Connor gestured for the waitress and settled back into his white chair at Barmini. It was an eclectic gathering, and not what he’d planned—a small group of investors, his closest friends, and Sam. However, it had worked out beautifully.

Chase and Jay were completely taken by Sam. He glanced over at the trio, who were buried in deep conversation. Sam was dressed in a smart white suit with a deep neckline and sky-high stilettos. James had matched her to the décor, yet she managed to outshine even the swankiest of cocktail lounges in the city.

Chase laughed loudly and Jay couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. Can’t say that I blame them.

“For real?” Jay asked Sam. “Damn, how’d you get seats like that?”

“I’m an alum,” she said as she sipped at her scotch with just a splash of soda. “Any time you guys want to go to a game, just let me know.”

“Awesome, man,” Jay said with a fist bump to Chase.

“I don’t know why you put up with this guy,” Chase told her, and nodded toward Connor with a smile. “He can be a pretty demanding SOB, right?”

“Oh, he’s not so bad,” Sam said. She smiled across the table at Connor warmly.

Connor knew he should work the table, enchant the investors, but she commanded everyone’s attention. Even the investors, save for one who clearly had tastes that differed wildly, weren’t being very covert with their looks in her direction.

“Sam,” one of the investors said to her. He didn’t give a damn that he’d interrupted the conversation. “Tell me, what do you do?”

“Oh, I’m an event coordinator at an agency in the city,” she said. “We manage pretty much every type of event, but this time of year it’s mostly weddings. And the occasional over the top graduation party.”

“Event management,” the investor said. He stared at her with clear desire. “I can see how you’d do well at that.”

She laughed and tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I have to admit, I thought it would be quite different when I started. But you haven’t seen the wild side of people until their big event is on the line.”

“I can imagine,” the investor said. “Is this your first job post-college? I’m guessing you majored in communication or business, then. Very fitting for marrying Connor, here.”

She shook her head lightly. “Actually, no, I majored in math education.”

“Math?” the investor asked. She’d genuinely confused him.

“Math education, it’s a little different,” she said.

“Connor, you’ve got a smart one here,” the investor told him.

“I’m becoming more aware of that by the day,” Connor said as he took her in. There was something about her. Something that just reeled him in closer every day.

Sam wasn’t just hot. She was truly beautiful. It was an intoxicating combination he wasn’t used to. Why did it take you so long to notice she was more than just another hot piece of ass?

“Are you okay?” one of the investors asked Connor. It was the oldest man at the table, and one who stared nonstop at Sam’s breasts. Or at least, nonstop until he’d decided to call me out just now.

“Yeah, fine,” he said. He readjusted his position again in an attempt to hide the fact his dick was hard. Thank God we’re sitting down. Every time Sam smiled, there was another awkward shift in his trousers. It was ridiculous, this power she seemed to have over his body. He knew he had to cut himself off after this drink. Not only did he need his head in the game for the rest of the night, but he couldn’t promise he wouldn’t hit on her with just a drop more of liquid courage.

Sam caught his eye across the table and looked at him funny. She raised a brow, and asked silently why he kept shifting around. He wrinkled his nose at her, and she giggled. That giggle was enough to turn his erection hard as steel. It took all his willpower not to groan in frustration—or go somewhere and jerk off just to get her off his mind.

“These stools are a bit uncomfortable,” the one investor who had no interest in Sam said.

“The price you pay for minimalism and overpriced watered down drinks,” he said.

“Oh, definitely,” said the investor. “No lounge could get away with such nonsense a few years ago. But the hipsters persist. Yes, they do,” he said. “White on white in a room full of people guaranteed to spill their drinks. What were they thinking?”

Eventually, the investors trickled out of the bar. The sun was setting, and Connor could finally relax. It was just the four of them, and it seemed so natural. Like Sam had always been a part of his crew, of his life. “So, shall we?” Chase asked.

Connor looked around the bar, which was packed already for a Thursday evening. “Yeah, this place is dead anyway.”

“You gotta update your pop culture references, man,” Jay said.

“Come on, it was a good movie!” Connor said. As they stood, Connor was grateful for the dim lighting and dark suits. You need to stop looking at her at least for a little while. Otherwise, the whole bar is going to know you’re hard for her.

Chase clapped him on the back. “You bagged a good one, buddy,” he whispered into Connor’s ear.

He didn’t know what to say. It’s all a sham. The lies just piled on top of each other. First it was his family, now his friends. He’d thought it would be easy, this whole façade, but he wasn’t sure how he felt about the whole thing. Part of him wished he could just start over. What would it have been like if I’d dated Sam for real? Knock it off, you can’t be thinking about things like that or ‘what ifs.’

Yet Connor felt a twinge every time he looked at her. It was a pull that was more than sexual desire—that he could have brushed off. At least until the show was over.

The four of them walked out of the bar together into the deep pink and purple light of the sunset. As they parted ways, both Chase and Jay pulled her in for hugs and kisses on the cheek. “Next time bring your girlfriends,” she told them. “I could do with a little more estrogen at these things.”

“Will do,” Chase said.

“Can’t,” said Jay. “Single again.”

“Ladies beware,” Sam said with a smile.

“Nobody you can hook me up with? A sister perhaps?” Jay said with a smile.

“My sister’s too young for you,” she replied.

“As long as she’s eighteen, ain’t no such thing,” he said.

Chase groaned. “Come on, I’m driving your drunk, inappropriate ass home.”

“My friends really like you,” Connor told her as they stood on the sidewalk and watched the guys head to their car. Small groups of women in cocktail dresses, men in suits, and couples who clung too tight to each other continued to pour from their daily lives into the bar.

She smiled up at him. “They have good taste, just like you,” she said with a wink.

It was strange, how Sam seemed to have it all. Looks, personality, intelligence, charm and wit. She was the perfect girl. “I don’t know,” he said. “They never seemed to really like my ex.”

Sam cocked her head. “Maybe that’s why she’s your ex, then.”

He laughed. “Maybe you’re right. Although, in Sandra’s defense, they weren’t around her much. I guess that’s not much of a defense. We were together for years and she met them maybe five times.”

“It was fun hanging out with them. Outside a club setting, I mean. It was… I don’t know. A chance to get to see there’s more to you than meets the eye.”

He snorted. The vulnerability put him on edge. “Plenty of women would kill to get with what meets the eye.”

Sam blushed and looked away. “You know what I mean,” she said. “And, besides, wow. Way to go full cocky on me.”

“I do know what you mean,” he said softly. “Sorry.” Connor looked at her and wondered. It was early, and she looked incredible. Underneath that fitted white jacket was just a slip of a silk camisole. Should I invite her to the underground fight club I’m headed to? Or… shit, no. It’s stupid to let her get so close.

Sam started walking toward the parking lot, a few steps ahead of him. From behind, he couldn’t stop himself from staring at her hourglass body. Screw it, I’ve been trying for the past two hours not to indulge.

She positively glowed in the fading light of day. From her shapely calves to the swell of her hips and that unbelievably small, tucked-in waist, she was sheer perfection. That short skirt showed off nearly every inch of those long legs, and damn, it killed him. Her curtain of nearly black hair cascaded down her back, a contrast to the white ensemble.

Maybe it’s not so stupid to bring her. I mean, after all, it would really amp me up to have her in my corner, right?

Connor debated the pros and cons as they reached his car. The last time he was at this club, he really got waled on. He’d thought he could hold his own—he was a goddamned Navy SEAL—but when those boys fought like dogs, like their lives truly depended on it, it was another story.

He couldn’t blame the guys, either. That money must seem like a lot to some of them. What’s the worst that could happen? She sees me get pounded?

Actually, now that he thought of it, it didn’t really matter if the guys at the club tore him apart or not. Whether he won or lost, it would surely turn her on. Right? Women love that shit.

“Hey Sam, do you want to go somewhere with me?”

She frowned. “Really, Connor? This was the last thing on my schedule today—”

“No, not for business. I mean for pleasure.”

She paused with her hand on the door. “What do you mean?” she asked cautiously.

“Get in,” he said, and gestured to his car. He started the engine. “If you really want to see another side of me, come to this club with me.”

“Club? Connor, I’m really not in the mood for dancing and sloppy cocktails.”

“It’s not that kind of club.”

“Not that kind of club? I am not going to a sex club with you, if that’s what you have in mi—”

“No, no, nothing like that,” he said. “You’ll see when you get there. But you’ve got to trust me. Trust me?” He looked at her and could see the curiosity in her eyes.

“Well… okay,” she said. “Am I dressed okay for it?” she asked, and looked down at her suit.

“Trust me, nobody’s going to be looking at how you’re dressed.” He grinned, gunned the engine, and headed toward Washington Highlands.