Reesa pushed the rice around on her plate with her fork as Kylie gaped at her. “I can’t believe you didn’t invite him in! You obviously had chemistry.”

She should have kept some details a secret, she realized too late. "What's the point? So he can put another notch in his bedpost?"

“And you’d have a glorious one to add to yours!” Kylie burst out, exasperated. “Come on, Reesa, it’s Marcus Winters, for crying out loud. You could have put an actual notch in that headboard of yours and had him autograph it.”

Unable to hold back a laugh at the outrageous idea, Reesa shook her head. “Yes, it was Marcus Winters. Yes, there was chemistry. But that’s not enough reason to drop my panties on a dime.” Or a thousand of them, since the sweater she wore cost closer to that much. “Look, we had a good time, and in another life, we might have been friends. Admittedly, even I got a little lost in the fantasy. But that’s not who I am or want to be, Kylie. It’s not like I’ll ever see him again.” She thought back to his words, his claims he would prove her wrong. Well, she’d put Kylie off for two days before inviting her friend over for dinner, and she hadn’t heard a single word from him. So much for that claim.

“You overthink everything,” Kylie complained with a sigh. “You should live in the moment every once in a while. Let your guard down.”

Reesa shivered. She’d done that before and had the emotional scars to prove it. She opened her mouth to protest, but her phone rang, cutting her off. She scowled. “Either that’s Jamie calling to tell me the movers are coming to get rid of her old furniture tomorrow, or it’s Charlie Hunnam fulfilling my fantasy instead of yours.” Kylie laughed as Reesa dug her cell out of her purse. She didn’t recognize the number, but that didn’t matter. Maybe it was a client referral.

Clearing her throat, she answered in her best professional tone, “Reesa Brighton speaking. How may I help you?” Kylie rolled her eyes, and Reesa stuck her tongue out in a juvenile gesture.

“It already helps to hear your voice.” The rich, smooth baritone nearly knocked Reesa off her feet, and her eyes widened, her heart palpitating and her head spinning.

She bit her lip, glancing out the corner of her eyes at Kylie. “Marc?” Kylie squealed and slapped her hand over her mouth to cover the sound at Reesa’s warning glare. “This is…unexpected.”

“I told you I was going to call you. You really didn’t believe me.” He chuckled softly, and she sturdied herself against the chill of pleasure that crawled up her spine. “I hope maybe now your opinion of me will improve.”

Swallowing her pride and wishing she was alone, she replied, “I don’t have a problem with you specifically, Marc, and I appreciate that you’re a man of your word. But you haven’t told me why you called.”

“Fair enough. I called because I wanted to thank you for a lovely evening.”

“Three days later?” she asked, a little snippier than she meant. She turned her back to Kylie, who motioned to her about what she should say or do. “If you really had such a wonderful time, why wait?”

He didn’t answer at first, but finally he said, “I thought you could use the time and space to make up your mind about me. I didn’t think I’d have much luck calling you and asking to see you again right away.”

Smiling to herself, Reesa shook her head. “Probably a good judgment call, unless you’re a glutton for punishment. So, you really want to do this?”

“Do what, ask you out again? I’m a pretty confident man, Reesa. When I make up my mind about something, I typically know I want to follow through. I picked up the phone knowing I wanted to hear your voice and try to convince you to see me again. I hoped I might catch you before dinner tonight.”

“You’re shit out of luck on that one. Sorry,” she told him. “I just finished eating.”

“My loss then,” he said, but he didn’t sound disappointed. “Then maybe you can come to the scrimmage tomorrow, and then I can take you to dinner. You can sit up in the box with all the most important people, and then I’ll take you out wherever you like for dinner.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Anywhere, huh?”

“Anywhere at all.”

“And what if I want to come home alone and eat?” She waved Kylie away as her friend approached and started waving and shaking her head wildly. “Would you be okay with that?”

“I’d be disappointed, of course. But if that’s what you really wanted, I’d do it. I told you, I’m a gentleman at heart. I’m not going to push you to do anything you don’t want to do. I let you make the first move, didn’t I?”

Reesa winced at the truth of his words. She couldn't doubt him. In all fairness, he'd done exactly as he promised, all the way around. It terrified her to think about going out on what amounted to a real date with Marc, but a part of Reesa yearned for a chance to truly adult. Outside of work, she did very little adulting, aside from going to a pub for a drink with Kylie now and then. It might do her some good to expand her horizons, even if that meant seeing Marc again.

Besides, he was pretty easy on the eyes.

“You’re too quiet. Are you trying to find an excuse not to come?”

She could easily say no, give him any reason in the world. It didn't have to be true or even make sense. But Reesa found herself warming up to the idea. "Tell me about the scrimmage," she hedged. "I thought this was the offseason."

“It’s a charity function. We’re playing the New York FC to raise money for the Children’s Cancer Foundation. I thought you might appreciate coming to this particular game more than others.”

She could hear the pleasure in his voice at his sneaky little urging, the teasing lilt telling her he knew she couldn’t turn him down now. “Well, now, that does sound like fun. I guess I could show up for that.”

“And dinner?” he asked, his tone hopeful.

“We’ll see how it goes. Is that good enough?”

“I guess it has to be.” He fell silent, and she wondered if he’d hung up. Then, in a low voice she could barely hear, he added, “You should know I’ve been thinking about your lips since I walked away from you, and I might have an urge to satisfy my craving.”

Reesa gulped back a moan. She couldn’t lose control in front of Kylie, and she didn’t want to encourage Marc any further. In a strained voice, she told him, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“We certainly will,” he agreed with a rough laugh. “Be ready at noon. I’ll pick you up, and you can meet the teams before we start the game. I’ll see you then.”

He hung up before she could respond, and she stared at her phone for a moment before placing it carefully on the table. In a daze, she turned to Kylie, her eyes wide and unblinking. Her friend stared back in anticipation that wasn’t the least bit controlled. “So?” Kylie finally asked, unable to resist.

"It looks like I might have been wrong about never seeing Marc again. He's picking me up tomorrow." Saying the words out loud sent a wave of excitement roiling through her, dread on its heels. This was a terrible idea, and she considered dialing him back and canceling. But she wasn't a coward, and if she was honest with herself, Reesa had to admit Kylie hit the nail on the head when she talked about chemistry.

And this time, she wouldn’t have to worry about being a one-night-stand. Two dates made a difference, right? At least, that’s what she told herself.

Kylie practically bounced up and down. “I can’t believe this is happening! Come on, we’re going shopping.”

“Kylie, I haven’t even finished my dinner. And it’s just a game…” She stopped trying as her friend dumped their food in the trash and gathered their purses from the hooks on the wall. They’d eaten early, and the stores would remain open for hours still. When Kylie got something like this in her head, there was no talking her out of it. Reluctantly, she followed her friend out the door, locking it behind her and suddenly wondering just what she should wear to an event like this.