Kat finished reapplying her lipstick -- Urban Decay Slowburn -, tossed it into her purse, and stood back from the mirror to get a good look. She liked what she saw -- in her jeans (not too tight), a dark-pink scoop-neck top, and a black velvet jacket, she looked both casual and
pretty fucking cute
if she did say so herself. The kind of get-up that would get her plenty of attention from whoever she was talking too, without showing off her goodies to everyone in the room. Speaking of which- she carefully adjusted her shirt, making sure it showed enough creamy cleavage without being outright slutty. Then she grinned to herself, hooked her fingers in the neckline and gave it a sharp downwards tug.
Perfect
. Kat had spent longer than she'd like to admit choosing which bra to wear -- in the end she'd gone for one of her slightly-too-small ones, to really put her assets front-and-centre. A little uncomfortable, but hopefully worth it by the time it was coming off. Now she was really showing some skin, but with the jacket over the top she wouldn't look too slutty. Probably.
That done, Kat pulled out her phone and checked the time -- her date should be out there by now. She blew herself a kiss for luck, then headed out of the ladies room to track him down.
She looked around the spacious room, hoping to recognise him from his photos on the dating app; her pictures hadn't been entirely accurate, so she couldn't rely on him spotting her. It was a pretty nice place, if kind of uninspired; yet another perfectly ordinary venue trying to chase the spotlight with Instagram-inspired dΓ©cor and fancy cocktails. At least this one didn't have chalk-painted furniture and mason jars in every corner. Still, with Roxy Music playing on the jukebox and a scattering of other customers chattering quietly it felt pleasantly chilled out.
In his last message, he'd said to meet by the bar, so- was that him over at the far end? Alone, and he seemed to be periodically looking round for someone, so probably. Kat headed over, checking him out in what was hopefully a discreet fashion. Handsome Asian guy, not so tall but broad-shouldered in a flatteringly-cut suit -- he fit the bill alright. Well, there was only one way to find out.
"Dan?" He smiled and nodded. Damn, he was even better looking than she'd expected! Why were so many guys unable to take a decent photograph of themselves?
"You must be Katherine! How-" He gave a vaudeville-worthy double-take. "Wait, are you-"
"Yes, I am, and
don't
make a fuss about it." Kat looked him straight in the eyes as she said it, an unmistakeable warning in her tone.
"Uh, sure, sure." He blinked, and began a doomed if noble attempt to maintain eye contact. "You look," he looked back up at her face, realised she knew he'd been looking down her shirt, and looked away entirely. Cute, really. "You look, uhm-"
"Oh thank you!" Kat gushed in her most saccharine tone, "You look very, uhm too."
Dan grinned helplessly. "Hey, is the suit too much? I feel kind of overdressed."
"No, no" she said, reaching over to brush an imaginary speck of dust from the lapel, "Well, maybe a
little
, but-"
"Honestly, I just enjoy wearing it."
"Well, you should never pass up an opportunity to do something you enjoy."
"I'll drink to that!" Dan turned and signalled the bartender. "What would y-"
Kat looked right past him. "We'll have a whiskey and soda and a Cosmopolitan. Please."
"Coming right up!" As the man mixed and poured the drinks with practised ease, she realised Dan was watching him with interest. She tapped him on the shoulder and tilted her head quizzically.
"Oh, I like to watch people do things they're good at," he explained, "always a pleasure to see an expert at work."
"I wish!" he laughed, placing the glasses on the polished mahogany bar-top along with Kat's change; but as he withdrew to a polite distance, she could see him smiling broadly. Kat liked that.
"How did you know I liked whiskey?"
"Oh, it says so on your profile, remember?" Kat replied, handing him the cocktail glass.
"You know, I've actually never tried one of these?" He sipped the red-pink cocktail, then gave a small nod. "Cheers!" The two of them clinked glasses. "Like your jacket, by the way."
"Thanks, it's-" she took a sip of her own drink, "
-ahhh-
yeah, it's vintage."
"Ah, so what does that actually
mean
?"
"Umm, I think that the person I bought it from found it in a thrift shop?" She held her arm out to him. "Feel how soft it is!"
A little hesitantly at first, he stroked the black material with his fingertips. "Oh, that's nice . . ." Kat could read him like a book; so self-conscious it was adorable, clearly wanting to touch her more and not wanting to go too far. Damn right too; being overly forward was
her
thing.
As she pulled her arm away, she shrugged the jacket back a little to expose more of her chest, then looked over at the bar, pretending to read the cocktail lists so Dan could get an eyeful. Of course, since there was a full-length mirror on the wall, Kat could see him practically drooling. She had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing out loud; when she turned back he was visibly blushing. Wrapped around her- well, maybe not her little finger.
The two of them finished their drinks, ordered another round -- a Black Russian for him and a White for her -- then went to sit down. Kat steered him towards a table in a secluded corner, where they'd have a little privacy, and for a while they made amiable small talk.
"-no, I mean I love acting, but there's so much downtime, for every ten minutes of actual acting there's like
hours
and
hours
of just waiting."
"Funny, my dad says something similar."
"He was in show business?"
"No, the 82nd Airborne."
Another ten minutes or so, and Kat was sure she'd swiped on the right one. Fuck it. Time to commit.
"Hey, Dan?"
"Yeah?"
"My boobs are down there."
He looked immediately guilty, like a puppy that's chewed your slipper. "I, uh, . . ."
Kat rolled her eyes theatrically. "I
know
you wanna look at them! You practically dove face-first into my cleavage the moment I walked up to you!" Twisting the knife a little.
"Well-"
"Seriously." She arched her back a little, pushing her ample assets out at him. "Take a good look." He did, obviously relieved to not have to pretend any more, leaning in until she half-thought he was going to just bury his face in them right then and there. The moment stretched out in silence, until Kat burst out laughing. A couple of seconds later Dan was too.
She let him finish, then said "You finally stopped blushing! I guess the blood has gone somewhere else, huh?" and was rewarded with a helpless goofy smile. "Oh no, there it is still. Maybe I should have flashed you?"
Dan downed the last of his drink, shook his head in disbelief. "Do you do this a lot?"
"What, trawl dating apps for anonymous sex?" She made a see-saw motion with her hand. "Not a
lot
, but you know, I get bored easily."
"What's anonymous about it? I know who you are!" He picked up his glass, apparently hoping he might have missed some. "Actually, when I saw your pictures on the app I did kind of think you looked like- well, you."
"Amazing how different a girl can look just by tying her hair back and wearing glasses."
Dan held up the empty glass, and in a surprisingly-decent Humphrey Bogart drawled "Why Miss Dennings, you're beautiful!" She drained the last of her own drink, briefly cursing herself for not having 'accidentally' spilled a few drops on her chest.
"You know you're actually much handsomer in person? You should really get better pictures." She settled for wiping the last few creamy drops up on her little finger and licking it clean. "Although at least none of
your
pictures were of your cock."
"Is that as bad as people say?"
"Dozens of the fucking things every time I use the app. And I mean, I love cocks and all, but that's not the point." A waitress materialised over her shoulder, picked up the empty glasses, and glided away. "Oh, she was
right behind me
, wasn't she?"
"When you were talking about loving cock? Afraid so." Dan's smile just failed to turn into a smirk. "Why, are you going to start blushing?" Kat looked at him. "Awww, guess not." He shuffled in his seat. "Want me to go to the bar?"
"Nah, my round." She leaned forward and lowered her voice. "There
is
something you can do for me though?"
"Sure?"