Noah hailed a cab and took them to Mortadella's, a place that could only be described as an alleyway deli and pizzeria. The floor was covered with what used to be black and white tile, but was now black and yellow chipped tile. The red brick wall to the right was covered in old art deco posters. By the entrance was a sign asking diners to seat themselves.

Alissa followed Noah passed the deli counter on the left to the booth in the far right corner. There were a few diners sitting in booths closer to the entrance, but they were alone in the back. As she sat down, her thighs immediately stuck to the cracked red plastic material.

Noah looked over towards the counter where there was a large chalkboard the length of the restaurant with items upon items listed to order. There were deli meats, pizzas, calzones, strombolis, pastas, hot sandwiches, cold sandwiches, and more.

"How did you find this place?"

"Believe it or not, Mr. Ridley. Said it was the best cheap pizza he's ever eaten."

Alissa scoffed.

"What?" Noah looked at her with inquisitive eyes.

"The best cheap pizza is in an even more run-down place than this in the Bronx." She crossed her arms over her chest.

Noah's gaze drifted down to her cleavage before looking back up to her face.

"Well, I've been meaning to try this place out. Let's see how it compares to Miami's and New York's then." He smiled, "What type of pizza do you like?"

Alissa scrunched her lips to the side, "Well, if we're to fairly judge this pizza, we need plain and pepperoni. That's it."

Noah nodded as he stood up and made his way to the counter to order their pizza. Alissa stood up a bit as well, but to unglue her thighs to the seat. She should have worn tights today, she thought. While it was getting warmer out, it was still March in Denver.

Noah sat back down a few minutes later with a tray of pizza, two slices of plain and two slices of pepperoni, and two sodas.

"Hope you like Coke," he said as he placed the tray down on the beaten, wooden table.

Alissa nodded, "Thanks."

He sat back down and their knees brushed. Alissa thought he'd move over, but he didn't as he reached for the plain slice first. So, she moved over to the right slightly then grabbed the other plain slice.

Noah lifted the slice to his lips and took a bite while Alissa folded her pizza in half and then took a bite.

"You fold your pizza?" he asked after swallowing.

She swallowed, "You don't?"

"Well, you are from New York," he said grinning.

Alissa couldn't help it; she giggled, which made Noah's grin grow.

"What do you think of the pizza?"

Noah took another bite, but didn't wait to swallow before he spoke, "It's pretty good."

"Yeah, it is." Alissa took another bite of her pizza.

After finishing the plain and halfway through the pepperoni, Noah and Alissa were laughing at a story she had told of her brother losing his trunks at Great Sacandaga Lake when they were teenagers.

"I can so relate to that growing up at the beach." He laughed and placed his hand on her thigh.

She laughed with him, wiping her greasy hands on a napkin.

Noah kept his hand on her thigh as he scooted closer to her. "You're a lot of fun, Alissa."

She could feel her cheeks heat up, "Uh, thanks."

"So, I was wondering-"

"Take your hand off me," she said through gritted teeth and looked straight into his hazel eyes.

Noah's thick eyebrows rose as he took his hand off of her thigh and leaned away from her.

"You said this wasn't a date." She scooted to the right, near the edge of the booth.

"It's not. This is just two colleagues enjoying a meal after a hard day's work," he said flatly.

"Two colleagues don't put their hands on each other's thighs, Noah," she scolded.

She stood up. This was ridiculous, she thought. She knew there was sexual tension between them, but apparently, she was naive into thinking this was nothing more than work friends having a meal together. She couldn't believe she was even considering Noah to be her work friend.

"Thank you for the meal, Noah, but it's been a long day and I really need to get home to my boyfriend." She emphasized the last word before storming out of the restaurant, leaving him speechless.

~~~

She couldn't believe him. The arrogance he had to just stop by her desk on Wednesday and leave a note blatantly asking her out to dinner again, but this time as a date. She thought he'd get the message by ignoring him, but apparently, it wasn't as loud and clear as she thought.

First thing Thursday morning, he asks her to come to his office.

"Please close the door," he greeted her.

Alissa closed the door, but stood by it, not stepping any further into his closed-off office with just him and her, alone.

"I want to apologize for what happened last Friday. I'm sorry if I came off in a way I didn't mean." He crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his leather chair.

Alissa's eyes widened, "Really?"

She walked closer to his desk.

He nodded, "Please, sit down."

"I want to make it up to you," he said as she sat down.

Alissa's eyebrows scrunched together, "How?"

"I'd like to take you out on a date, this time, formally." He grinned at her.

It was a good thing Alissa was sitting as her stomach plummeted to her feet.

"You're joking," she blatantly said.

"I can assure you, Alissa, I am most definitely not joking. Say yes," he said as he leaned forward over his desk.

Alissa stood up, her hands in her fists, "No."

Noah nodded his head, looking at his hands. "Alissa, please sit down."

Butterflies were fluttering around in her stomach. She didn't know what to expect or what he was capable of. There was one thing he was capable of: firing her. She sat back down.

"Do you know what happened to the last employee who said no to me?" he asked twiddling a pen in between his fingers.

She didn't answer as she watched the pen move around each of his fingers, left to right, right to left.

He looked up at her as she watched him play with the pen. "It was back at my old firm in Miami. The director went crazy. She somehow got her hands on some confidential information regarding a high profile client and wanted to go public. I told her she would not go public, that we would inform the client and let them decide what to do with the information, but she said no."

He stopped playing with the pen, putting it back in his steel cup pen holder. She wiped her sweaty hands on her slacks and made eye contact with him.

"She had to go. It was the best thing for the firm and for the client," he said, monotonously.

Alissa looked down at her hands in her lap. Noah stood up and walked around his desk before standing in front of her. He grabbed her hands and pulled her up to face him. She looked into his hazel eyes as her heart rate sped up.

"So, will you come to dinner with me this Friday," Noah asked as he leaned back against his desk.

Alissa pulled her hands away from his and walked towards his office door.

As she placed her hand on the doorknob, he spoke, "Don't keep me waiting long."

~~~

A/N: I'll be honest, I don't like this side of Noah, but he's used to getting what he wants. What do you think of him?