CHAPTER EIGHT

Disclaimer in Prologue I

Chloe shifted for what was possibly the millionth time in the leather seat as she and Lex sat in the back of a limo driving through the streets of downtown Metropolis.

"Will you please tell me where we're going?" she finally surrendered to her anxiety.

Lex smirked.  "No," he said in firm yet gentle manner.  "It's a surprise."

"But I hate surprises," she protested.

"Trust me, you'll like this one."

Not satisfied with Lex's response, she crossed her arms across her chest in a mock-tantrum, which caused him to grin.  "Isn't this bit a tad juvenile for you?"

"No."

"Just checking," he laughed as they continued to weave through the city traffic.

Upon reaching a rather swanky-looking building, the car pulled over to valet.  The attendant diligently opened the car door for them and helped Chloe out.

"Bougainvillea" brightly lit up across the top of the building's main entrance, and it captivated Chloe's attention until Lex gently touched her arm.

"Ready?"

She nodded in response.  Lex held out his arm, and she automatically laid her hand in the crook, as they strode into the restaurant together.

Dinner was spectacular.  Lex and Chloe exchanged banter like there was no tomorrow to an extent that the waiter mistook them as something more than friends when he referred to the young blonde as Mrs. Luthor.

A smirk immediately inched itself into Lex's face as Chloe crimsoned at the error.  Writing a heftier tip for the waiter as he signed the bill, Lex responded: "The lady is just a friend."

Rather disappointed at Lex's reply, Chloe tried to mask it quickly, but Lex was more perceptive than she gave him credit for.  Keeping the implications of her reaction in mind for later, Lex feigned ignorance.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Yep" was her response.  He led her out of the restaurant and into the limo.  The ride was slightly awkward with Lex racking his mind about her reaction and Chloe still very much bothered by his, albeit honest, denial of her status as his wife.

It took a few moments until she finally discovered that they were hardly heading home.

"Lex, where are we going?" she inquired.

Her question dragged him out of his own reveries, in which he had drawn several possibilities up as to why she seemed disappointed at dinner.  After a moment to collect himself, he smirked.  "Did you really expect me to answer that?"

Chloe rolled her eyes in mock frustration.  "I suppose not."

"Good, because I would have said that it was a surprise."

"And I would have said.."

"That you don't like surprises," he finished for her.  "I know."

"You saying that I'm predictable, Luthor?" she baited.

That generated a small chortle from Lex.  "Hardly, Sullivan," he retorted.  "Though I would say that judging from your performance lately, you're getting there."

Chloe gave out a resounding "ha!" to that statement.  "Luthor," she started.  "I should have you know that I am nowhere near predictable."

Egged on by her own audacity, Luthor turned to face her completely.  "Words are easily said, easily broken, Miss Sullivan.  How exactly would you guarantee that you're not 'all talk, no action'?

She smirked as she fully faced him and inched the gap between them.  Then, slowly drawing her head next to his as her mouth closed in on his ear, she whispered huskily, "Luthor, I've got moves you've never seen."

Lex mirrored her moves and drew his lips closer to her ear as he breathed, "Prove it."

Never one to back down from the challenge, Chloe shifted herself back, looking into Lex's face.  When she found nothing but sincere want and admiration in his eyes, she suddenly moved closer and covered his lips with hers.

It threw Lex off for a second, but the warmth from her lips only fueled the already present yearning in him.  How he wanted her for so long culminated into this one contact, and it seared them like mad that they eventually had to force themselves apart, though hesitantly on both parties.

"That was hardly a unique move, Chloe," Lex rasped out before all coherent thoughts escaped his brain.

Chloe smiled.  "Then why are you breathing so hard?"

"I didn't say that it wasn't amazing," he pointed out.  "I just said that it wasn't unique."

"That was only a preview, Lex," she teasingly whispered.  "I have more in my repertoire."

"Tease," he joked.

"Keep saying that, and you'll never get to see them."

"Alright, alright.  I take it back," he smiled.  Coincidentally, their limo had reached their destination and came to a full stop.

"Saved by the bell, Chloe," he said.  "But don't think for a second that we are done."

"I would certainly hope not, Lex," she smiled warmly as she moved her hands from his face to his hands, squeezing them affectionately.

He returned her smile.  "Well, let's go see your surprise."

"Okay."

Lex opened the limo door and led her out, keeping his hold on her hand.  Her line of sight was immediately drawn to the brilliant lights of the club.

She was about to tease Lex about dancing when they both froze at the sound of his voice.

"Good evening, Miss Sullivan.  Hello, son."