Nate felt really bad as Alice fell for his lie about how many glasses of wine he’d consumed, the apologies rushing out of her in a wave of panic. As soon as his composure broke, however, she immediately stopped and fixed him with a glare before punching softly at him. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to harbouring any bad feelings for the deceit.

“Sorry, I’ll make it up to you. From now on I’ll be completely serious and straight-faced.”

His smirk, however, ruined the message somewhat. He couldn’t help but be playful – her reactions were so worth it. As somebody who wasn’t exactly shy of dressing up as some haute couture villain to escape a celebrity-ridden party, she also didn’t seem the type to take things too seriously. Nate had had plenty of fun dates in the past, but he was sure she would be heading straight for first place. Alice was neither a medical student nor from high society – already she was sitting on a hefty pile of bonus points from those facts alone. Being honest with himself, Nate was very excited to see how their relationship would develop, and already he was finding himself hoping for a date number two.

Lighting up instantly with unwavering confidence, Alice talked him through her suggestions with the certainty of somebody who really knew their food. Nate looked through the menu to read the descriptions and made an impressed sound of agreement with her choices.

“I’m definitely going to have to try the Blanquette, I can feel myself drooling just thinking about it,” he laughed, pretending to wipe his mouth dry. “What are you going to get for yourself? Don’t let me take the best dishes.”

As he perused the rest of the list to see what else the restaurant offered, he looked up at her with a sudden question on his lips. “So is this the kind of stuff you can cook yourself?”

She’d said she worked in a diner, which wasn’t remotely close to being in the same league as this kind of restaurant, but her passion and knowledge suggested a greater depth to her skills than just flipping burgers and frying eggs.

It had been a good day, Nate decided. He’d been making quite a lot of progress with a number of rehab patients and had run perfectly on time during his afternoon clinic with all the efficiency and expertise of somebody who had run them many, many times before. Which of course, was exactly the case. It had been noted by a few of the senior doctors, however, so Nate was feeling more pleased with himself than usual. Nothing would probably come of it but it was still nice to feel appreciated.

His day was only getting better. Changing out of the scrubs he’d been too lazy to change out of from being on the neuro ward, Nate was changing into a nice shirt with his favourite pair of dark jeans. His best friends Harriet and Tyler had pointed out, rather frankly, that they were his best jeans because they made his butt look great. As such, they seemed perfect first date jeans. The shirt was understated – made of nice material, of course, but there was no hint to any trendy designers or expensive brands on it. It had been expensive, but that reflected only in its quality. Nate was very conscious about seeming as down-to-earth as possible to this girl.

It was a careful line to tread. He didn’t want to look like he hadn’t made any effort, but he didn’t want to look like a clueless rich boy. Alice seemed refreshingly normal – a little weird, sure, and with a superhero identity – so the last thing he wanted was to scare her off by making her think he had anything in common with the snooty high society types that his mother had no doubt name-dropped in her brief time with the young Hero. Classy, ass-highlighting jeans with a nice, simple shirt should do the trick. He’d even grown his facial hair to that perfect designer stubble length that screamed low-maintenance while being anything but.

He’d never heard of the restaurant Alice had suggested, which was exciting. They’d been texting back and forth, when they’d had the spare time, ever since that night in New York and he knew now that she was more than just a little interested in food – she could probably give most critics a run for their money. It was bound to be fantastic.

It was a lot closer to his apartment than Nate had expected, so he was a little early. The venue was tucked away in a back alley that he probably would have completely missed if he was just walking past. Even Google maps seemed a little unsure that he really wanted this to be his destination, suggesting a U-turn. He chuckled softly to himself and put his phone away in the pocket of his leather jacket. He was early, so Alice probably wasn’t here yet, but he didn’t want her first impression of the date to be of him glued to his phone screen.

Once he entered, he realised with an odd mixture of disappointment and relief that she wasn’t here yet, so he took his seat at the bar to wait. A red wine was recommended and he accepted it without further questions. The guy seemed to know what he was talking about and yes – first sip – clearly, he did.

He tried not to watch the door but he couldn’t help it. It was either that or re-read the wine list. As the time finally ticked over to the official meeting time they had agreed upon, Nate pretended to be very interested in the wine list once more.

Nate set the bottle on the floor slowly, his eyes fixed on Alice’s. She’d licked her lips but a trace of the honey liquor still remained, glinting enticingly in the low light of the hotel room. There was a brief, half-second of a moment that seemed to stretch on into eternity as she continued to hold his gaze. Her bright blue eyes looked almost clear and they were utterly mesmerising. The look in them was hard to describe – not blazing with confidence, but laced with a certain self-assurance that swallowed Nate whole.

He was on his knees but she still wasn’t that much taller than him really, as he’d risen up on them to prompt her appraisal of the drink. There was still enough of a height difference now for her to look down on him – then the gap started to close and before he knew it his lips were parted in anticipation, and then pressed hard against hers.

Nate ran his hands up, his fingers brushing over the loose fabric of her dress and slipping under. He pulled away from the kiss for a second, a little breathless as he quipped,

“You taste like honey.”

Then he got to his feet and pulled her close, their lips meeting once more.

Ha – Nate was someone “interesting”. Alice spoke in thinly veiled codes. From what he could tell – having spent a mere handful of minutes with the guy – Stephen had rather been hoping that he could be that someone interesting for Alice. He felt kind of bad for the guy, although maybe less so considering the evils Stephen had been sending his way throughout their interactions together. Alice was a grown woman who could make her own decisions, and it was crystal clear which choice she was making tonight.

“The magic of New York,” Nate said, smiling softly. “Or is it the magic of San Franciscans?”

As soon as they reached Alice’s floor, she turned and led him out of the lift by the arm. Any excuse for physical contact.

It was the kind of hotel room Nate’s parents usually opted for – maybe even on a higher budget, considering the hotel’s exclusivity. It was clearly stylish because Nate recognised a few of the interior design tips that his mother had been begging him to consider, and it was clearly extremely well-looked after. From the way Alice entered the room, spinning back to face him with her arms wide, he could tell this was not the kind of luxury to which she was accustomed herself.

“This is awesome,” he said, visibly delighted himself. After all, it was much nicer than his own hotel room, and the view was just as impressive as he’d been anticipating. Nate crossed the spacious room to gaze out upon the city, turning back to her with a grin. “The Hero Program are generous with their favourite superhero, huh?”

He crossed back over, looking out for the mini bar.

“Did you still want to change out of that suit? I can take a look at the drink selection. Now,” he said, tongue poking out a little in jest, “I can’t promise there’ll be any more enormous cocktails but I can probably find some damn good spirits if you wanna keep the party going.”

“Hey, maybe I’ll finally develop abilities and I can be your ominous sidekick.”

He laughed at her Sweeney Todd jokes, although he quickly realised how much of her drink she still had left to go. Nate’s glass was now glaringly empty. There’d been less liquid in his, he supposed, even if the alcohol content was probably on an equal level – if not higher. Although his whisky hadn’t been the greatest, it was also probably a little more palatable than whatever sweet concoction Alice had ended up with. Unless you liked that kind of thing, of course.

“They would like pretty dorky over a mask though – Paladin will have to settle for looking like a jock,” he said, chuckling. It was as she said; just like Superman and Clark Kent.

Maybe Alice also had the ability to read minds, or maybe the timing was just coincidental, but she seemed to have given up on the cocktail. As she moved closer to him, a slow, knowing smile spread across Nate’s face. He leaned in too, his smirk evident even in the low light of the bar.

“Fair call, it didn’t look that great anyway. The Carlyle mini bar is probably stocked with much nicer drinks anyway. And hey, I’m glad you’re having fun.”

His finger traced along the edge of the table.

“Right back atcha. Let’s ditch this joint.”

Nate offered his arm.

“Shall we?”

He was definitely not regretting his decision to leave the party with this girl. It could have been a nightmare – someone as famous as Paladin had every right to have blended in more than successfully with the other Fashion Week attendees – but Alice was the perfect mix of feisty and down-to-earth that had always drawn Nate in when it came to women. Despite her celebrity status, Alice seemed refreshingly normal; probably because it was just her alter-ego that attracted all the attention.

“Deal, let me get you an invite real quick…”

Nate had spotted an abandoned pen at the table – presumably leftover from when the bar was empty enough for servers to actually make their way round. He grabbed a napkin that was only a little damp on the edges from spilled drinks and scrawled his number on the dry corner. Then he wrote his name and drew a few balloons – because he was oh so cute like that and no birthday invitation was complete without them.

He shoved it across the table towards her, looking proud of his handiwork.

There was a huge look of relief on Alice’s face almost instantaneously once she’d escaped the clutches of her heavy robe, and Nate laughed and fanned her with his hands to help her cool down. “And that’s why you don’t want to be a villain,” he chuckled. He returned to his drink – nearly finished at this point – and they continued speaking for a short while.

The sudden interruption was as startling as it was amusing. The complete stranger burst in between them, sweeping their eyes up and down Alice’s costume.

It was difficult to hold back the laughter while they were still present. “Wow, rude, she stayed up all night making that,” Nate said defensively, the curl of his lips nearly giving him away. The stranger either didn’t hear or just chose not to, and they disappeared into the depths of the bar.

Only then was he able to join Alice’s giggles. “Your hair is all wrong apparently, gonna have to fire your hair stylist. Who knew the ultimate disguise was to just look exactly like yourself?”

Nate laughed as Alice tugged on her hair. It was an interesting double-bluff to have the same hair colour for both your Hero and civilian alter-egos. There had been quite the surge in popularity of blue-coloured hair since Paladin had become a household name, and it wasn’t like it had been a particularly unfashionable hair colour before that. Anyone trying to uncover Paladin’s secret identity would surely assume that the vibrantly blue hair was just a trendsetting wig.

“Wow, you really are a hipster – you had the Paladin hair before she did!”

He grinned teasingly.

“I like it too, though I’m sure you could pull off just about any colour. Have you ever tried anything really weird? Bright yellow, some gross swamp green, maybe?”

Somehow, Nate felt like Alice could still look great. She was one of those cool, alternative looking girls who actually looked their best when pushing boundaries. It was an intoxicating level of beauty that Nate was starting to really appreciate through the soft haze of alcohol. He hadn’t exactly intended to seduce the Hero when they’d first started talking, but damn if he wasn’t considering it now.

He tilted his head with interest at her question about San Francisco. “Yeah… born and raised. I studied in Sacramento for a while but I came back for my residency. I love seeing other places – New York is super cool –” he added, with a wide gesture of his arms, “But I think so long as there’s a place for me at the MNRU I’ll be sticking around. Why, you thinking of accepting my birthday party invitation?”

Nate shrugged out of the getaway jacket that Stephen had provided him with, beginning to overheat in this cramped part of the bar. They were definitely going to have to stay for just one drink – any longer and the fun, dingy dive would lose its appeal. Pretend all he might to the contrary, Nate was a fan of more luxurious comforts. The Carlyle could definitely live up to his standards.