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“Rob, this is Belle.”

Rob took my hand and kissed the back of it. “Your name suits you. You’re absolutely stunning. Did you enjoy everything?”

“The scallops made me have a mini orgasm,” I answered honestly.

“That’s what I like to hear.” He grinned before looking at Cardez. “Y’all staying in town tonight or heading back?”

“Heading back.”

“True. Well you and I need to get up soon,” he said before excusing himself to go back to the kitchen.

I watched him go. “He seems cool.”

“That’s my boy. One of the few niggas from high school I still fuck with.” He signaled for the check. “Ready to get out of here?”

“Depends. You done showing off tonight? You not about to fly me out to Bali or something?”

“Not tonight. But I’ll keep that in mind.” He winked.

The server brought the check and Cardez handed him his black card without even looking at it.

We walked out into the warm Baltimore night, the breeze off the water clearing my head. For a moment, the good food and good wine had made me forget what this actually was.

“So how’d I do tonight?” he asked as we approached the truck.

“You did alright.”

“Just alright?”

“The helicopter was a little over the top—but cute. Food was amazing. The company was…” I tapped my chin, pretending to think about it. “Decent.”

“Decent.” He nodded slowly. “So, I gotta come harder next time. Noted.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Who said there’s a next time?”

“Shiiit,” he drawled. “Your mean ass ain’t say the company was terrible. That’s practically saying you love a nigga.”

I burst out laughing, a genuine one that had me doubled over. The look in his eyes when he saw me, like he’d just unlocked something, had me turning toward the window before I gave him too much.

There was a comfortable silence on the helicopter ride back. He sat a little closer than before, his hand nearly touching mine. I curled my fingers into my palm and rested them in my lap, because it was too tempting.

“You do this a lot?” I asked, as he drove us back into the city. “Fly women to a new city for dinner?”

“Nah.”

“So, what makes tonight different?”

He glanced at me. “I feel like you already know the answer to that.”

Maybe I did. I just wanted to hear him say it.

He double parked in front of my building and came around to get my door. His hand naturally found the exposed skin on the small of my back again, like he was trying to find an excuse to touch me. But I didn’t mind it.

“Thank you for tonight,” I said as we got to the lobby’s entrance. “I did have a good time.”

“I know you did,” he said, opening the lobby door for me.

I looked at him. “Oh, you don’t have to walk me up.”