"And that's when I took my second trip to Thailand. It was amazing, you know? I just felt so, um, spiritually connected to the people there."

Scott was only fifteen minutes into his date, and was already praying for a work emergency that could pull him out of there.

It wasn't that the girl wasn't pretty; Sophia was gorgeous, with copper-red hair, stunning green eyes, fair freckled skin, and a figure that was simply pouring out of her skin-tight cocktail dress. It wasn't that the restaurant was below par; Cotogna was one of the top restaurants in the city, the Italian fare served there the talk of the Valley. And it wasn't the wine; delicious and rich, Scott could already feel it doing its work on his body.

"And, like, I felt like I could just, you know, throw my phone into the water and never check Twitter again! But, I didn't, of course, ‘cause, like, why would I do that?"

It was the conversation.

Scott wasn't sure what had led him to believe that Sophia was anything other than the airheaded chatterbox that she was in the process of proving herself to be. He considered, tuning out her voice, that it was her smart, professional attire that had tricked him. Or maybe, now that he spent some more time thinking about it, that he had only exchanged a few sentences with her to begin with. Either way, he was wishing he was home with Olivia, watching a movie and eating ice cream.

And it would be even better if Ashley were there, too.

OK, he thought, enough of that.

It wasn't enough that he was in the middle of an excruciating date; he also couldn't stop thinking about Ashley. Being with a girl like Regina who didn't seem to have interests that beyond Instagram and Netflix only made Ashley's dedication and intelligence clearer in his mind.

Stop fantasizing about the assistant, he reminded himself once again, now stooping as low as not using her name when thinking about her, choosing instead "the assistant," or "the coworker."

But his attempts at bland self-censorship could do a thing about her face appearing in his thoughts time and time again. Not to mention, her body in the one-piece at the beach the other day.

"Interesting," said Scott, feeling that he should say something by this point. "Any other cool places you've been?"

"Ohmigod," said Sophia, her brilliant, green eyes lighting up with excitement. "I went to Venice my senior year, and it was, like, the most amazing trip I've ever been on in my life. They had this…

Scott took in a slow breath through his nose as he prayed for the wine to dull this torture.

What's wrong with me? he thought, absentmindedly chewing on a piece of sopresseta from the antipasto plate. This isn't the first ditz I've been on a date with. Usually, I'm thinking more about what we're going to be doing after dinner, though.

The food soon came, and Scott was eager to see it, if only for the fact that Sophia would be doing less talking if her mouth was full. Scott powered through the rest of the dinner.

"So," said Sophia in the back of the car as she and Scott were being driven from the restaurant, "I noticed we didn't have dessert. Was there something else sweet you had in mind?"

Scott glanced over at Sophia and saw that between her sensually crossed legs, her eager, bedroom eyes, and the slow drag of her tongue over her lips, she was making herself so sexually available that it was almost comical.

"Nah, just gonna call it an early night. Great seeing you, though."

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Sophia deflated in disappointment. Taking her back to her apartment, he walked her to the door, gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek, and mumbled something about seeing her around before hurrying back to the car.

Once back home, Scott stepped with relief into the living room, free from both the stress of the project and the tedium of the date. He reached for a light switch, but just as he did, he spotted Ashley on the couch, sleeping softly, Olivia next to her, her head resting on Ashley's shoulder.

Admiring the scene for a moment, a smile forming on his lips, Scott gently scooped up Olivia, took her to bed, and tucked her in. Once back in the living room, he considered doing the same for Ashley, but decided against it. Instead, he turned off the TV before unfolding a nearby blanket and placing it over her.

The house still and silent, he walked quietly to the kitchen poured himself a glass of wine, and looked out into the distance, the evening city tinkling against the black night above.

What on Earth have I gotten myself into?