I picked Rebecca up in my Range Rover, no need for a driver this time. I nearly stopped along the way to her dorm to get her some fresh flowers, but that seemed a little too over the top for a friendly lunch outing. When I picked her up, she was wearing a cute, summery dress. Nothing too extreme this time. She looked like herself, which was just fine. I liked her just as much this way as I did in skin-tight clothing.

When she got in the car, she took one look at me and frowned.

“Something wrong?” I asked warily, afraid that I had already offended her somehow.

“No,” she giggled. “I’ve just never seen you in anything less than a suit.”

“Oh,” I replied, looking down at my jeans and quarter-zip combination. It was still designer, but certainly not my normal weekday look. “Do I look bad?”

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t think you could look bad. Where are we going?”

I started droving, leaving the campus. “It’s not too far from here. I’ll have you back to your studies at a decent time.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” she replied, looking surprisingly relaxed. “I don’t have all that much to do this weekend.”

“Have you finished your essay for my class?” I joked.

“Actually, I just started it this morning. Do I still have to turn it in?”

“I think it’s only fair.” I winked. I didn’t want to tell her that I wouldn’t hold it against her if she chose not to turn it in. “You don’t really have to spend that much time on it.”

“No, I think you’re right,” she said. “If I’m going to win the internship contest, I want there to be solid proof for your choice.”

I smiled. Sometimes, I swore she was smarter than me. If finance didn’t work out for her, she would make a great lawyer.

When we got to the restaurant, I placed my hand on the small of her back and walked with her to our seat. She didn’t recoil at my touch—a good sign. I felt lighter just being around her, and warm when we touched. I was pathetic, but I was enjoying myself.

After we ordered, we basked in the warm sunlight, drinking our beverages. She opted for the bottomless mimosas, while I agreed to get into the spirit of brunch and ordered a Bloody Mary. I teased her mercilessly for being such a stereotypical college girl when she took a picture of the dishes once they came out.

“What were you like in college, then?” she asked, trying to challenge me. “I bet you were the stereotypical fraternity boy.”

“I wasn’t in a fraternity,” I said. “I was in a student club.”

“What’s the difference?” she teased.

“Money,” I replied coolly. “We wore suits and drank fifty year old scotch. The people you’re referring to wear polo shirts and drink mystery concoctions out of a plastic cup.”

She rolled her eyes. “You think you’re so superior. I bet you wouldn’t last a day as a normal person.”

“You forget that we come from the same place,” I retorted. “I should be making the same jokes about you.”

“We weren’t rich,” she said.

“Then how did we end up on the same block?” I asked.

She twiddled her thumbs for a second. “It’s probably from my dad’s life insurance and the settlement we got from the train company.”

“Oh,” I said, suddenly regretting teasing her about that topic. “I didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn’t,” she said apologetically. “It happened such a long time ago.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thanks,” she said quickly. “You didn’t know me back then. My dad was the one who inspired me to get into finance. Who knows where we would have been if he’d survive the crash. Maybe we would have been next door neighbors.”

I smiled at the thought. “I’m kind of glad we’re not, though,” I replied.

“Me too,” she said earnestly. “I was kind of an awkward kid, and if you knew me back then, you wouldn’t want anything to do with me today.”

“I don’t know about that,” I replied. “People can change.”

“Have you?” she asked.

I thought for a second. “Nah, not really.”

We were halfway through lunch when my phone started ringing. I pulled it from my pocked and looked at the front screen.

“It’s my dad.”

“Answer it,” Rebecca replied. “It’s fine with me. I know my mom would want me to answer, or she’ll start assuming I’m dead.”

I gave her an apologetic look and answered the call, wondering what my dad had to say. It wasn’t often that he called me. I figured it had to be somewhat important.

“Hi, Dad,” I said.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Oh, just having lunch,” I said.

“With a client? You shouldn’t answer the phone when you’re with a client.”

“No, with a friend,” I said, giving Rebecca a wink. “What’s up?”

“I’ll make it brief since you’re busy. I’ve met a fabulous woman and we want to get our families together to meet sometime soon.”

“Yeah?” I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “Are things getting serious? Is she The One?”

“I’m very fond of her,” he said. “It would mean a lot to me if you met her.”

“When and where?” I asked, trying to speed up the conversation.

“Soon, I think. I will call your office sometime this week with details. I’ll leave word with your assistant.”

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll talk to you later.”

I hung up the phone with a long sigh and tucked it back into my pocket. Noticing Rebecca’s frown, I decided to fill her in on the family secret.

“My dad wants me to meet his new girlfriend,” I groaned.

“What’s so bad about that?” she asked.

“Honestly, nothing—if it were the first or second time doing this. My dad falls in love too easily and too quickly. That’s why he’s been married five times.”

She laughed. “Really? I thought you said your parents didn’t split up until you were older.”

“You’re right. He’s managed to date, marry, and divorce women that quickly. I like to keep records. The shortest period of dating before the marriage was six weeks. That was with Monica. She had humongous tits, but she was a bitch.”

Rebecca looked shocked at my answer, but continued to laugh.

“The shortest marriage was with Kathy. They made it a week or so after the honeymoon and decided it wasn’t going to work.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Something about her only getting married to get back at her ex who never proposed to her. Technically, my dad was able to annul that one once they had proof of this. He got a mulligan and quickly moved onto another one.”

“Were any of them any good?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah, he fucked up a few good relationships. Obviously, I have to say that my mom was my favorite. Brenda comes in at a close second. She was an awesome cook and covered for me a few times when I got in minor trouble at school.”

“You’re terrible,” Rebecca squealed, covering her smile.

“Then, there was Megan. She was actually just a few years older than my brother. In fact, I think she even dated one of my brother’s friends back when he was in college. She didn’t last long and I didn’t really get to know her. But, I do know that she’s a lifestyle blogger,” I said, using air quotes.

“Why do you say it like that?” Rebecca giggled.

“Because all she’s doing is going on vacation with my dad’s money and taking pictures to post on her social media accounts. She’s not doing any actual work to get there. In fact, people are even paying her money to put on a swimsuit and splash around on a remote island and drink weight-loss tea that makes you shit yourself.”

“It doesn’t sound like you liked that step-mother,” she said.

I shuddered at the word. They were nothing close to mothers to me. I knew she was using the term as a joke.

“I’m not saying that. I can’t really give my full impression because I didn’t know her that well. What I do know is that she married my dad, made him happy for a short period of time, then split with a bunch of his money.”

“Oh,” she said. “That’s not cool. I’ve never experienced that. My mom doesn’t date a lot. She’s seeing someone now, but that’s really a rare event. She definitely has only been married once.”

“You want to see your parents happy, but not at all costs. I wish my dad would slow down for once in his life. It really makes me want to avoid doing any of those things.”

“What, get married?” she asked.

“No, getting involved in a committed relationship. I work a lot. I like to have fun when I have time off. You can’t successfully do all of those things with a girl at home. It never works. My brother’s been divorced. My dad’s been divorced a bunch of times. Even my grandfather has been divorced. People get married because they think that’s just what you do when you get to a certain age. No one stops to think if it’s what they really want.”

“Maybe you haven’t found the right woman,” she suggested.

“You sound like my parents. No, I’m just going to make this one little area of my life simpler for myself. I don’t need to be weighed down by the stress of pleasing a woman.”

“You don’t know how to please a woman?” she teased.

She got me there. “You’re something else, you know that?”

“Yeah,” she said boastfully.

I wanted to scoop her up in my arms and kiss her right there, but it just wasn’t the right place or time. Instead, I finished my drink and asked the waiter for the check.

As we waited to pay, I noticed that Rebecca kept giving me quick, covert glances. I wondered if there was food on my face or something, because I’d see her turn her head out of the corner of my eye, then turn back away once our eyes met.

“You know, you’re under no obligation to hang out with me,” I said, finally catching her eye. “I’m not going to blackmail you into doing more of my favors if you don’t.”

She shook her head. “I know that. I was actually getting pretty hungry when you called, and I was out of my instant noodles,” she teased. “Besides, I know you’re kind of a sketchy guy, but that might be what I like the most about you. You’re definitely not boring. And, I figure if we can talk business, that’s more of an education I’m getting at NYU.”

“You like me, eh?” I pried.

She tossed her wadded up napkin at me. “You know what I mean. I’m starting to think that your girl problems aren’t solely because of your dad’s penchant for getting married.”

“No? Enlighten me, then.”

She smirked. “I’m starting to think that you have a hard time keeping women around because you can’t help but ruin everything.”

“How do I ruin everything?” I protested.

“You like to mess with girls’ heads. You want them in your bed, but you don’t want to have to do any real boyfriend duties, like spend time with them or comfort them.”

“And it’s worked out quite well for me,” I said, taking my credit card after the waiter returned.

“You love to be a huge tease,” she said as we got up from the table and walked to my car.

“Me?” I squawked. “What about you? You’re the one strutting her stuff around all the time. You’ve practically rubbed yourself against me in a classroom. I would think an academic like yourself would respect places of higher learning.”

I went to open the car door for Rebecca, but kept my hand firmly on the handle, her body in between the car and me.

“What about in public?” she purred, pressing her body up against mine.

I looked around. “I’m fine with that.”

I pushed her up against my car and kissed her, my hands on her hips. She kissed me back, her mouth gaped open and desperate.

“Do you want to go—” I started to breathe.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Let’s go to your place.”