My evening at Jesse's had been one for the books. He'd created an extraordinary meal for us – I'd been right in assuming his cooking would be amazing – and dessert had been an absolute treat. Pun intended. But my favorite part of the night didn't have anything to do with his gourmet cooking skills or the way his tongue made me arch my back afterwards. It was the conversation we'd had in between.

We didn't speak much over dinner, but once we were finished, we dawned some more winter-appropriate clothing and Jesse lead me out to the upstairs balcony where we lounged on a white metal bench together and sipped some more wine.

I curled up next to him with my legs folded under my ass and rested my head against his shoulder. The view from his balcony was pretty impressive. I could almost make out the skyline in the distance with the sun setting behind it in a stunning warm glow. When I started to shiver from the cold, Jesse fetched us a heavy blanket and draped it over our bodies. It didn't take long for the chilly air to force me onto Jesse's lap to keep warm. He didn't seem to mind, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me closer to his chest.

After a few minutes of enjoying the peace and quiet and the view, Jesse brought up what I'd said earlier in the evening about wanting to know more about him. He told me he was an open book and that I could ask anything I wanted; so, of course, I began with the most logical question and asked what his favorite color was. We were in agreement on green being the best.

An hour went by and we'd covered where he'd attended high school and what sport he'd played – football, of course. We'd discussed all his favorite things, from his favorite food – escargot – to his favorite vacation destination – Aruba. He'd been to Aruba six times in four years and the way he talked about how beautiful the island was made me add it to the top of my list of places I wanted to travel to next. I imagined vacationing in Aruba with Jesse; making out in the ocean and having island cocktails and sex on the beach. It sounded perfect. So perfect, in fact, that I almost suggested it until I remembered it was way too soon to even think about taking that big of a step. Still, a girl could dream, right?

As the night went on, I told him about my journey from my freshman year of college to where my career was at now with Satisfaction. We discussed my aspirations, the New York Times contest, and what I hoped to gain from it if I was lucky enough to make the top five. Jesse listened to everything I said, even when I started to ramble. He paid attention to every detail and I really appreciated that. No man I'd been with before had been that interested in what I had to say. Jesse was different, in a good way. Then again, Alex was a great listener, too.

This love triangle wasn't getting any easier.

I also learned that Jesse operated his own business on the side. He wasn't just part owner of his father's restaurants. He explained to me that shortly after Lillian got married a year ago, he'd approached Erica with a business proposal. She'd just graduated with a master's in business administration, and he was looking for someone with a head for business to start up a new company with. They'd spent three months putting plans together and looking for an investor to help them build the business. Ultimately, Jesse's father had forked over a more-than-generous amount and Jesse and Erica opened their own marketing firm in midtown Manhattan. It had been a rocky first month, but once Jesse's father's connections had spread the word about their new endeavor and gotten the company featured in both the New York Post and Times, the pair quickly began earning a revolving door of clients. Together, they conjured up the most effective ways for new businesses to emerge on the scene with a bang, and for established businesses to reinvent themselves to boost sales and attract new customers.

I was impressed, to say the least. It sounded like the two of them had become quite successful in a short amount of time. Jesse, however, said he felt undeserving of the success. He believed their business would not have seen such an influx of clients, had his father not lent a hand.

While he was proud of the work they were doing, and he appreciated the help they'd gotten to start, Jesse told me he sometimes wished he could've proven himself on his own, without his father's money or connections. He'd decided to start his own company to be successful in his own right. He didn't believe he'd earned his co-owner title in the restaurant business and he wanted to set himself apart from his father. He didn't want anyone thinking everything had been handed to him on a silver platter.

"I think you're looking at this the wrong way," I'd said in response, having a different outlook on it. "While, yes, you had a few advantages in the beginning, you have to figure that those advantages only got you so far. You wouldn't have the high success rate and the multitude of clientele if you and Erica weren't very good at what you do. You are the reason your company is enjoying success. Not your father. He's not the one busting his ass every day to keep your business running, Jesse. You are."

Eventually, we decided it had gotten too cold for comfort and we'd headed back inside. It wasn't long before we were hungrily ripping each other's clothes off and Jesse was carrying me to his bed with his lips on my neck and my legs clutching his waist. We warmed each other up real fast. The rest of the evening was spent against the bedroom door, on the bed, on the bathroom counter, and then in the shower.

Jesse's version of dessert still had my mouth watering even after the taxi dropped me off at my house around two in the morning. He'd offered to drive me home, but seeing as I lived on the west side of Jersey, and Jesse had to get up early for meetings, I'd convinced him to let me take a cab home, and I'd fantasized about his mouth on my pussy again the entire way.

When I got home, I immediately passed out on the couch. Luckily, I'd remembered to set my alarm on my phone and awoke to its irritating beeping. I'd slept less than three hours, yet I felt well rested, thanks to Jesse's therapeutic efforts. I was actually a little sore, but in all the right ways.

I ate my usual croissant on the drive to the coffee shop to meet Joseph. Selena had texted me saying she'd meet us there, too. She still had an idea to run by me, and both of us were anxious to hear about how Joseph's date had gone.

By the time I arrived at the coffee shop, Selena and Joseph were already halfway through their lattes and chatting up a storm about his idea to reintroduce himself to his readers. I was so excited for him! On the other hand, I was disappointed to find out that Selena hadn't been chosen to write new material for Satisfaction. Apparently, her yoga advice was too popular to scrap. Mandy had personally requested that Selena continue with the subjects her readers were used to, and although I knew she enjoyed what she wrote about, I could also tell that it had hurt her feelings a bit.

"So what's this idea you want my opinion on or whatever?" I decided to change the subject to get Selena's mind off of not making the list.

Her demeanor instantly perked up and she clapped her hands excitedly with a grin.

"Okay! So I've been thinking an awful lot-"

"You?" Joseph interrupted jokingly. "Thinking? Oh, Lord help us."

She hit his arm playfully and continued. "I've been thinking a lot lately about how much money we blow on gas every week just to drive to and from work, and how long it takes, and how bad the traffic is. Frankly, I'm sick of having to get up so early just to spend an hour and a half fighting my fellow rush hour assholes on the interstate. So I've pretty much decided I'm going to move."

"What?" Joseph and I asked at the same time.

"Where to?" I asked, taking a long swig of my mocha.

Selena tapped her pointer finger on her chin as if she was trying to make a decision right then. "I'm not sure yet. Either Manhattan or Jersey City. Somewhere close to work."

"Wouldn't it make more sense to move to Jersey City?" Joseph suggested. "Since work is in Jersey City."

"Yeah. You'd have to brave the wild New York City traffic to get here from Manhattan," I chimed in. "Just crossing the Hudson is difficult enough. Imagine trying to drive through part of midtown, too. That's too much of a hassle."

Selena nodded, mulling over what we'd said. "Kate, I also wanted to suggest – since the rent would be higher and we've practically lived at each other's places this whole time anyway – maybe we should get a place together for the time being."

"You're asking me to move in with you?" I giggled, wiggling my eyebrows teasingly.

"And you two aren't even dating yet," Joseph snorted a laugh.

She slapped his arm again and waited for my response, her big brown eyes begging me to say yes. Selena was excellent with the puppy dog eyes and she knew how much it annoyed me.

I groaned. "I don't know, Sel. I'll have to think about it."

I'd actually been considering moving, myself. The idea had been in my head for a few weeks, mostly because I was sick of the commute time, too, but it had started sounding much more appealing over the last several days with how long the drives were to spend time with Jesse and Alex. I'd felt like kind of a pain in their asses with how inconveniently located my house was. I was honestly quite surprised that Jesse had offered to give me a ride home the night before, knowing he wouldn't be getting back home until nearly four in the morning. I gave him a few extra points in my head for that level of dedication.

"Okay. Think it over and we'll talk about it this weekend?" Selena suggested. "I think I'm going to start looking at places next week."

I nodded. "Sounds good."

Joseph got up to order a second coffee with extra espresso. Clearly, he hadn't gotten much shut eye. When he came back, Selena and I immediately started quizzing him about last night's date. It turned out, Joseph had told Selena he was going on a date anyway after I'd left the office, and just as I'd suspected, she'd tried to give him forty-nine reasons why he needed to get laid on the first date.

"Despite the demands from the peanut gallery," Joseph chuckled, smoothing his bangs back. "Sam and I did not fuck last night."

Selena and I booed in unison and then burst into laughter about our shared reaction. Joseph shook his head and waited for us to shut up again, looking at his watch and feigning annoyance.

"You good?" He glanced back and forth at us and waited to see if we were going to start giggling again before he continued. "Alright. So we went to dinner at some little sushi place down the street from the office. It was pretty good. I think we ate more than we talked, but it was nice. Then he suggested we go for drinks, so we hit up that Irish pub Mandy frequents. He got pretty hammered and I wasn't too sober either. We ended up talking about the Seahawks game, and somehow that lead to discussing our favorite sex positions."

"Oh! Do tell!" Selena chirped, listening intently.

Joseph rolled his eyes, but I could see a blush trying to reach his cheeks. He tugged at his shirt collar and undid the top button. He was getting a little flushed and I could guess what he was going to say next.

"We played a round of pool and went back to his place for the night. There was no sex, but we did make out pretty profusely and feel each other up. And let me tell you what! I may not have seen what he's packing yet, but I got a damn good feel of it on his couch, and hot damn, I am ready to be introduced!"

I nearly spit my coffee out laughing. Selena was cheering on the idea that Joseph and Sam get it on, clapping her hands like an excited seal.

"I think Selena's more ready for you to bang him than you are," I laughed.

She rapidly nodded, grinning ear-to-ear. "I can't wait to break out the popcorn and listen to all the magical sex stories that will come!"

We continued on like that for another thirty minutes until it was time to head to the office. I was in a great mood, still coming down from my overly satisfied high from my evening at Jesse's, when I stepped off the elevator and bumped into Alex. His usual jeans and boots had taken a hike and he was sporting a sharp looking suit with a silky white button-up underneath. His hair was groomed neatly, his usual ball cap absent, and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone in the most teasing of ways. My pulse practically shot into overdrive at the sight.