Kylie had been distracted since our run-in with Adam, and I hated it. She’d been distracted during the meeting, she was distracted during work, and a couple of times I caught her walking straight into her damn office door without even opening it. I didn’t know what I could do to take her mind off it, to smooth things over so she wasn’t thinking about so much. I gave her space throughout the rest of the week, hoping she would eventually come and talk to me about it.

When she didn’t venture into my office, I walked over to hers.

“Got a second?” I asked.

“Of course,” she said as she closed out her computer. “What’s up?”

“I was wondering what your plans were for dinner tonight.”

“Tonight? Like, in the next two hours?” she asked.

“Correct.”

“Uh…well, my only option besides eating alone is calling Alyssa to see if she wants to do something. But I can’t honestly tell you I’ve gotten that far in my weekend plans.”

“That’s not your only option.”

“Is something going on with work?” I asked.

“No.”

“Then what is my other option?”

“You could have dinner with me tonight.”

The unease that crossed her face made me tread lightly. I wanted her to come over for dinner, but I didn’t want her to think I was inviting her as her boss. I didn’t want her to say yes simply because I owned the company she worked for. I wanted her to come because she wanted to, because it was where she wanted to spend her Friday evening.

“I’m not sure if that’s a good idea, Ryan,” she said as she gathered her things.

“I could cook us something,” I said. “I’ve got two beautiful filet mignons just waiting to be seared off and eaten.”

“And while that sounds appetizing, I’m still not sure it’s smart.”

“We’d be at my place. It would be private, no unexpected visitors.”

My eyes lingered on hers until I finally caught her gaze.

“Ryan, I just…”

I hung on to her every word as I slid my hand into my pocket. I fiddled with the house keys that were there, finding any way to dispel the nervous energy bubbling in my veins. It was odd for me to feel this way around someone, anyone, much less a woman. No woman had ever made me nervous, not even Adam’s mother. But with Kylie, it was a completely different animal. She made me self-aware. She made me keen on impressing her. She made me want to persuade her, to play that annoying game of cat and mouse.

I wanted to chase her.

And I wanted to catch her.

“Just dinner,” I said.

Her eyes stabilized on mine as she put her purse over her shoulder.

“Filet mignon, cooked however you like it, with a sweet potato and a side salad. Some wine to pair with the steak and conversation. That’s it.”

“That’s it?” Kylie asked.

“You have my word.”

A grin trickled across her cheeks.

“Medium rare,” she said. “I’ll be there around seven?”

“I’ll have it on the table and piping hot.”

I watched her walk away, my eyes studying the sway of her hips. I couldn't wait to prepare a luxurious dinner for her to lose herself in.

But the entire time I made it, I was nervous. I slaved over the food and painstakingly paired the wine with our meal. I made sure to have another perfect bottle on deck in case we finished the first one. I set the small nook in my kitchen that overlooked the expanse of my front yard and made sure nothing was missed.

I wanted Kylie to have everything at her disposal while she was with me.

The second my doorbell rang, my heart sped up in my chest. I wiped the sweat from my brow and quickly changed my shirt, then fastened the last button before I opened the door. Kylie stood in front of me wearing the simplest dress I’d ever seen. It was a cotton dress with spaghetti straps, and her shoulders were covered in her lustrous hair. Yellow, white, and blue swirling patterns adorned the dress that hugged her body, outlining her without tracing deep into her curves. I stole several glances at her before I let her in.

The second she drew in a deep breath, she smiled. “It smells wonderful in here.”

“Then imagine how it will taste,” I said. “Come on. Let’s go eat.”

The first few minutes of dinner were tense. Kylie stole glances of me while I ate my food, but I made sure I didn’t make a move on her. There were no lingering glances—except for at the front door—no feet playing underneath the table, and no fingers reaching out for hers.

But I did notice she kept looking at my hand resting on the table.

“So, how was work today?” I asked.

“Oh, you know. Same old, same old. My boss is a real stickler for perfection,” Kylie said with a grin.

“Damn. I hate bosses like that. Always so uptight.”

“I know, right? I have no idea what got his panties all in a wad this week.”

“Panties? You think your boss wears panties?”

“I’m not sure what else was knotted up his ass all week,” she said with a grin.

I watched her lips wrap around her fork as a giggle trickled out of her.

“Maybe it wasn’t the boss who had an issue but the employee. Did you ever think about that?”

“Are you telling me that I’m the problem? Because I really don’t think an employee who’s never made a mistake is the problem here,” she said.

“No mistakes, huh? I’m sure your boss could find a mistake if he tried.”

“Then why isn’t he trying?”

“Maybe because he trusts you,” I said.

The wall in front of her eyes finally came crashing down, and sitting in front of me was the beautiful, playful Kylie I’d come to enjoy. Our conversation grew easier and easier, which eventually led into laugher that ached both of our stomachs. We drained the first bottle of wine, and I eagerly popped open the second, looking for ways to keep her in my home long after our plates were picked clean.

“Here, let me get the plates,” Kylie said.

Before I could catch myself, I reached out and grasped her wrist. Her eyes fell to the connection before snapping up to mine, and the heat from her body made my cock throb. Her eyes danced between mine as I slowly stood, towering over her as her eyes followed me.

“I’ll get them,” I said. “Take your wine and go settle down. I’ve got this.”

“But you cooked,” she said.

“And I clean as well. This evening is to help you wind down. I know you’ve been stressed this week. Let me help you decompress.”

Finally, she relented.

I put the plates and dirty dishes in my deep-set sink as Kylie settled on my leather couch. I heard her sigh deeply, but I couldn't tell if it was relief or more stress. I grabbed my glass of wine, along with the bottle, and went to sit beside her, trying to keep a modicum of distance between us.

I filled her glass up before I topped mine off. Then I sat there beside her beautiful body and gazed out the window in silence.

“You ever wonder why people prefer sunsets to sunrises?” Kylie asked.

I turned my eyes to her as her voice pierced the beats of silence around us.

“I think it’s a psychological thing. People attribute the ending of a day to a stress-free environment. The moment’s behind them, so all they have to do is enjoy the sun as it sinks.”

“It’s a good theory,” I said.

“I don’t see it that way, though. When I have a stressful day, it’s stressful until the very end. Until I fall asleep and wake up the next morning. To me, sunsets are still part of that stressful day. A sunrise is stress-relieving for me. The dawn of a new day to try to right the wrongs is what drives me to relief.”

“Is this your way of telling me my dinner was in vain?” I asked.

She turned her eyes to me as a smile graced her cheeks.

“No,” she said. “But it was very good. Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome, Kylie. You always are.”

“I just find it odd that people attribute romance to sunsets. Sure, it gets dark, mysterious, but the light can be romantic as well. A sunrise can bring just as much romance with it. What about waking up in the arms of that person who wanted you the night before? Isn’t that romantic anymore?”

“It’s an intimate sort of romance,” I said.

“Exactly. And that’s where my generation went wrong,” Kylie said. “We think romance happens at night, when the lights are turned off and the sun’s down and all the kinks come out to play. But that isn’t real romance. Actual, unfiltered romance happens in the next beat, when the sweat is dried and the moment has passed and the light rises on them both. When nothing can be hidden, not by clothes or by leather or by toys or darkness.”

My eyes danced along her body as she mindlessly sipped her wine.

“I think…I compromised a lot with Adam,” she said.

I nodded as her eyes fell to her lap.

“I allowed myself to think so many things weren’t important, like whenever sex occurred or where we went on dates. I told myself that so long as I was with him, it didn’t matter. But stuff like that did matter. It does matter, Ryan.”

She turned her eyes back to mine, and I nodded.

“It does.”

“My generation gets so caught up in the moments, in the whirlwinds, in the trends. And then they snuff out and it’s on to the next fleeting moment. No one invests in the long-term anymore. And because of that, no one takes stock of how those small things can impact something over time. It’s the downfall of romance, the downfall of true closeness with someone. Younger generations compromise that with their immediacy and their viral videos and their six-second Vine clips. Romance isn’t a moment, Ryan. It’s a point in time. It’s a defining common experience between two people with the explicit purpose of bringing them closer together.”

It was hard for me to believe I was listening to a twenty-four-year-old woman speak.

“You sound like you’re trying to talk yourself into something, but I’m not sure what,” I said.

She sipped down the last of her wine before she set her glass on the coffee table. She turned her body toward me, and I saw that look, that spark ignite behind the beautiful hazel orbs of her stare. She drew in a deep breath before she scooted closer to me, her body heat radiating against me.

“Ryan, I—”

I leaned up and set my wineglass down before I took her hands within mine. I sat there, stroking her skin with my thumbs, watching as a war raged within her body. But I wasn't making this move. I’d made her a promise, and I was going to stick to it.

If Kylie wanted to blow it out of the water, however, I’d make sure it was a night she’d never forget. She was so sexy, and so intelligent and so intuitive. Her words felt like they should’ve come from an eighty-year-old woman who had lived her life and loved many around her. I felt her hands trembling within mine. I watched her eyes dart from my gaze to my lips.

She wanted it.

She wanted me.

But the ball wasn’t in my court to shoot.

“Say it, Kylie,” I said.

Her neck flushed a deep crimson that trickled all the way up to her cheeks.

“Break your promise,” she said breathlessly.

I didn’t need to be told twice.