grabbing the door handle before the valet. As I step out, he offers me a hand to stand. We walk toward the entrance as flash bulbs go off.

"Tom, who's your lovely date tonight?" one of the photographers asks.

"Sorry, chap. You'll have to find my brother to ask as I'm James," he says, bristling a bit at the question. I can't help but feel sympathy for him. After all, it must be difficult being Tom Hiddleston's brother, and his twin at that.

We walk in, and James places his hand on the small of my back. I lean into it a bit, enjoying the contact. I look up at James to find that he's looking down at me, an unreadable look in his eyes.

"Are Misuer and Mademoiselle ready to be seated?" the maitre d asks.

"Yes, I believe we are," James says, moving his eyes from me to our host. As we walk to our table, I notice that he doesn't take his hand from my back.

James steps around to pull out my chair. "Thank you," I say, smiling up at him. "It's my pleasure," he whispers.

Once we're seated, the maitre d takes our drink order, with James ordering a bottle of Dom Perignon.

We pick up our menus to peruse the selections.

"What are you having?" I ask.

"Why do you ask?" James asks, lowering his menu.

"Oh, I don't know. I can't quite make up my mind," I say. In reality, I'm used to going on dates that have a fixed budget. I always ask what they're having so that I don't order a dish that's too expensive.

"You can order whatever you like," James says, looking back at his menu. I suspect he knows my reason for asking. At least, in part.

"Seriously. What are you having?" I ask again. James lowers his menu to look at me.

"I'm thinking of having steak and mash. And you?"

I glance quickly at the menu. "Maybe coq au vin. I'm not sure," I say with a smile. James looks at me for a bit, seeming to assess my sincerity.

"Whatever you like, my dear," he finally says, looking a bit annoyed. Okay, I don't want the evening to go this way, so l clear my throat to get his attention.

"I'm asking because I don't want to be one of your dates who oversteps her bounds," I say once he looks at me.

"Whoever said there are bounds?" he asks, raising both eyebrows.

"Me," I say with a bit of a huff. "I just don't want to be... I don't want you to think I'm taking advantage of your generosity," I say, looking back at my menu.

"Cory."

I look over my menu at him.   "Regardless of what you order, please know that I would provide you with anything that you desire," he says with a genuine smile. I blush at his attention and continue to peruse the menu.