After our second – or was it third? – glasses of Chateau Gazin Pomerol, I was vividly telling Jesse all two reasons why the flavor out of a two-hundred-twenty-dollar bottle was better than the flavor from any boxed wine I'd ever consumed. What those two reasons were, I'd forgotten within ten seconds of passionately explaining them to both him and the waitress, who, thankfully, had a good sense of humor.

We were pretty far gone, but we weren't outright drunk at the same time, which still made everything very enjoyable – and we were able to keep the peace so that patrons nearby didn't get too frustrated with our somewhat immature display of a giggly good time.

The food was absolutely to die for! We spent three hours sharing each dish, ordering practically every type of seafood they had on the menu. That was another detail I hadn't known Jesse knew about me – I was obsessed with nearly every type of seafood.

We split courses of champagne poached oysters, prawns, seared scallops, octopus, and Kaluga caviar, and still managed to eat about half of the vegetable sides as well. Maybe the alcohol was influencing our appetites, but we were having a wonderful time trying different foods together; and despite my loathing of champagne, I loved the flavor it had added to the oysters.

I had no doubt the chef was dancing around with joy at the thought of how egregious our tab would be, but we didn't seem to care. We were having too much fun talking and laughing and finishing off that expensive bottle. It wasn't until the waitress asked if we were ready for dessert that we had to finally stop ourselves. Ignoring our better judgment, we went ahead and ordered dessert to go, though, and the more I thought about it on the drive back to the hotel, the more I loved the idea of eating chocolate mousse cheesecake in bed with Jesse. At least, that's what I hoped would happen.

Our first "official" date had been amazing – so much more than I'd expected or could've asked for. Jesse had been attentive and seemed to care about every single word that came out of my mouth – even the wine-influenced stupid ones. He'd made me laugh practically nonstop, and I'd learned so much more about him over the course of the evening.

He'd talked about some of his favorite clients he'd worked with and what he loved about the projects they'd collaborated on. He told me about how he'd catered Erica's wedding with his family's restaurant business, and how he was so excited to be one of the sponsors of an upcoming fundraising dinner that would give away luxury vacations, courtesy of one of Erica's friend's company, in exchange for donations to help fund children's cancer research at St. Jude in Memphis and the Boston Children's Hospital. That event was right around the corner, set for the Saturday after we returned from Los Angeles.

"So I've been thinking about asking you something all night," Jesse proclaimed as we entered his hotel room.

He turned around to face me with a handsome smile and pulled me into his arms, kissing my forehead and looking down at me with twinkling eyes.

"Ask away." I tried to bat my eyelashes flirtatiously, but probably ended up looking like I had a piece of lint stuck in my eye. To his credit, Jesse didn't jump at the chance to tease me over it.

"That fundraiser we were talking about..." he said thoughtfully, gazing away out the French doors that lead to his balcony. "I was wondering if you'd be my date."

His eyes traveled back to mine to find a surprised look on my face. It wasn't that I didn't want to be his date, cause holy shit, of course I wanted to! But I was confused why he would want me to when he and I both knew that several of his business associates and our coworkers would be in attendance and see us together. Wasn't the whole point right now to keep our obscure relationship a secret, especially from the people we worked with?

"Was that the wrong question to ask?" he cringed inwardly and took a step back, his hands leaving my waist and a chill of the air replacing where they'd held me.

I shook my head vigorously. "No. No. Of course not. I just... I thought we weren't supposed to make our relationship publicly known this early on."

I remembered our conversation about my previously bad reputation at work in Dallas and how I told him that I was scared of the same thing happening in New York. Part of me wished I hadn't had that talk with him, but I knew it had been for the best. I just hated that it limited our relationship, too. I wanted it both ways, but I couldn't have it both ways.

Jesse glanced at the carpet and nodded, looking like he felt a bit guilty. "Yeah. You're right. I don't know what I was thinking."

He stepped passed me into the bathroom and started undoing his tie in the mirror. I followed him into the smaller room and stood behind him to the side, watching him fiddle with the garment, trying to loosen the stubborn knot.

"You're only making it worse," I giggled when he somehow managed to get his finger stuck in the messy knot. "Here. Let me do it."

Jesse groaned and moved back from the mirror, allowing me space to stand between him and the counter. He held his head back a little bit, though that wasn't really giving me any help in terms of undoing the mess he'd made.

"Don't you do this like every day?" I cocked a teasing brow, thinking of all the times I'd seen him wearing a perfectly knotted tie.

He blew out a heavy breath. "Sorry. My mind is just elsewhere. It usually just slides right off."

I smiled, but didn't respond, too focused on what I was doing. After a few difficult attempts, the tie gave up the fight and I slowly slid the item out from his collar, laying it down with a neat fold on the granite.

He tilted his head back down to meet my eyes again and immediately kissed me. It wasn't any sweet, gentle kiss either. It was hot and heavy and very commanding. My senses kicked into overload and I kissed him back with just as much enthusiasm, initiating the first lip bite and smiling against his mouth when it took him by surprise.

Jesse pressed me back against the counter, placing his palms on the edge on either side of my body as he continued to ravage my lips. I moaned into his kiss as I slid my hands up his arms, lingering over every muscle until I reached his shoulders, gripping onto them and urging a groan from the back of his throat.

The thought crossed my mind that we should stop – that this wasn't the right time for the first time – but then I wondered if that was the case, when would be the right time? What was I waiting so diligently for? Was I scared of the repercussions that could follow having sex with Jesse? Was I apprehensive because he was my boss? What was it? I was trying desperately to put my finger on it, but once I felt him slide a hand beneath my dress, I could no longer think about anything other than wanting, needing him to touch me, to taste me, to drive me absolutely wild with desire.

"Jesse!" I gasped sharply when I felt him slide two fingers inside me, gently massaging back and forth, but just fast enough to get me panting.

I threw my head back in bliss, giving him better access to my neck, and spreading my thighs wider while he touched me. Jesse's lips trailing hot, demanding kisses over my jaw and down my neck to my chest were driving me up the wall with need. I didn't want to wait any longer. I wanted him, all of him, right that second.

"Jesse, please," I begged, barely able to choke out words that made sense when I felt the pad of his thumb rubbing against my clit – a sensation I hadn't experienced from a man in over three fucking years, and it felt a billion times better than I'd ever remembered.

My hands squeezed his tense shoulders in attempts to pull him in closer. He stepped closer, standing between my legs, and paused his kisses just long enough to slip the top of my dress down over my breasts. A chorus of satisfactory curses left my mouth at the feeling of his tongue flicking over my nipples. I felt him smile against my skin and couldn't help grinning, too. Everything he was doing felt so wonderful, I really couldn't find words to describe the euphoric state I was happily being swallowed up into. I didn't want him to stop, ever.

"You are, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on, Vanessa," Jesse mumbled the compliment against my skin, placing one more kiss on my chest, in the space right between my breasts, before bringing his head back up to meet my love struck gaze.

I couldn't get over how special he made me feel, like I was the only girl in his world – Rihanna pun intended. Still, I wasn't above giving him a jokingly hard time.

"And how many times have you used that line, Mr. Reese?" I grinned, linking my arms behind his neck as he hoisted me up and carried me into the bedroom.

He knew I was screwing with him, but he gave a fake pout for a moment before setting me back down on my feet near the bed.

"Is that any way to talk to your boss, Miss Hamilton?" he chuckled.

I rolled my eyes while he stepped behind me, sliding my mess of curls over my left shoulder while he kissed the right side of my neck and slowly dragged the zipper of my dress down until the whole garment glided right down off of my body into a pool of blue fabric on the floor. I was left standing next to him completely naked and my nipples hardened with the chill of the air. I turned in his arms to face him again and went to work unbuttoning his shirt. I wondered if he noticed the slight shake in my hands.

"I mean it, though." His voice was soft and low, an intoxicating rich sound. "You are stunning."

Be still my erratic heart!

An undoubtedly obvious blush saturated my face at his words. I waited for him to undo the buttons on his sleeves before sliding the shirt off of his body. Before my hands could reach his belt, though, Jesse laid me down on the bed and went to turn the lights off before we continued.

The stream of moonlight cascading across the room through the open curtains cast the perfect romantic glow over everything. As he walked back to me, unbuckling his belt and sliding it free from his slacks, I realized that I'd been giving way too much thought to the so-called right time, and that nothing planned could've been more right than the way things were ending up in this moment.

Jesse smiled lovingly down at me as he tossed the last of his clothing to the side and climbed on top of me, the weight of his body over mine giving me a comforting feeling as we adjusted our position to the most comfortable spot.

"I hope you know we don't have to go all the way," Jesse assured me, which told me he was genuinely concerned about how comfortable I was with the whole thing.

I nodded, smiling up at him. "I know. I trust you."

Something changed in his expression and I could tell he was relieved, but he also seemed a bit surprised that I was so quick to tell him I trusted him. It was true, though. Somehow I felt more comfortable with Jesse in a couple weeks of knowing him than I had with Brad in six years of a committed relationship, and that was equally joyous and bizarre to me.

That little voice in the back of my head piped up with the thought that I'd technically known Jesse for over three years, but I didn't think I could really count that time period.

"Are you sure?" he asked with a seductively breathy voice.

I shook my head with a grin. "Just kiss me."