She’s a chicken, one giant bocking chicken. She called in sick to work this morning so she wouldn’t have to see Marek. Even after her cold shower last night and running every possibility through her head, she wasn’t much clearer on things when she woke up this morning. What would she even say to him? She couldn’t handle the uncertainty of what they’re going to talk about tonight, and she knows this is a bad idea. No good could actually come of them starting something up together, but she can’t resist the urge to try. Getting to know Marek outside of work with no biases in place has been pretty surreal. He’s funny and conversation between them flows easily, not to mention she’s always been attracted to him—who wouldn’t be? With that thick dark hair, piercing eyes, and a body she wants wrapped around her own, he’s pretty irresistible.

He’s already sitting there waiting for her when she arrives at the bar. She didn’t know how to dress tonight and pretty much everything from her closet is on her bed or bedroom floor. When nothing in her own closet satisfied her, she ended up at the mall going through every single store until she landed on a simple black fit-and-flare dress with cap sleeves and a red plaid skirt. Splurging, she also bought a brand-new pair of black leather moto booties to match. If anything, she’s feeling cute and confident going into this date, which reminds her of what Tara was telling her about the speed-dating date. Unfortunately, that time her sister was trying to get her to wear something completely outside of her comfort zone.

The moment his eyes meet hers as she approaches the table, her entire body feels like it could burst into flames with the amount of heat he’s putting off. He scans every inch of her body then mouths, “Fuck me,” and her desire intensifies. He stands up from the table and pulls her chair out for her then pushes it in as she takes a seat. As he pushes her in, he leans down much farther than necessary, and his mouth glides past her ear.

Her mouth is suddenly beyond dry, and she takes a sip of the water in front of her. She needs to get her head on straight, and that does not include him distracting her. Even though he’s got his damn sleeves rolled up again showing off those delicious forearms. She licks her lips. Damn. She shakes her head and takes another giant gulp of water.

After allowing herself a moment of clarity she remembers one tiny detail and asks her question. “Won’t your girlfriend be upset that you’re on a date with me right now?”

He tilts his head to the side and sets his own drink back down on the table. A glass of whiskey by the looks of it, he definitely knows what he likes and sticks to it. He mulls what she says over for a moment and shrugs. “I give up. My girlfriend?”

“The gorgeous leggy brunette I saw you with at the coffee shop when I was with my sister. The day of our first date.”

The moment the lightbulb goes off, his response is the last thing she expects. He leans his head back and lets out a ridiculously loud laugh. Allowing him his moment of hysteria, she motions for the waitress to come over and orders a glass of wine.

As she’s walking away from the table, she looks over at Marek and asks, “Is he okay?”

Tinley shrugs and Marek’s hysterics starts slowing down. He waves off the waitress and turns to Tinley. “I’m good. That was a funny joke. Hilarious.”

“You want to clarify? What did I say that was just so funny?”

He picks up his glass draining the remaining contents as the waitress sets Tinley’s glass of on wine on the table. The waitress glances at Marek’s empty drink glass, opens her mouth, and then shakes her head and starts to walk away. Before she can make it very far, he turns around and says, “I’ll take another.”

She nods and heads straight toward the bar. While the waitress is gone, Tinley takes a heavy swig from her glass trying to avoid conversation at all costs. There’s a basket of bread in the middle of the table and she makes quick work of stuffing her face. Moments later she’s back with his drink and Marek swirls the glass in his hand.

Avoidance has not always been her strong suit, and her impatience wins out. Not wanting to beat around the bush, she comes right out with her question. “Are we really doing this? Exploring this further?”

He takes a drink from his small tumbler of brown liquid and contemplates her words. She’s dying from agony when he finally offers up an answer. “I don’t see why we wouldn’t. If we didn’t know each other and didn’t work together, there would be no question. We would absolutely continue this, so why complicate things with shit that doesn’t matter?”

She can think of a million different reasons why this is a bad idea, and she starts out with the most obvious one. “What about work?”

He places his drink on the table and calmly says, “Fuck work.”

His bluntness shocks her and turns her on all at the same time. If he’s not worried about the consequences at work, why should she be? Especially when he has more to lose than she does.

She leans forward for another piece of bread and his focus travels down her neckline and straight to her cleavage. The heat in his eyes intensifies, and she pats herself on the back for grabbing this dress. She’s always told herself that she needs to lose the extra fifty pounds she’s carrying around, but the one major upside is her ample breast size and the sweetheart neckline on this dress only reinforces what she has on top. With every graze of his eyes across her body, she feels sexier and bolder than she’s ever felt before in her life.

Tinley polishes off the rest of her glass and stands up from the table. Marek stands at the same time. “I’m just going to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

He nods but looks uncertain as she turns to walk away. If she were going to skip out on him, she wouldn’t lie about it, that’s for sure. She has to see him every day at work, and ghosting him wouldn’t be a smart move. Talk about making an awkward situation even worse. No, she has other things in mind.

The ladies room comes into view, and she almost throws herself through the door to separate herself from the room Marek is currently occupying. The sexual tension is thick like butter, and her bottom lip is raw as she continues nibbling away at it. Fortunately, the bathroom is just large enough for one person, and she flips the lock. She paces the floor in front of the mirror, contemplating what she’s about to do. She’s never been bold, and she’s terrified of what will happen if this blows up in her face. What if she’s reading all the signals wrong and he’s not on the same page as her?

Stopping her pacing, she walks toward the mirror and really takes a look at herself. This could be one of those defining moments of her life, and she’s going to jump completely in, feet first, ignoring the what-ifs. She smiles, says, “Fuck it,” and finally follows through with a plan.

Tinley’s heart races as she slowly walks back to the table. She’s not bold. She doesn’t take chances. She always lets life happen to her and pass her by, but something is telling her to finally put herself out there and go for it, like things could be different this time. At least she’ll have tried something rather than sitting on the sidelines yet again. Marek’s familiar black locks come into view as she gets closer and closer to the table. Her head is telling her to back out and not do it, but her gut is screaming at her to take a chance and just go for it.

He’s focused on something on his phone, and his back is still to her as she walks right up to the table. The fact that he doesn’t see it coming makes it that much more exhilarating. He jumps slightly in his seat as she leans down and softly kisses him on the cheek while simultaneously slipping her hand into his jacket pocket.

“Everything okay?”

She nods, smiles, and takes a sip of her brand new glass of wine that must have been refilled while she was gone. “I just thought I would leave a little present for you.” She tips her head toward his jacket, and he scratches his chin while frowning. “Your pocket,” she mouths, and his eyebrows rise with interest.

She watches as he dips his hand in, and she can tell the instant he finds his prize. Right away, he motions for the waitress to bring the check.