Kacey's advice had been stuck on repeat like a broken record in my head for the rest of the weekend. She'd made perfect sense. I'd been so focused on trying to hurry up and make a decision before – God forbid – Alex and Jesse found out about each other, that I hadn't realized I barely knew Alex and I'd just recently started learning more about Jesse. Kacey was right. I was trying to decide too soon. I needed to get to know both of them better. It was only fair.

After Selena's date was over, I'd told her about Kacey's and my conversation, and she'd echoed the same advice, as well as reminded me that I shouldn't be worrying about dating two men since – technically – nobody had uttered the words "boyfriend," "girlfriend," or "relationship" yet. Maybe I was fretting over nothing. But then again, it wasn't like I regularly dated a handful of men the way Selena did. She was used to it. I wasn't.

I'd spent all of Sunday trying and failing miserably to work on my animal rights article that was due by Friday. Every time I'd sat down at the computer, my mind wandered back to Jesse and Alex and I couldn't focus. I decided to talk to Alex on Monday and see about making plans to spend time with him before the New York Times dinner. I knew that event was going to be so busy that I wouldn't get much, if any, one-on-one time with Alex, and we'd barely have time to chat between all the speakers. I planned to invite him over for dinner Monday or Tuesday night. He'd cooked for me. Now it was my turn to cook for him.

Before I could take two steps out of the elevator on Monday morning, Selena had latched onto my arm and was practically dragging me down the hall to my office. Once inside, she shut the door and dropped the blinds that covered the glass wall so we had complete privacy from passersby.

"Sel, what the hell is going on?" I frowned, setting down my computer bag. "What's got you so worked up?"

Then I heard it.

Shouting came from down the hall. It sounded like Mandy was exploding at someone. A door slammed so hard it rattled the frames on my walls and shook the blinds.

I looked at Selena in shock. "The fuck is going on?"

"You're not going to believe this." She held up her hands and paused for dramatic effect. "You know how Nicole entered that New York Times contest? And you know how she's been stealing articles and ideas from Joseph? It turns out, the article she entered in the contest was written by Joseph for a local magazine three years ago and he didn't even know how she got ahold of it. The Times apparently researched it and called Mandy about it. Oh, man. Nicole is in some deep shit now."

My eyes were so wide and my eyebrows were so high, my forehead hurt.

"What... the... fuck..." was all I could muster.

Selena nodded rapidly. "I'm fucking shocked. But at the same time, the bitch had it coming. It was just a matter of time before she got caught."

I looked at my thermos and groaned inwardly. I didn't have enough coffee to be prepared for such a wild morning, and a Monday, nonetheless.

"I'm worried about Joseph, though," Selena continued, flopping down in the chair opposite me. "He and Nicole are both in there getting their asses chewed. Apparently, Mandy doesn't have too much sympathy for him since he let Nicole get away with it so much. I think I heard that seventy percent of her articles since she's been here have all been Joseph's ideas."

My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. "Seventy? Holy shit..."

My head was starting to hurt and the yelling down the hall wasn't helping. I was concerned for Joseph, too. If I knew Mandy as well as I thought I did, Joseph would be very lucky if she didn't fire him over this. No doubt Nicole would get the boot, though – thank fuck!

Selena's phone made a ding and she grinned at the text she'd just received.

"Is that him?" I asked knowingly.

She nodded with a cheesy smile and her hair fell in front of her face. "Yeah. It's Daren."

"You still haven't told Kacey and me about your date," I pointed out, pointing my pen at her. "I want details, girl. Spill."

"Now you're starting to sound like me!" she giggled. "Alright. So we went to Michelangelo's and it was absolutely incredible, Kate! He's so amazing and the restaurant is unbelievably gorgeous! We had champagne that was like four-hundred dollars a bottle! The fucking seafood pasta was to die for! And for dessert, we had both French silk pie and chocolate cheesecake!"

"So I gather that the food was great," I said, amused at her excitement and the way her words were running together. "But I'm more interested in the man you ate the food with."

Selena giggled again, which was getting to be much more so than she usually giggled about a man, and she blushed harder than I'd seen in a long time. This guy must've really been something to get her this worked up!

"Oh, Kate, he was amazing!" She placed her hand over her heart and flopped backwards, lounging out in the chair like a big blob of Jell-O. "After dinner, we went for a long, romantic walk by the water. Then I left my car at the restaurant and he took me back to his apartment. Holy shit, Kate. His apartment overlooks Central Park! The view was fucking amazing!"

"The view of the city, or the view of him after you got his clothes off?" I raised my eyebrows accusingly. I knew her better than that.

Selena rolled her eyes and slung her legs over the chair's arm. "Alright. I admit it. We had sex and it was fucking earthshattering!"

"I knew it!"

She waved me off and a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"Don't get the wrong idea, though," she told me, her tone becoming serious all the sudden. "I know I'm notorious for fucking on the first date, but Daren is different. Everything was different with him. He didn't even try to talk me into sex or put the moves on me like most guys do. It just happened later in the night after we'd watched four reruns of Full House. And he was so respectful, too! He was really sweet about everything, Kate, and he didn't blow me off the next day, and he was still lying there next to me when I woke up the next morning. He even made me breakfast and said I looked beautiful when I had sex hair from hell."

Her words reminded me of when I'd woken up to an empty space beside me in Jesse's bed on Saturday morning. He'd had a valid reason, what with Janet The Bitch calling constantly. Besides, he was making breakfast for us. I couldn't be upset with him for leaving me in bed, but for some reason, it was still nagging at me just a little bit.

"Sounds like he's a really nice guy," I said, trying to refocus my thoughts on her love life rather than mine.

"Yeah," she smiled brightly, glancing to her phone. "I really, really like this guy, Kate."

"Are you going to see him again?"

"Of course!" she beamed ear-to-ear. "I asked him to be my date for the New York Times dinner on Wednesday."

I had no idea Selena had been planning on attending the dinner, too.

"Well, in that case, we'll have to sit at the same table so I can meet this dude," I said.

Selena frowned. "You're going, too?"

"Alex asked me to be his date." I couldn't prevent the smile that yanked its way across my face.

"Oh my god! No way!"

Now it was my turn to blush like a tomato.

A knock came at the door and I started patting my cheeks and fanning my face to ward off the redness while Selena hopped up to answer the door. When she opened it, there stood Alex in a very attractive combination of his usual jeans and a black dress shirt with the top two buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He looked so handsome. I immediately thought back to our make out in my office last Friday, and then how good he'd looked working on his truck that afternoon.

So much for the fanning and patting. The blush had returned with a vengeance.

"Speak of the devil! Good morning, gorgeous!" Selena laughed, patting him on the shoulder and gesturing for him to come in while she scooted out into the hallway.

"We'll talk about it more later!" I called after her as she practically skipped to her office.

"Morning," Alex smiled and sauntered over to the chair Selena had occupied.

"And what can I do for you, Mr. Stephens?" I returned the smile.

I was glad he'd remembered to shut the door behind him. I didn't need my coworkers gossiping about us. So far, I hadn't heard a peep out of anyone about our make out, aside from Mandy's lecture, and I hoped to keep it that way.

"I don't know how busy you are, but I was wondering if you might want to do something tonight," he offered coyly.

It was adorable to me how there was just a tiny fraction of shyness laced into his demeanor. I liked being able to tell that he hadn't "gotten around." It added to how much I liked him. Everything about Alex seemed so sincere and genuine.

"What do you have in mind?"

He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know... Um, maybe a dinner date?"

I was glad he suggested that since I'd already been planning on inviting him to dinner.

"How 'bout I cook for you this time?" I proposed confidently.

He raised his eyebrows and started to say something else. I knew he was going to say something along the lines of "I don't want to impose. Let me cook for you again."

"I insist," I said in a semi stern voice before he could object. "I want to."

He sighed and a smile played across his lips. He shook his head and caved.

"Alright. You win. I just didn't want to put you to the trouble."

"Actually, I was already planning on it before you walked in," I laughed. "Don't worry about it."

Another knock sounded at the door and Andrea poked her head in, glancing from me to Alex and back to me.

"Kate, you've got a visitor downstairs," she informed me.

The look on her face was perplexing, though, and I remembered the last time she'd come to tell me I had a visitor. It had been Jesse.

A jolt of discomfort shot through my veins at the thought. What if Jesse was downstairs? I wasn't ready for he and Alex to run into each other. But Jesse and I hadn't even talked about getting together again yet. In fact, we'd barely spoken at all on Sunday. He'd been overloaded with work that day.

I decided to go ahead and risk Alex hearing his name.

"Who is it?" I asked Andrea. "I'm not expecting anyone this morning."

She flashed me a concerned look and said a name I'd hoped I would never hear again as long as I lived.

"It's Eric, Kate."

Then she quickly retreated back to her desk, leaving me sitting there, confused and unsure of what I should do next.

I should've known who it was immediately by the look on Andrea's face. Eric had left quite an impression on Satisfaction the last time he'd been in the office. What could he possibly want now?

Alex looked equally confused, a frown darkening the usually vibrant green of his eyes.

"Is everything okay, Kate?" he asked and his voice was etched with concern, having noticed the change in my demeanor.

I shook my head and shrugged. "I don't know what the hell's going on."

Then he asked the dreaded question.

"Who's Eric?"

I groaned and chugged the last of the coffee in my thermos before getting up to head downstairs.

"My ex-boyfriend." The words left a bitter taste in my mouth. "He's supposed to be gallivanting through Vegas with his latest stripper. I don't know what he's doing here."

With that said, I flung my office door open so hard the frames rattled again, and I started on my way to the elevator.

Alex quickly followed behind and jogged up alongside me. "Kate, stop for a second."

He grabbed my shoulders gently and studied my eyes for a few seconds before continuing.

"Let me go with you."