Nolan's Diner was a crowded little spot on the corner of Lexington and 75th Street, about a mile and a half north of Chrysler. Haley and I didn't live very far from the restaurant, but I decided against walking, seeing as I was still so unfamiliar with the area and I also didn't want to greet my boss smelling like I'd just come from the gym. It was mid-June and the heat index was already climbing to a stifling level, even at 8:25am, and I was wearing a charcoal blazer.

A refreshing wave of air conditioning blasted me as I entered Nolan's. I quickly cooled off and by the time I spotted Jesse across the diner at a booth beside a window, I was no longer regretting my jacket choice. It was almost too cold inside. Although, I wasn't one-hundred-percent sure if my goosebumps were a product of the temperature or the lust-inducing man I was walking towards.

"Good morning," Jesse smiled brightly at me, standing up to greet me with a firm handshake – one that sent a zip of electricity up my forearm, and I wondered if he felt it, too.

"Morning," I said in a forced cheerful voice and slid into the seat across from him, fighting the urge to yawn.

I still wasn't totally awake, barely having had any coffee before I'd raced out the door to catch a cab. I felt sluggish, thinking maybe I hadn't gotten enough restful sleep due to my scandalous dreams.

A blush crept up my neck at the thought and our eyes happened to meet at the same time, making me feel exposed, like he could read my mind. Something about the glimmer of amusement in his sapphire orbs told me he could, and that scared the crap out of me.

"I hope you don't mind," Jesse started, gesturing to the mug in front of me. "I went ahead and ordered a coffee for you. I didn't want to be the only one with coffee when you got here."

I smiled at his curtesy and stirred in some creamer. "I don't mind at all. Thank you."

I studied his relaxed movements as he reached beside himself into his computer bag and pulled out a notepad. He seemed so at ease, so comfortable tormenting me with those sparkling blue eyes, and the damn lump in my throat seemed to be growing with every second that passed between us.

A really sweet older waitress swung by to take our breakfast orders, and Jesse, being a gentleman, let me order first. And I didn't miss it when he mentioned to the lady that it would be one check.

"You don't have to-"

He waved my words away with a smile. "Don't worry about it. I want to."

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help smiling back. "Well, thank you."

I knew he was going to write it off to the company on his corporate card, but it was still the thought that counted. I appreciated that he was old fashioned when it came to a meal with a woman. I'd never minded splitting the ticket when Brad and I had gone out, but it was refreshing to see a man who wanted to buy your food simply out of kindness.

"I swung by the office a little while ago to pick up a few things and I took the liberty of glancing at your work on the proposal yesterday," Jesse began our meeting, sipping the steaming coffee he'd ordered before my arrival. "You're very organized, by the way. I like that. But I wanted to see what you thought of the draft contract so far and if you had any ideas or suggestions to make the deal better for Advantage."

The fact that Jesse was asking my opinion on Integrity's proposal told me he really valued what I had to say. None of my previous employers had ever been interested in my ideas when I'd brought them to them, and they'd definitely never bothered to ask if I had anything to add. Jesse knew I hadn't finished reading through the paperwork yet and he was already asking my opinion anyway. That in itself meant quite a bit to me as an employee. It meant he was taking me seriously, and that was really important to me.

"I do, actually." I grinned at the opportunity to discuss it with him. "You know I haven't looked at every provision, so I may have more to talk with you about once I'm finished, but there are a couple things that stand out to me in sections one and three."

Jesse jotted down the date and what our meeting was in regards to on his notepad in messy cursive and looked up at me through long black lashes with an eager expression, ready to make notes based on my thoughts.

"First, I noticed the long-term vision in Integrity's proposal is slanted more in their favor," I began, using hand movements to further make my points. "I'm sure Advantage has made our expectations for the partnership known prior to Integrity's proposal, but the sample contracts they sent over for our attorneys to review appear to throw the majority of responsibility on us while they enjoy more of the financial profits off our clients."

Jesse nodded, squinting frequently as I spoke, which told me he was paying close attention and digesting my every word in a thoughtful way.

"I understand what you're saying, Vanessa, and you make a good point. However, we are the ones asking them for help here. We don't get to be as picky about provisions as we'd like. We are getting close to the point of not having sufficient capital to run the company anymore – our numbers have plummeted that far – and we're really not at liberty to be choosy when it comes to another corporation helping us out."

He looked regretful, like he hated each word as they left his mouth. I felt bad for him. I knew he'd worked really hard to build Advantage Republic from the ground up, and he wanted to provide the best work environment for all his employees. It was depressing to see him almost giving up and settling for a deal that wasn't the best option for his business.

"I get where you're coming from. I do. But you want Advantage to make a full recovery and be a force to be reckoned with in the future, right?" I countered with an arched brow.

Jesse frowned. Not in a bad way, but in more of a confused state. He nodded.

"Of course."

"Then you should be considering more options, Jesse." I tried to highlight my argument by calling him by his first name. It was more personal. "If I were you, I'd be looking for a partnership that benefitted me more than my partner, because the whole reason for this is to put Advantage back on top. So why would you be agreeing to a deal that puts Integrity's needs and wants before ours in literally every capacity? Riddle me that one, Reese."

I was hot. Hot as in fuming. It was only my second day at Jesse's company, but I'd already formed friendships and Advantage had become important to me. Besides that, my job was important to me. I didn't want to see Integrity come in and change everything up and then start letting our people go. And if Jesse was going to knowingly agree to that kind of bullshit, then he wasn't the man I thought he was.

Then again, affluent men...

"I... Wow," Jesse half smiled and half frowned. I wasn't sure what to make of that look. "I don't think anyone's ever challenged me on a business proposal the way you just did. I'm impressed."

"Clearly, Erica hasn't had time to read through all that nonsense, or I'm sure she would have had a thing or twelve to say, too."

Erica didn't seem like the type to settle. She walked with all the confidence in the city encompassing her. She was a determined businesswoman, and I hoped I could be just like her someday.

Jesse chuckled, a sweet, soothing rumble, and agreed. "Yeah. You're right. If she doesn't like something about it, she'll demand a change."

I was slightly surprised that he didn't seem agitated at the way I'd addressed him. That would probably piss off anyone else.

"Well, she and I have that in common," I said pointedly. "Anyway... moving on. The next thing I noticed is that Integrity has an exit strategy and it doesn't look like Advantage does."

Jesse continued scribbling down notes, nodding off and on. "Go on..."

"Have you even read this proposal?" I shook my head in disbelief. "They have it all laid out where they'll cut ties and tell us to go fuck ourselves if they feel like they're not making a big enough profit off our clients. And my personal favorite part? The provision that says Integrity gets to take full ownership of all real and intellectual property upon the partnership's dissolve. That's a real winner you've got there."

I paused my passionate spiel when the waitress returned with our breakfast. Jesse had ordered an omelet with bacon and a host of veggies. I'd opted for something less messy – a breakfast burrito.

"I really appreciate your input, Vanessa," Jesse told me as he cut into his breakfast. "It's not often I ask anyone who isn't a board member or some form of higher up for an opinion, but I felt like you would have some great ideas to add."

"I do."

My statement was bold and confident. I knew I'd made good points. I only hoped Jesse would take the information I'd given him and use it to make positive changes to the Integrity deal.

"Yes. You're right," he agreed, causing an involuntary redness to reach the surface of my cheeks. "I'm impressed."

I adjusted my position in my seat, rolling my shoulders a couple times to break up the tension in my back. Doing so, I was reminded of my wild sex dreams – likely the culprit for my achy muscles. I'd been sleeping in a bizarre position.

"Then please use your power to argue a better deal before you agree to anything."

Jesse nodded, taking a bite of his food. "That's what the L.A. meeting is for. We're going to sit down with their board and discuss every concern and idea and whatever else that we have. And from there, we're going to try to come to an agreement on something better that benefits us more than it does them. But the fact remains that we are asking for their help, so it's tough to be a beggar and a chooser at the same time."

I completely understood his point, and maybe I was still too green in the business world, but I refused to believe that the two companies couldn't agree on something that would be more beneficial to Advantage. Integrity didn't have much to lose. They were already a massive name globally. They couldn't possibly have anything huge riding on working with us. But the thought crossed my mind that there may also be things I didn't know. I was only an executive assistant after all. I wasn't privy to the fancy details that board members discussed every day.

"Let's talk about something besides work," Jesse suggested with a devious glint in his eyes.

My pulse quickly sputtered out of control, but I tried to seem unaffected.

"Like what?"

A smirk slinked its way across his handsome face as he spoke. "Like the fact that we've met before."

I almost choked on a bite of my burrito. This couldn't be happening. Not here. Not in public, of all places! I knew Jesse was going to quiz me about our encounter three years ago at some point, but I wasn't expecting it to be so fucking soon. I wasn't prepared for this. What the hell should I even say to him?

"What?" I opted to feign stupid, pretending like I hadn't heard him clearly or I didn't know what he was talking about, but he knew I was faking it.

To my relief, however, he decided to drop the subject. Maybe he could tell I wasn't comfortable discussing it.

Jesse shook his head. "I'm going to get over to that firm before they get too busy over there. I'll see you at the office later, alright?"

I was more than happy to agree to that. "Yeah. Totally."

What an intelligent response, Vanessa.

I blew out a heavy sigh of relief once Jesse was out of earshot. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him thank the waitress and pay her, apparently giving her a generous tip, judging by the way her eyes lit up. Watching it made me smile, too.

I finished up my breakfast and gathered my wits before heading to the office, calling Haley on the cab ride over. Initially, I'd planned to tell her about the unsettling ending to Jesse's and my conversation, but she was too busy cackling when she answered my call.

I frowned at my phone, holding it out from my ear for a few seconds. I knew the cab driver could hear her laughing and I was getting a kick out of watching his confused expression in the rearview mirror.

"Good Lord. What is going on?" I finally asked.

"Vanessa, I have the best story for you!" Haley burst into laughter once more.

In between epic waves of giggling, she explained to me that a nurse friend of hers at C.U.M.C. had told her that a man complaining of excruciating stomach pains had been brought to the emergency room earlier. Apparently, he'd said his pain felt like knives. After a hoard of tests were done on the patient, he was diagnosed with a hilarious case of acute flatulence...

"You're telling me this dude had gas pain from hell?" I laughed, and the taxi driver looked at me like 'what the fuck?'

"Yes!"

I think I've heard it all now...

"What was it that you were calling about?" Haley finally came to her senses.

"Oh, nothing. We'll talk when I get home tonight," I smiled. "You actually made me feel a lot better already."