Looking forward to seeing Phoenix, I discreetly leave my desk and ride the elevator down. Safely in the brand-new all-white Range Rover I traded for the BMW Phoenix got for me, I take back roads and creep to the Japanese Steakhouse.

The hostess tells me Phoenix is waiting for me. She leads me to a private room. Behind the paper-thin walls painted with cherry blossoms, his broad-shoulder silhouette looks inviting. Seated at the hibachi table, he leans forward reaching for his drink. Sake, maybe? Wide shoulders, strong arms, manly stature. Just seeing him sends signals everywhere. My body comes alive, buzzing with anticipation.

"Hey, You!" I greet him with a telling smile as he stands to welcome me.

He leads my chin to his face, kissing me as if it's been months when it's only been hours. "Missed you, babe." He bites his bottom lip.

Wish I could bite that lip.

He stands there staring. "Hungry?" he asks with a sly smirk, one hand in the pocket of his charcoal grey suit pants.

I'm hungry, alright. Wonder if he knows how wet he just made me? Well, sit me in a puddle, why don't you?

I take his hand and sit next to him.

"Think you know what I like?" I ask casually.

"I like to think I know you pretty well by now," he brags as he caresses my left thigh.

Sparks fly. I gulp.

Why is this man so irresistible? Is it his perfectly trimmed goatee? His clean, fresh-out-the-shower scent? That crisp tailored suit showcasing his best features? Is it how his eyes light up when he sees me? I swear he has his own soundtrack whenever he enters a room. At least in my mind he does. He's effortless, masculine perfection. Phew.

"Know what you want?" He looks into me as if he's seeing me. Really seeing me for who I am.

Yes, I know what I want. You.

"Um. Sure." I look over the menu.

The chef begins setting up his cooking utensils, knives, sauces and oils. "Hello." He stops for a moment and looks up. "Beautiful couple!"

That makes me smile. "Thank you."

"You two look good together. I'm Jin. I'll be your Hibachi chef, today. Ready to order?" He signals for the waitress to come.

"I think we are," Phoenix replies. Glancing at me he tells me, "You go first, babe."

I give the menu a once over. "I'll keep it simple. I'll have the shrimp and chicken hibachi meal." I

Phoenix holds two fingers up. "Make that two."

"Did I just order for you?"

Chef Jin gives me one glance and chuckles to himself.

"Hmm huh. Something wrong with that?" Phoenix asks, noticing my surprise.

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

Phoenix has never just went along with what I decided. I'm used to him being so defined and exacting, knowing what he wants and not veering from it. But he's changing. He's different now, somehow. Is he more comfortable with me? Is he trusting my judgement more?

Or maybe it's nothing. Maybe the man's just hungry and what you ordered sounded good.

Oh. Could be that too.

I shrug it off.

But I do like it. The comfortable feel of it. Like an old, worn in, favorite pair of jeans that fit right in all the right places. I'll try it on for size. It feels too good not to.

A loud sizzle interrupts my train of thought as Chef Jin squeezes sesame oil onto the flat black surface in front of us. He quickly breaks two eggs, beats them with his metal spatula, then throws in white rice along with sliced garlic, peas and carrots and tosses the entire mix with his spatula. He continues rapidly to turn it over, dousing it with soy sauce and browning the rice and vegetables.

A waitress brings out two bowls of miso soup with large soup spoons.

Chef Jin scoops half the fried rice onto my plate and half onto Phoenix's. "Oh wait." He holds up a finger smiling. "Forgot the onion." He throws an onion in the air and slices it into three thick slices before it falls to the grill. He squeezes oil onto the onion stack and lights a tall blue flame.

"Whoa!" I cover my mouth and back up a little.

Phoenix laughs. "It's cool, babe."

"I know. Just caught me off guard." I point to Chef Jin, smiling. "You're good!"

"I like to chop. You like to chop?" Chef Jin asks playfully, smiling behind kind eyes. The flame eventually turns orange then dies out leaving a sautéed onion. He takes a knife and cuts the onion into smaller pieces then scoops a bit onto the fried rice sitting on our plates. "Try it now."

Phoenix and I take our chop sticks and taste the fried rice. I've never tasted fried rice this good. Chef Jin gets the thumbs up before I dive in for another mouthful.

He brings out chicken breast and shrimp next, the grill sizzles as he sears the meat.

Phoenix laughs out loud. "Ahh, Ms. Davenport."

I look to my left puzzled. "Huh?"

"Do you remember that day," he laughs again like he's tickled pink. "That morning, early morning hours, even before joggers come out? I stepped outside my house and found your car halfway in the air?"

Immediately my face grows hot. I glance at Chef Jin to see if he's heard.

He heard. I can tell by the amused expression on his face as he pretends he's not ear hustling. Chef Jin tosses some mushrooms, cut carrots, onions and zucchini with the cooked shrimp and chicken. While it sears, he starts whipping up a sauce. Before turning to Phoenix, I watch him pour soy sauce, minced garlic and sesame seeds in a clear glass bowl.

Please let that question be the end of it!

Phoenix is still amused with himself.

"OK. So Yes, I remember that day." I bite down. My voice comes out higher than I intend.

He clears his throat and leans over to pick up something from under his chair. He pulls a small pink gift bag up and sits it on the table.

"What's this?" I ask, now clearly confused.

"I want to make sure you remember how hard we fought to be together." He bites his lip to keep from laughing at me.

Smiling, I look to the ceiling, wondering what could possibly be in that bag that pertains to that night. A night so horrifying, the embarrassment alone is enough to kill me. I never want to relive it again.

"I don't know what you were thinking!" He slaps the table, smiling. "My God, woman! But that night you showed me something. That a woman could want to be with you so bad that she gets caught spying on you and ends up accidently driving her car onto a boulder at least five feet in the air. And I could be crazy enough to stay with her afterward." He uses his hand to demonstrate the motion of my car, except his rendition has my car almost vertical. He gets a little louder.

I look around the room to see if anyone else can hear us. I swear, smoke is rising off my cheeks I'm so embarrassed. I want to talk, to interrupt him and change the subject, but I can't find my words. "I-I."

"The situation was so bad, you couldn't get yourself down, none of my neighbors were even awake to help you get the car down. Luckily, I found you—" he leans into my ear, "even as you were spying on me— I saved you!"

I cover my eyes with my hand. I haven't spoken about that night since it happened. Fresh wounds. Got fresh wounds here.

Chef Jin laughs to my horror, as he pours sauce over the cooked meat and veggie mix.

Phoenix pulls my hand from my face and nudges the gift bag closer. "Here. Open it."

I contemplate running to the restroom or just leaving the restaurant altogether. Reluctantly, I reach for the bag, with a tight, closed-mouth smile. I pull out a pink box.

The look on Phoenix's face makes me hesitate. "Is this a prank gift?" I ask warily.

He pretends to lock his mouth and throw away the key.

Chef Jin takes an oversized chef's spatula and scoops half of the mix into my plate and half onto Phoenix's. He smiles and bows. "This was fun. Enjoy," he tells us before leaving.

"Thank you, Chef!" I reply, relieved to have an audience of one.

"Thank you," Phoenix echoes.

Chef Jin leaves the room and slides the door shut.

I open the box to find a little boulder that looks almost identical to the one I ran over and got stuck on months earlier. "Uh, what is this?" I ask dumbfounded.

"Flip it over."

I turn it over to find a golden key card embedded into the bottom of the boulder.

"You want a piece of this?" he waves his hand up and down over his body. "You got it!" He laughs at his own joke. "This is executive elevator key you'll need to come visit me on my floor. Now you don't need me to ride up to where the big boys play."

I raise my eyebrows, pleasantly surprised and laugh. "Ohh."

"I've already cleared your badge for access. With this key, you can stop by any time. If you want privacy once you're there, I've got that too. You know I can instantly flip the privacy on the glass walls in my office. From clear to fog." He snaps his fingers. "Like that. No one will be able to see us." He flashes a mischievous grin.

I hold up the golden key card. "A fuck pass?" I nod agreeable. "So, let me get this straight. You want to be with me so bad, you're willing to do it on company time?" I ask with an I'm-not-the-only-one look.

"Ah, you're right!" Phoenix laughs and leans in for a quick kiss. "Guess I got it bad too."

"Hmm huh!" I taunt.

Phoenix takes a sip of his saki, then picks up a shrimp with his chop sticks.

Realizing we're hungry, we both dive in. Chef Jin outdid himself; the shrimp and chicken stir fry boasts bold, spicy flavor and is a perfect complement to the flavorful vegetable fried rice. Lunch is nothing short of amazing.

As we wrap up lunch, I get up from the Habachi table. And like the gentleman he is, Phoenix grabs my black princess-silhouette peacoat and waits for me to slip my arms in.

"Thank you." I smirk. I close the oversized buttons and tie the wrap around my waist before snagging my black Saint Laurent handbag, a bag I treasure since I didn't have to go thrift-store hunting for it. Thrift stores are seeing me less and less these days.

Phoenix slides into his Dior suit jacket like a sexy male model, all day long. Staring at him as he tucks his phone into his suit pocket, one word comes to mind.

Snack.

I bite my lips in anticipation. "So, what's up with tonight?" I ask, trying to hide my smirk.

"Don't know if you remember, but today is The Talk?"

"The Talk?" I ask. My brow furrows.

"Yeah, with Nora's people?" He catches the look on my face and clears his throat. "She wants me to help her break the news to them."

Somebody just let all the helium out of my balloons.

"I'm sure I told you. I've known her parents since we were kids."

My head drops, slightly. "You . . . never mentioned that."

He nods. "Well. . ."

"But honestly, do you really have to go with her? This something she can handle on her own, right? She's a big girl. I mean you guys aren't even together anymore. So?" I ask, kind of peeved at this point.

"So, I don't leave friends hanging. She needs me to be there, so I'll be there for her. You promised to work with me, remember? Let's not make this a thing."

I stare at him blankly.

He looks uncomfortable as he pulls his collar. "It's part of the whole amicable divorce thing. You know, give her what she needs so the break is smooth. I've seen it get ugly with other people, hell, with my own parents. I don't want that for myself."

"Oh. Sure." My eyes wander around the room, searching for anything to focus on so he doesn't see my disappointment.

He steps closer, lifts my chin and gives me the softest, most sensual kiss.

My lips throb after he pulls away.

"I'll see you after," he reassures me.

I take a deep breath and concede. "You're right. It's nothing." I swallow the words. "Go ahead, help her out. It's fine." A vacant smile rents space on my face. I head for the door.

Phoenix waits a few minutes, which is our usual custom, so that we're not seen in public together. On my way to the car, I spot Leon sitting in the all-black Range Rover waiting on Phoenix.

He salutes me.

I nod back. Phoenix must not be going back to the office. Leon only drives when he has meetings to travel to. Guess I'll be flying solo for the rest of the day.

I get in my Range Rover and peel out of the parking lot, heated and I can barely register why. He said he'd see me after, but it's eating at me. I guess I just really hate the idea of him with her—even on divorce terms.

Anything can happen. I've seen it. Couples have decided to remarry in the middle of a divorce or worse, finalize the divorce, then decide to get back to together. For all I know he could change his mind. I'm on the outside looking in. A crowded, uninvited third party not privy to anything unless Phoenix tells me.

I stop at the light, thudding the steering wheel impatiently as I wait.

It's annoying as hell that he's spending the whole evening with them. And this is such a big deal her parents have to fly? All the way from New York? Just for this dinner? And honestly, shy has she taken so long to tell them? They've been apart for years, according to Phoenix.

He did say her folks were super religious. Maybe that's why?

The light turns green. My tires screech as I step on the gas and go.

Baby steps, he says. One thing at a time, he says. She's been so supportive, he says.

"Supportive my ass!"

If he says it, you've got to trust him until he shows you otherwise.

He's shown me otherwise alright.

That was before. Things are different now. He's doing this to keep things nice and easy. So. Take. It. Easy.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

"I still don't like it." A sigh escapes me as I turn on the radio, blasting Post Malone's "Circles." The calming, poppy beat softens my mood.

Clear things up with your folks, but damn, can I have my man to myself?

I pull into Prescott Realty's parking structure, then I park, sit and breathe.

Get your head together.

Listening to the music helps clear my mind. I jump out and head back to the building.

Work. That'll keep my mind of him and his goddamn dinner.