This is a curve ball I’m not prepared to catch.

“I don’t think a date is a very good idea. You’re technically my client now and that wouldn’t be very professional.”

“Don’t think of it as a date. Think of it more as a business meeting.”

I look down at the notepad in front of me, and my hand freezes. Seven doodle hearts stare back at me. Is my subconscious trying to tell me something? I hope not.

“A business dinner would be fine.” What’s the harm in meeting him for job related purposes?

“Great. Give me your cell, and I’ll text you the time and place.”

We say our goodbyes after I give him my cell phone number. Dinner with Noel Falcon? It’s been a long time since I’ve said that, and I’m wondering if it’s a good idea to trudge down old paths. I only hope I can keep my head on straight and maintain a business relationship with him. God knows if he touches me the way he did in Houston, he’ll be pretty fucking hard to resist.

CHAPTER FIVE

The cab stops at the corner of 57th street, near the restaurant where I’m suppose to meet Noel. I pay the driver and give him a scathing look as he lifts his butt out of his seat to get a better look down the top of my dress in the review mirror.

Men? Are they all such scumbags?

Nu Boo restaurant is one of the hottest places in the city to dine, which makes it very hard to get a reservation without advance notice. Noel obviously managed to obtain one last minute, but somehow I’m not surprised. He is Noel Falcon, and whether I want to admit it or not, he has magical connections.

This restaurant is a prime example of that.

I step up to the hostess and feel my face flush when she asks for the name my reservation is under. “I’m actually meeting the other member of my party here. The name is under…” I hesitate and think about how absurd the pseudo name Noel gave is. “Um, it’s under Dong, Long-Dick Dong.”

The young, blonde waitress snickers, and the flesh around my ears burn. There’s no doubt that my complexion is the same color as the slinky red dress Aubrey insisted I wear tonight.

The girl gains her composure, and says, “Right this way, Ms. Dong.”

I want to crawl in a hole and die from sheer embarrassment.

I spot Noel in a corner booth talking on his cell. His laugh cuts through the dinner crowd chatter and my stomach knots. He still laughs the same and it takes me back to the time when we were in love. It’s only been four years. Memories of us together are still vivid and I picture his face. I bite my lip as I shake away the thought. Hopefully, I can maintain a line between our business and personal relationship.

A hulking man steps in front of me and the hostess. He’s at least six foot five with a short buzz cut and bulging forearms. He looks like he can kill someone with his bare hands. “I’m sorry, ladies. Mr. Falcon isn’t available for pictures or autographs at this time.”

The hostess shrugs and turns to me. “You’re on your own from here. Good luck.”

I swallow hard and stare up at the big guy who’s blocking my path to Noel. “I’m Lanie Vance?” It sounds more like a question than a statement when the words leave my mouth. “He’s expecting me.”

The bodyguard’s eyes soften. The menacing look he wore a second ago gone as he stands aside. “My apologies, Ms. Vance, please proceed.”

I tell him thank you, then step around him. Noel glances up and notices me. His jaw drops a little as his hungry eyes rake over my body. The surprise leaves his face, and a slow, sexy grin spreads across his devilishly-kissable lips.

He lays his phone on the table without telling the other person goodbye as he stands to greet me. Even in a simple outfit of a white button-up shirt and jeans, Noel looks delicious. The sleeves of his white shirt are shoved up to his elbows, revealing tattoos covering every inch of his impressive forearms. The disheveled sweaty hair I’d last seen him in, now styled into a trendy fohawk and his chin sporting a trim goatee.

Damn. Why did he have to be so sexy? A girl can only resist so much when someone looks the way he does.

“Wow.” He kisses my cheek and hugs me a little too tightly against his chest for a business greeting. He smells divine, like a body wash and something else entirely male. He trails his nose along my cheek and then whispers in my ear, “You look good enough to eat.”

I pull away and place a hand on his chest to push him back until his drops his arms from around my waist. “Noel, you can’t say things like that to me.”

He tilts his head and studies me. “Why not? It’s true.”

My eyes flit down to his mouth and stare at the way his lips move when he speaks. They are mesmerizing, and it takes me a second to remember why I’m here. “Just because, you can’t. Not anymore, okay? This is my job.”

I slide into my chair at the table, and Noel pushes my chair in for me before taking the seat directly across from me at the tiny round table. He grins at me. “So no innocent flirting?”

I shake my head. “None.”

He rests his chin in the palm of his hand and stares at me openly with his big, blue eyes. “Is it because you have a boyfriend?”

I scrunch my eyebrows together. “What? Who said anything about me having a boyfriend?”

Thoughts of my last boyfriend, Corey, shoot through my mind. That relationship ended over two years ago, and since then, I’ve found school and work more fulfilling than dating college boys with one night stands on the brain.