I looked up at the windows, wondering if anyone noticed me from the night before. However, most of the blinds were shut and I didn’t see anyone at the windows in the remaining areas, so I figured I wasn’t the spectacle I feared I had become.

  I went up to her dorm room, took a deep breath and knocked on the door, before I could lose my nerve.

  Even still, I thought about turning and making a run for it, which was extremely weird, considering how excited I was to have this date in the first place.

  However, my mind seemed to contradict all those terrible thoughts the moment that Flora opened the dorm door.

  I had seen a lot of beautiful women, both dressed to the nines and otherwise, but I was sincerely shocked at the transformation I beheld at the woman who answered the door.

  Flora was wearing a sleek, decadent, arousing, low-cut dress, which hugged her curves and showed off every bit of her womanly essence, without sacrificing a hint of sophistication. Her hair was pinned up in a ruby hairpiece that matched her dress, while strands of her golden hair outlined her gorgeous face.

  I was wildly attracted to her before, watching her ass shake in shorts and an oversized t-shirt, but this side of her gave way to a whole new level of beauty that transcended anyone I had ever seen.

  Flora was flawless and even though I was certain she had put effort into making herself look this way, her beauty came across as natural. Sure, her dress was pretty and the accessories she pieced together to make up the outfit were perfect, but it was the whole package that made her so astounding.

  Any woman could clean up nice but there were some people who radiated beauty, especially after putting forth an effort and Flora was simply glowing.

  You thought you wanted her badly before… I thought to myself as I struggled to think of the right thing to say.

  “Hi, Flora,” I finally stuttered, more to ensure my mouth was no longer agape than to have something intelligent to say, “You look fantastic.”

  “Thank you,” she grinned, in a sweet, yet knowing way.

  Suddenly, I felt completely underdressed and extremely stripped of my confidence, which was uncharted waters for me. However, I knew it was too damn late to worry about that now, so I stammered out, “Umm, is the steakhouse okay? You do like stake, right?”

  Jesus Christ! Pull yourself together! I thought, wondering what she was thinking of me.

  “Well, I see that your attitude has improved,” Flora teased, “You look handsome too and stake sounds great.”

  She moved past me, closing the door behind her as she swayed against me. I wasn’t sure if her sway was intentional, but I hoped it was.

  “My attitude?” I laughed.

  “Yeah, last night you were a little bit showy. If you really want to date me, be more real,” she answered as she strutted down the hall, turning back with a cheeky grin, “I figured I owed you some advice. You seem kinda new at dating a girl with a brain.”

  “Cool…Thanks,” I answered, escorting her down the stairs while trying not to stare too much.

  I opened the door to my car for her and she climbed in, completely ignoring my outreached hand.

  “Oh,” she called once she settled into the passenger side, “I hope it’s okay, but I can’t make it a super-late night tonight. I have something to do early tomorrow, so I can’t be out too late.”

  Fuck. I thought but forced an unmoved grin, “Sure. No worries. This night is about you, remember? So, you’re wish is my command.”

  “Great! Then, I wish to get going! I’m starving,” she answered and in that, I thought I watched her guard falter slightly.

  Is she actually having fun with me? I wondered but didn’t want to get ahead of myself and I certainly didn’t want to over think anything.

  I couldn’t help but wonder, though, if she really did have something to do early in the morning, or she was simply trying to make sure she had an easy out if she was having a terrible time.

  Hopefully, I wouldn’t have to find out.

  However, by the time I got into the driver’s side of my car and closed the door, I had devised a plan to make her forget about everything and only focus on me. I had done it before.

  How hard could it be? I decided as my confidence ticked back toward a normal level.

  “I am extremely impressed by your performance,” Flora said after we drove for a moment.

  “My performance?”

  “You have such a good sense of, knowing what to say, to make the situation better,” she replied, but added to her comment quickly, “I guess performance isn’t the right word. Your bedside manner, is more like it.” She flicked her hair off her shoulder as she turned toward me, “I realized after we spoke last night that I never properly thanked you for everything you did for me the other night.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, extracurricular activities notwithstanding, I was impressed that you were actually able to calm me down after what happened to me the other night.”

  “Oh, yeah?” I replied, trying to hide the fact that I was flattered and thankful she wasn’t automatically assuming that the way I was acting on this date was a performance. “Well, I was only doing what I thought was right and…simply giving me a chance tonight shows that you haven’t let that asshole get the better of you. I admire your courage.”

  Flora giggled slightly, turning her head away at the receipt of the compliment, “I don’t know if I’d call it courage. I’d call it surviving. I can’t live in fear, you know?”

  “Whatever it is, you look phenomenal. You’re a beautiful woman, Flora and I hope that you never let anything like that, or anyone else’s opinion make you think otherwise,” I answered, hoping to God I didn’t come off sounding creepy.

  “Thank you,” she replied, turning toward me and giving me a fresh whiff of her light, but alluring perfume. The simple motion caused a twinge in my manhood that was difficult to ignore. Although, if I didn’t want to give her any idea of exactly how bad I wanted her, I was going to have to curb my interest in her.

  Walking the line between casual conversation and I want to ravish you was difficult, when it was this conscious but in order to woo her into wanting me, I had to prove the depth of my involvement wasn’t only skin deep. I knew she still had her doubts about me and I was hoping, if I did nothing else with the time I was granted with her tonight, I would be able to dispel those doubts and separate myself from my former crew.

  The last thing I wanted was for her to think that my alliances, or ideals aligned in any way., shape or form with them.

  Presently, I was ashamed to have ever been a part of them, in any capacity.

  So, I decided to continue on an exploration of her mutual talents and interests, “So, Flora, what is it you like to do?”

  At this, she chuckled, “Um, what do I like to do? I don’t know if I’ve actually done much of anything I liked to do in years. Mostly, my passion has been school, which will lead me to a career.”

  “You seem so driven,” I insisted.

  “I care very much about succeeding,” she admitted, “But it isn’t about money, or anything like that.”

  “Seriously? You’re working your ass off to get an MBA, so much, that you don’t even want to have a boyfriend, and you’re not concerned with money?” I retorted, grinning more at the fact that I was able to be completely genuine in this remark, instead of holding back.

  She chuckled, “Well, the same could be said for you.”

  “Yeah, but I never claimed otherwise,” I answered as I stopped at a red light and as I spoke, I couldn’t help sweeping my eyes over her admiringly.

  “Okay, I guess, you’re right. The money is a draw, but that isn’t why I do it,” she replied.

  “Why do you do it, then?” I asked, “You can’t tell me that a girl like you is passionate about what will amount to be a desk job.”

  I hadn’t meant for it to be overtly sexual or suggestive but as I spoke, I realized my error.

  Her grin turned cold and her gaze turned away from me.

  “Like I said, it takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and sacrifice to survive school and have any success in what we intend to do, but I’m sure you wouldn’t know any of this. You have a scholarship and an endless supply of daddy’s money,” she hissed.

  “Oh, God…No,” I shook my head as I tried to amend my statement to show her what I really meant, “I didn’t mean that, as a girl, you’d only get a desk job. That’s essentially what we’re all working toward…Regardless of who are fathers are.”

  With a strained sigh, she replied a simple, “Uh-huh…” as she continued to stare out the window.

  My heart sank, and her tone made me feel as though I was sucker punched in the gut. The problem was, I had let my guard down a little too much and the need I had for her seeped through, into what I thought was going to be an easy conversation to keep alive.

  Wait to go, Collin. This is going to be a long night.

  Flora

  I was extremely surprised to find that Collin had taken the liberty of getting a reservation, so that we were seated the moment we arrived at the steakhouse.

  During dinner, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Collin seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say.

  In fact, he seemed as though he was oddly excited to simply be near me.

  I liked the way he looked at me, the way he laughed, and the way he seemed to pay distinct attention to every word I said, regardless of how simple my conversation seemed.

  I had never had anyone want to spend so much time and attention on me. It was nice and comforting, in a way.

  Even though I didn’t want to, I couldn’t help but feel comfortable around him. It was strange, since I was usually uncomfortable with everyone I met and yet, this man seemed to be able to swoop in and make me feel at ease, both in the most stressful and the most mundane situation.

  As far as intellect, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, considering the people he hung around with, but when he did speak, I couldn’t help but notice that Collin’s insight was keen and intelligent.

  Despite not wanting to enjoy myself, simply on the principal of being right, I found that I couldn’t remember the last time I had this much fun.

  Once we settled into the meal, Collin also seemed to settle down. Instead of being showy and trying to prove his masculinity, he seemed to be real with me.

  By the time we were halfway through the meal, I felt as though I was seeing a whole new side of him; a side that I hoped was real and not some façade, because I was liking what I was seeing.

  Plus, he paid a lot of attention to me, both physically and conversationally. Normally, this isn’t something that would be important to me, since I rarely cared much about my appearance but after the effort I had put forth, it was nice to see that he noticed and appreciated it.

  Collin made me feel feminine. The way he looked at me, wasn’t at all what I had expected. I thought that if he liked me in the dress, it would be more as an object of his affection, but I was wrong. Instead, he looked at me admiringly. I didn’t feel like a piece of meat he wished to conquer but rather a respected beauty.

  His wild eyes seemed to tame when he was looking at me and the carelessness that was present within most men at his age either withered away until it was no longer present or wasn’t there to begin with.

  I hadn’t noticed either way, which I guess was good and I hoped that if I was the reason I hadn’t noticed, I would continue to be such an inspiration.

  “So, how did you decide that you wanted to get into business?” I asked him, not quite sure what else to talk about.

  Since our odd, abrupt conversation in the car, things had smoothed over. After all, I had promised Riley I would try to have fun; the kind that wasn’t entirely at Collin’s expense.

  Yet, I wanted to test him to ensure that he knew what he was getting into. I could be a real pain in the ass and to those who knew me well, I spoke my mind.

  Therefore, if he didn’t want a woman like that, I wanted to make it abundantly clear that I wasn’t the woman for him, but if he could stomach my honesty, I would be more attracted to him than I already was.

  “Well,” he started, leaning back in his chair as though getting comfortable and started to explain, “I am from the city, where my father has taken his piece of corporate America and melded it to fit his needs. I’ll make no bones about it. My father is a son of a bitch and I can’t stand him, but my old man still holds out hope that I’ll take over the legacy that he’s built. He’s getting up there in age a little, so he is starting to see the need for me to figure out what the hell I’m doing with my life.” He stopped to snicker, “Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m going to be doing all that well with it, or the way my father feels about me.”

  “Well, if he doesn’t think you’re going to be any good at it, why did he send you to college?”

  “The old man needs a legacy. I think he’s convinced that I’ll grow into it, or something. To hell if I know,” he laughed, and I couldn’t help but revel in the sound.

  The snapshot I memorized from him in that moment was one that was endearing and sensual. The way his muscles moved as his body jolted with laughter, while his eyes illuminated and his face relaxed.

  I realized then that it was fun to watch his amusement. I had never noticed that about anyone before and why I suddenly thought of it now seemed strange to me. However, I liked this feeling. It was new and adventurous. I didn’t understand it but at this moment, I didn’t feel I had to.

  “So, what about you?” Collin asked, sounding genuinely curious, “Are you from a good old fashioned, corporate American family?”

  I laughed. The thought of either of my parents even visiting the city, much less trying to understand even the basics of big business was utterly hilarious to me.

  “I’ll take that as a no?” He decided in a teasing manner.

  “That’s a safe bet,” I replied as I settled down enough to answer his perfectly reasonable question, “No, my mother and father are small town folk. I’m kind of the black sheep of the family. The bad part is, they don’t have any other sheep.”

  I chuckled, but Collin tilted his head in a confused manner as he asked, “Your parents don’t support you?”

  “Oh, God no,” I replied honestly.

  “But, you try so hard. You want to do your best…You’re so dedicated.”

  “Yup, that’s all because I don’t want to end up like my parents.”

  “Ouch,” he replied, making a face.

  “Yeah, I’m really just a small-town girl and that was apparently how my family expected me to stay. They wanted me to marry young and start having children, but I had bigger dreams. I had always admired the strong, resilient, businesswoman types that I saw on television and through magazines,” I shrugged, “Unfortunately, there wasn’t anyone in town that did anything to actually have a successful business. Even the men, they just had a family business, that his daddy owned, whose daddy owned it before that, and so on. Since they were the only one’s around, that was just where people went. Though, when any big stores came through the area, the mom and pop shops didn’t last long.” I sighed, thinking of a few friends whose parents lost their shops to box stores, “They just don’t have any concept of marketing or how to actually run a business.”

  “So, it sounds like you were kind of the black sheep of the whole town?” I asked, hoping that my question didn’t offend her. I had always been something of a black sheep too, but not at all in the manner that she was describing, so I was curious.

  “Yeah, I guess you could say that,” she replied, not seeming to take offense to the statement at all. “I was always the one with the high ambitions. While my friends were settling down right after high school with their first loves, I was readying myself for college and hoping to get out of that damn town for good.”

  “So, you didn’t have any help with anything?”

  “No, they don’t even support me.”

  “Wow…” He replied, “That sucks.”

  I shrugged, “It is what it is. I have my goals and unfortunately, I have to go at them alone.”

  “Maybe your dad didn’t want you to leave, but even your mom?” Collin inquired.

  “She’s worse than my father,” I answered with a small chuckle. “My mother blames me for everything that goes wrong in my life. She tells me that the only reason anything bad is happening, is because I left the town where I grew up.”

  “What?” Collin laughed, slightly in disbelief.

  “Oh, yeah. I didn’t get the job? Oh, well, if you hadn’t left, you’d have a job. Didn’t do well on a paper? If I had stayed where I belonged, I wouldn’t have to worry about papers. You don’t have a date this Saturday night; Well, if you hadn’t left, the boys ‘round here’d be knocking down our door. Daddy would be scaring them off with his shotgun.”

  Collin chuckled again, and his eyes glazed as I guessed he was imagining my story in his head, “Yes, because that’s a great pep-talk for a young woman. Too bad you don’t have a date, but if you lived here, you probably still wouldn’t have a date because Daddy’s pickin’ them off like it’s open season.”

  “I know. Weird, right?” I shook my head, feeling more relaxed around Collin than I knew I should, “I don’t understand them. Sometimes they say things and I’m just…trying to even comprehend their logic.”

  “Most parents want their kids to do better than them,” he interjected.

  I shook my head, “Nope, not my momma and daddy. All they want is to keep me in the same miserable town they spent their entire life in and ensure they do everything in their power to keep me there for my whole life.”

  “Maybe it’s payback…You know, for their obviously failed lives.”

  “Sometimes I wonder,” I replied earnestly.

  “My Dad’s kind of the same way, but at the same time, he’s the complete opposite. He wants me to do well and basically become him. He doesn’t want anything for me. He just doesn’t want to lose the corporate empire he built, even after he’s gone, and it no longer matters.” Collin shook his head. “But sometimes, I think it’s because he’s really not happy with his life, so he wants me to figure out how to be happy, doing what he does? Or, hell, maybe it’s as simple as, misery likes company. I don’t know. I’ve never been that close to him to find out.”