I arrived at the bakery around eight, getting out of the back of the limo and going to the door. I knocked, smiling as Sloane came to the door to open it for me. She looked radiant in the dress I had sent her. It fit her perfectly; it was tight at the waist but flowed out over her small hips and fell just above her knees. The rich color brought out her eyes. She blushed when she saw me studying her, and it made me want to kiss her on the spot. But I knew I had to wait for that, had to earn it.

“Are you ready?” I asked her. She nodded, then followed me out to the limo, raising her eyebrows but not mentioning the extravagance. I opened the door for her, and she sat down before I followed her inside. I hit the button on the intercom, telling Edward, the driver, to head to the restaurant.

“Where are we going?” she asked. I smiled at her. I had arranged something I hoped she would like, something that would be private and perfect for us to get to know each other.

“You’ll see,” I said. She grinned at me. I saw her bite her lip, an infinitely distracting gesture. Her lips were sweet and full, pink as rosebuds.

“How was work today?” I asked her, glancing over and meeting her eyes. She stared into mine, her lips slightly parted.

“It was slow,” she said. “Some days are like that.”

“Do you work there every day?”

“For the most part,” she said, nodding.

“How do you like it?”

“The bakery?” I nodded.

“I love it,” she said, and I could tell that her voice was genuine. “I certainly prefer working with customers to some of the other responsibility I’ve taken on recently, but every job has something that you don’t love, right?” I could relate completely, even though I could not tell her why.

“What do you do?” she asked after a moment, during which I was lost in thought about the deal with the bakery.

“I’m in sales,” I said, not wanting to go into detail. I decided to change the subject—in this case, talking about our jobs was a sticky topic. “And what do you do when you’re not at work, Sloane?” I asked her.

“Not a lot,” she admitted, looking almost embarrassed. I smiled at her.

“Me neither. But surely there’s something.”

“I read a lot,” she said, her voice shy. “That’s what I spend most of my time doing outside of work. It’s kind of a good way to get away from everything.”

“I love to read. When I get the time. I work a lot.”

“Do you?” she asked. “And yet you find time to come tease me at the bakery two mornings in a row.”

I laughed, gazing at her. “Is that what I was doing? Teasing you?”

She bit her lip again. “You could say that.”

“I’ll have to keep that in mind. I kind of liked your reaction.”

“Yeah? What was that?”

I licked my lips. “All sweet and shy,” I said. “Pretty.”

She blushed, not responding to my words. She glanced out the window as we rode along.

“Do you have any family?” she asked. “Anybody you’re close to?”

I shook my head. “No. I was an only child, no siblings. My father and I aren’t close.”

“I’m close with my mom, but she’s not always easy to get along with.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked. “Why is that?”

“She can be a bit neurotic,” Sloane said, then smiled. “My dad teased her about it all the time. She just goes crazy if she can’t control something.”

“I know people like that,” I said, and it was then that we arrived at our destination. It was a building on the river, which had a stunning view of the sunset. I had rented the rooftop of the building, standing at six stories high. Sloane got out of the car and looked at me with her eyebrows raised. From the ground, it looked like nothing. I smiled at her and had her follow me inside, where we took the elevator to the top floor, then had to use a metal staircase to climb to the roof. She stopped when she got up there, looking around. Her eyes went wide as she drank in the sight. I’d had the place decorated with sparkling white lights and candles, a small table in the center for us to eat dinner. There were flowers everywhere—the rooftop featured a garden with a variety of different plants, fragrant and beautiful.

“It’s lovely,” she said, looking around. She looked over at me and smiled, and her face was simply gorgeous in the dim light. I led her over to the table, and we sat down. Within a few moments, the waiter I had hired for the night came to the table, bringing with him a bottle of wine, which he then opened and poured into our glasses. I thanked him and he disappeared for a moment. I watched Sloane’s face as she looked through the menu, then put it down in front of her. She looked slightly nervous, and I wanted to put her at ease, make her feel comfortable with me so that she could relax and enjoy herself as I was. She took a sip of her wine and closed her eyes for a moment, savoring the taste of it.

“Good?”

“It’s the best wine I’ve ever tasted,” she said. I smiled at her, pleased. She took another sip.

“It’s so beautiful up here,” she said, looking out over the river. “I can’t believe you did this.”

“I wanted to make it an enjoyable evening for you,” I said softly. She looked at me and smiled, biting her lip. It was hard not to stare at her mouth when she did it, but I managed to keep gazing into her eyes, which looked almost gold in the candlelight.

“I bet you do this for all the girls,” she teased, giving me a playful smile.

I shook my head, grinning back at her. “In truth, I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody who makes me want to do this sort of thing, go above and beyond, quite like you do, Sloane.”

“You don’t even know me. You might not even like me.”

“I don’t know you, you’re right,” I said, looking into her eyes. “But it feels like I do. And I like you very much.”

She looked away from me, her skin flushing pink. She took another sip of her wine, and I could tell it was affecting her already. Her smile was more relaxed, her body at ease.

“Tell me something about you, Sloane.”

“I have a six-year-old daughter.” Her voice was hesitant, as if she was nervous to tell me.

“What’s her name?” I asked, trying to put her at ease. I didn’t care that she had a daughter; it wasn’t something that bothered me at all.

She smiled, her face lighting up just talking about the girl. “Her name is Rosie. I live with her and my mom—my father passed away ten months ago.”

I nodded. “I’m sorry to hear about your father. I lost my mother when I was young; it never really gets easier.”

She nodded at me sadly. “I miss him a lot. Things have been hard with him gone. Nothing is the same without him. There are so many things I want to ask him, but then I remember he’s not here anymore.”

I found myself reaching out to touch her and put my hand over hers on the table. She looked down at our hands and then up at my face, her lips breaking into a smile once more. The waiter came over at that moment, took our orders, refilled our wine glasses, and then disappeared. I had paid them well to stay out of the way and give us our privacy, and so far I was enjoying being alone with her.

“What was your father like? If you don’t mind talking about it.”

“I don’t mind,” she said. “He was kind. Really funny. People loved him and so did Rosie—she misses him as much as I do.”

“I bet.”

Listening to her talk about her father put an ache in my gut. My father was the most ruthless man I knew, an astute businessman, but cold. He had always driven me to succeed, to the point where I would almost crack under the pressure. The only thing that stopped me going over the edge was his impending disapproval. I would have loved to have a father like Sloane’s, one who was warm and comforting. “He sounds like a great guy.”

“He was. What about your parents?”

“My mother died when I was eight. My father is still alive. We’re not close. I don’t remember the last time I talked to him.”

“Do you mind if I ask why?” she asked, taking a sip of her wine. I shook my head.

“We disagree on a lot of things. He’s a staunch Libertarian, a harsh man.”

“Yikes. Must be hard to get along with.”

I nodded, grinning. “You could say that,” I said. “That’s why I try to stay away from him.”

“I can’t imagine that,” she said. “I’m so close to my parents. We were always tight.”

“I was close to my mother before she died. I went everywhere with her. She got cancer when I was five and couldn’t beat it.”

Sloane gave me a look of sympathy that came across to me as sweet on her pretty face rather than annoying. I changed the subject, not wanting to get any more morbid than we already were.

“Tell me about Rosie,” I said. Her face lit up again, and she beamed. It was so beautiful, such a pure and genuine look that it made my heart do a flip in my chest. I never reacted that way toward women, and it caught me off guard, making me wonder what it was about Sloane that affected me so much.

“She’s so smart,” Sloane gushed. “Super precocious. And well behaved. You’ll never meet a better kid.”

“She must get that from you. The well-behaved thing.”

Sloane laughed, then shot me an inquisitive look. “Where’d you get that impression?” she asked, licking her bottom lip. Her eyes were bright on mine, full of life and dancing.

“Just a guess,” I said, grinning. “You seem like a good girl to me.”

“I’m glad I make a good first impression,” she said. “But we’ll see how you feel after you get to know me a little better.”

“I would love to get to know you better, Sloane. I want to know everything about you. Including more about your family.”

She opened her mouth to speak but paused when the waiter brought our food over. Everything looked perfect, delicious, and I smiled at the look of satisfaction on Sloane’s face when she took her first bite.

“This is incredible. So good.”

“This restaurant is my favorite in the city, I think,” I said. “I tend to come here every week.”

“I’ve never even been here. I hadn’t heard of it.”

“I’m glad you like it.” I took a sip of wine. “So,” I said. “Rosie.”

“Rosie,” she said, smiling. “She’s perfect. She’s totally obsessed with Blue’s Clues right now. Can’t get enough of it. I know all the words to the songs.”

I grinned. “Do you sing along?”

“I sure do. Rosie and I dance together to the songs. That girl loves to dance.”

“Is that something she gets from you?” I asked her. She laughed.

“Definitely not,” she said, laughing. “I’m so clumsy. It’s embarrassing.”

“All it takes is a little practice,” I said. I stood up. We’d finished eating, and there was soft music playing on the rooftop. I offered her my hand, and she stared up at me, smiling.

“I really can’t dance,” she said. “I’m not being humble.”

“It’s okay,” I said, taking her hand myself and pulling her up. I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her against me, something I’d craved to do since I’d met her. Her body was warm and soft, and she froze when she pressed against me, her eyes looking into mine. There was a smile on her face that was shy and sweet and pretty. I smiled back at her as we began to sway, her hand in mine, her lips slightly parted.

“See?” I said as I guided her body with mine. “This isn’t bad.”

She bit her lip, her breathing becoming a little shallow. I lowered the hand that was around her waist down to her hip in a slow movement, pulling her closer to me.

“Sloane,” I almost whispered, putting my lips to her ear. “You look exquisite tonight.”

“It’s the dress,” she said. I shook my head, putting my finger beneath her chin and tilting her face to mine. I brushed my lips against hers, knowing from the look in her eye that she would let me.

“With or without that dress on, I wouldn’t be able to stop looking at you,” I said. Then I kissed her again, sucking on her bottom lip. Her lips parted for mine, and I slipped my tongue into her mouth to tease hers. She tasted sweet like the wine, and her mouth was responsive and eager. Her body, too, molded closer to mine, and we stopped swaying while we kissed, our mouths moving together slowly.

“Let’s get out of here,” I said against her lips. She nodded, looking up into my eyes, a sly smile on her face.