CHAPTER THREE

Disclaimers in Prologue I

Chloe shifted nervously as she took a glance around the room again.  Lex had taken her to Bistro, the highest end of Metropolis' high-end dining hubs.  She was practically rubbing elbows with the rich and the famous, and it couldn't help but make her wonder if she really fit in this world.  More specifically, Lex's world.

'It's only dinner,' she tried to convince herself as she looked at her dining mate across the table.  When she realized that he was staring back at her, instinct immediately drove her to look away.  It only made Lex smirk bigger.

"Am I making you nervous, Miss Sullivan?" he smoothly teased.

She willed herself to be strong; after all, playing the shy coquette wasn't exactly Lex's type.  And she was definitely not one.  "Of course not, Luthor," she retorted, feigning a sigh for a deep breath.  "I'm just a bit out of place, that's all."

"You want to leave?" he asked.  She couldn't determine whether he meant it as a dare or as a concerned suggestion, but she wasn't taking a chance.

"Absolutely not," she said.  "I'm quick to adapt."

"I bet you are," Lex grinned, appreciating her willingness to stay there, despite the very fact that she was indeed a lamb in the lions' den.

Chloe raised an eyebrow.  "Lex Luthor, are you flirting with me?"

"Why shouldn't I, Chloe?" Lex shrugged.  "I think it's only fitting that I should 'flirt' with someone I'm attracted to."

The once jovial look on Chloe's face suddenly darkened into a frown.  "Look, Lex," she hissed.  "It's one thing to hold the secret about my health over my head, but it's another when you play pity games because of that."

"I'm not playing games at all," Lex defended himself.

"Oh, please," she rolled her eyes.  "Are you now going to tell me that you've liked me before we saw each other at Dr. Stein's?  Please, Lex, I've seen the women you've dated; I hardly qualify to be in the same league as they are."

Before Lex could interject, she stood up and collected her things.  "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I've lost my appetite," she finished, quickly leaving the table and the restaurant. 

With a second's hesitation, Lex followed after her, but it was too late.  By the time he reached the lobby, she had already hailed a cab that was clearly heading for Smallville.