Liam returned her smile and glanced across the little cafe at nearby clock.

"Oh dear," he said with a glint of surprise,"it's nearly nine-thirty."

True enough, on the nearby wall clock, the hour hand was halfway between nine and ten o'clock, while the minute hand creeped past nine twenty-eight, edging toward the marked six at the bottom of the clock face.

"Time has flown it seems," he said looking back to Alice,"such as is when in fine company sadly." He smiled coyly at Alice on his remark, suddenly drawing up his thin lips and making a kissing motion at her. His smile unwavering, his dimples deeply riveted into the corners of his mouth. At this point, he saw little point in holding back on his efforts of flirting with Alice.
After all, he felt they had broken the ice thoroughly.

He stood up before Alice,"Shall I see you home? The streets of New York are no place for a young lady to be traipsing about alone."