Sharynn POV

"So let me get this straight." She invited her girls over for Friday night drinks as always, and Amari just shared the details of her date with the hot Alpha from the party. "You slept with him on the first date...and then you kicked him out?"

Amari pretended to examine her flawless manicured nails. "Yes, something like that."

She needed several drinks to understand this situation. That man was everything she would have hoped for in a guy, at least in the looks department. He was dressed nicely that night, nice body, and even nice expensive shoes. He was not rich rich, but he seemed well off. Not on her level to give him a chance, but Amari wasn't after big money.

"Please tell me why you would kick that gorgeous specimen out of bed?" Kayla asked, a bag of tortilla chips in her hand along with guacamole for dip.

"Ummm...he has a kid!"

Amari said it so matter-of-factly like they should have already known this. It did not shock her this man had a kid.

"Okay, big deal," Sharynn added with a shrug. She liked kids and it was not a deal breaker for her.

"Oh, I know you're not, Ms. Money Bags! You're so into a man's pocket, a man with a kid has to be broke, right?"

Amari had a point there. What if he was paying an unreasonable amount of child support? What if there was a crazy baby mother?

She sipped her drink and contemplated what to tell her friend. "We're not talking about me here, we're talking about you. Was the sex bad?"

"Girlllllll! Noooo!" Amari said in her extra dramatic way. "The dick was dicking good! Oh, the tongue was tonguing and the fingers...."

"Yo! I do not need to hear this." Kayla covered her ears.

"Little Kayla, you have to learn about sex someday." Amari pulled Kayla's hands from her ears. "I sucked his dick and he ate my pussy."

"Damn Amari, have a little class with it," Sharynn said to her friend. Now she was jealous her friend had some good sex and it had been so long for her she lost count of the months without sex. Nearly a year.

"How could you do those things with a guy you barely know?" Kayla asked as if she was disgusted.

"I do know Calvin."

"Obviously not, you didn't know he had a kid!" Kayla delivered the zinger.

She grinned because Kayla was absolutely right. She would not care if a guy had a kid. As long as he made enough money to go around, and give her some of his attention as well, it did not matter.

"Did you really kick him out though?"

"Yes!"

"If you think you can meet a better guy than him, then okay. But you didn't even give the brother a chance. You seemed to like him, and the way he eyed you down, he liked your ass a whole lot. The sex was good-"

"On point!" Amari shuddered as the memory came to her.

She laughed at her friend and continued. "Here you are looking for the perfect guy, for your faux perfect world, and maybe he doesn't exist, and that Calvin guy could be the one. I say you give him a chance."

"Both of you need to listen to that but if advice and get off my case," Amari said with a huff.

True, she thought to herself. Obviously, something she was doing was wrong.

************

Month-end close was her bane of existence. It was the time she closed the books on her clients' accounts and it was always bloody murder. Typically it was the first several days of the next month when they worked on closing the financials of the previous month. She liked her team to get it done within seven business days, but sometimes it took them double that.

It was Monday morning back at her office, and after a weekend of hanging with her friends, followed by Sunday with her parents, she looked forward to work. Just not when the first day of close was on a Monday. She came in early to get a jump-start on things and had not had a moment to stop and breathe and it was almost one o'clock.

She could work another couple of hours straight if her stomach rumbling didn't make her jump to her feet. Sounded like two bears fighting in her stomach. She needed food.

Good thing Edward Jones had several cafeterias and always good food to eat. She grabbed her purse and phone and headed out to find something to bring back to her office and nibble on.

It was not too crowded because most people ate lunch earlier. This was considered late for lunch to a bunch of accountants and staff that came in early as she had done. She looked around for what seemed good but knew she could eat anything at this point.

She went to the burger grill and ordered a cheeseburger with everything and fries. They liked to give an enormous amount of fries, and the cook at the grill knew her and gave her even more if she flirted just right. As she waited at the counter, someone came up beside her.

"Funny seeing you out of your office and eating lunch."

She glanced to her side. It was Trenton.

"I come to the cafeteria quite often, actually."

"I never see you."

"Do you know how big this place is? I'm just one of many faces."

"I know, but I would remember seeing this face any time."

Cute, he was flirting. She had no words for him. Not to toot her own horn, but she did look good today in a royal blue tailored pantsuit with a white shell inside. All her suits were similar, but she liked to choose various colors. Her hair was freshly done after her Saturday morning appointment that she kept for the last two years, going every other week.

She glanced over at the tray of food he held. A sad-looking salad and bottle of water. Was he on a diet or something? She wasn't going to say anything, but he could stand to lose a few pounds. He was what her grandmother liked to call, "big-boned." He was short, only an inch or two taller than her with a stocky build. Nice brown skin that looked as if he moisturized daily, good white teeth, a fresh haircut, dressed in a nice expensive suit, and shoes that stated he made good money.

Yet, not her type of guy. Not someone making less than her and looking like him.

She grabbed her burger and fries that were done.

"Want to sit with me and have lunch together?"

"I planned on going back to my office. I have tons of work to do, don't you?"

"Yeah, but everyone needs to take a pause for the cause sometime."

She walked to the cashier, digging in her purse for her wallet.

"I got this." Trenton quickly gave the cashier his card and paid for both their lunches.

"You didn't have to do that. I can pay for my own burger and fries."

"I'll let you get the next one," he said to her and smiled as he watched her. "Better yet, just stay and have lunch with me and that will be the payment."

"Great, blackmail."

She walked with him to an empty table and sat her tray down.

"Oh shoot, I didn't get anything to drink."

"What would you like, I can run and go get it?" He sat his tray down on the table.

"Pepsi. Oh, and since you're buying, get me a slice of the chocolate cake. Oh, and a cookie. Chocolate chip."

She dug into her food not waiting for him. She was hungry, she already knew the burger and fries were not enough. She was thin not because she did not eat. Something was wrong with her metabolism and she could not gain weight. Good thing she liked to eat.

Trenton returned with two slices of cake, several chocolate chip cookies, and a bottle of Pepsi for her.

"You got all this for me?"

"I got a slice of cake for myself," he said, putting one on his tray.

"Oh, I thought you were on a diet."

"No, I just don't eat like I'm a high school linebacker." He nodded toward her half-eaten burger. "Are you sure your little self can eat all that?"

"Watch me."

She finished her burger in a couple more bites while he watched her.

"I like a woman that can eat."

"I'm sure you just like women," she said, grabbed her drink and opened it. "I'm sure you have no problems catching them."

He was not a bad-looking guy. In fact, he was handsome. The type of guy women probably fell over. Nice looking with a bit of money, seemed nice, and a gentleman as well.

"Well, there is this one I have my eye on. Doesn't give me the time of day, but a brother will continue to try."

"Who? Someone in the office?"

"You can't be that oblivious, you're a smart woman."

Oh, he was talking about her. Yes, she knew he flirted with her often and asked her out a few times, but she never looked at him that way. Not. Her. Type.

Then again, what had she told Amari a few days ago? Looking for a perfect guy, in a perfect world, why not give someone else a try?

And that's when she agreed to go on a date out of the office with Trenton.