I gestured towards the bread basket at the center of the table.

“Better steer clear of that, chubby,” I said, giggling and reaching for it. I pulled it just out of his reach. “We wouldn’t want your love handles keeping you from getting in the car.”

“You finished?”

I let go of the basket and smiled at him. “For now, yeah, I think so.”

Dyson winked at me and looked up, towards the other side of the restaurant. A second later, he raised the arm that was draped over the back of his chair, gesturing for someone to approach. I looked away and picked up the menu. Opening it, I began to scan some of the choices, when I heard him speak once again.

“How are you?” he said.

Before I glanced up from the menu, I heard the response.

“Excellent, sir, how are you and your lovely companion doing this evening?”

Just then, I drew my eyes upward and saw him. A tall, slender man, easily more than six feet, stood next to the table. In his hand, he held a basket filled with at least one hundred long-stemmed roses. By then, the subtle fragrance of the flowers made their way to my nose. Realizing what was happening, I glanced towards Dyson.

His focus never wavered from the man.

“How much?” he asked, leaning back and sliding his hand into his pocket. A split second later, Dyson produced a big stack of bills.

The man’s eyes widened at the sight of the money. He glanced towards me for an instant, before returning his attention to Dyson.

“Well, sir,” he said, gesturing in my direction. “Can we put a price on a beauty like hers?”

I rolled my eyes at his cheesiness.

Dyson chuckled. “You’re good, man. That’s not bad. Seriously though, how much?”

The man straightened his posture a bit. “Five dollars per flower.”

I glanced at Dyson once again. As I watched him, he leaned away from the man a bit and began to point at the basket.

“Whatdya got there? A hundred?”

The man cleared his throat and repositioned the basket in his hand.

“Sir, I… I-I’m not sure exactly how many flowers there are.”

Dyson raised his thumb to his mouth and gave it a quick lick. Soon after, he reached for the bills in his hand and began to fold them back, one after another.

“I’ll give you five hundred bucks for all of them. Sound good?”

I leaned forward, pressing my palms flat against the table. “Dyson! Are you crazy?”

The flower man, sensing he had an easy mark, turned his back to me and addressed Dyson directly.

“Excellent decision, sir. Absolutely!”

The man then began to remove a handful of roses when Dyson spoke up once again.

“No, no,” he said, causing the man to freeze in place. “For five hundred, I get the basket too.”

An awkward cross between a giggle and a chuckle sputtered from the man’s lips.

“Yes, of course sir. Please forgive me.”

Dyson waved him off. “Don’t mention it.”

In less than a minute, the two men completed their transaction. I leaned back in the chair, shaking my head in disbelief.

“Why?” I began, pointing at the absurd number of flowers on the table. “Why would you buy all of those flowers?”

Dyson leaned back in his chair as well. He nodded towards the roses and said, “Well, I guess this is a date after all, isn’t it?”

Smiling, I just shook my head.

DYSON

Ava shook her head and reached for the flower basket. After removing one of the roses from it, she brought it to her nose, closed her eyes and inhaled.

“Well?” I began, gesturing towards the basket. “Does this qualify me as date material now?”

Ava lowered the flower away from her face and shifted her jaw. “You’re totally ridiculous. You realize that, don’t you?”

“Hey, if I knew how much you liked it, I would’ve bought you flowers a long time ago.”

With that, Ava placed the flower back on top of the stack. Afterward, she turned her focus on me again. I looked at her. It was nice to see her in a place like this. It’s where a woman like her belonged. Not only was she beautiful, but tough, and brave.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.

I shrugged. “No reason. Just trying to imagine you naked and covered in rose petals.”

Ava’s skin flushed. She looked away from me. “Dyson.”

“Ava.”

After another second or two, she looked at me again. “I think we need to change the subject.”

“Well, for the record, I disagree. I think the subject of you being naked is an awesome one.”

She placed her palms flat on the table and pretended to be upset.

“Can you please be serious? For just one second?”

I shrugged and leaned back in my chair. “I’m dead serious. I can’t wait to get you naked.”

She groaned and waved me off.

After making her suffer for a few seconds longer, I leaned forward and winked at her. “We’ll, um, discuss that later.”

“Thank you,” she deadpanned.

Not long after, the waiter came by and delivered the cocktails we’d ordered. After he walked away, I raised my glass.

“To Gene.”

Ava frowned at me. “Why would you be toasting that asshole?”

“It’s simple really. He’s the one that brought us together. Cheers.”

Before she raised her glass to meet mine, Ava stifled a swallow and tugged a strand of hair behind her ear.

This was going well.

After we drank, I decided to change subjects a bit.

“So, leaving the nonsense with Gene aside for a second,” I began. “Are you feeling better about being on the road with the team now?”

Ava placed her drink down on the table and then looked at me.

“Yes, I’ll admit it was a rough beginning for me. You know, being away from home, my friends, Simon. But I, I think… No, I know I’m going to miss it when it’s all over.”

“Even Anastasia and Svetlana?” I said, smiling at her.

Ava’s lips curled upward. She took another sip of her drink, but didn’t respond. While she did, I drank as well. Afterward, I placed it back on the table and wiped the moisture from the condensation off my hands.

“I wanted to say that, in all seriousness, we think you’re doing a great job for the team. I mean—I won’t lie—you’re way better looking than Dr. Luca.”

Ava giggled at me. “Gee, thanks. I’m glad to know that I’m better looking than a middle-aged, Italian doctor.”

I pointed my finger at her. “Don’t underestimate Dr. Luca. He’s smooth around the ladies.”

“That’s… more information than I needed, Dyson.”

I chuckled a bit. Afterward, I leaned forward, making sure she knew I was serious. Ava looked away from me. While her attention was elsewhere, I reached across the table towards her hand. Before she could react, I wrapped my fingers around hers.

Startled, Ava looked at me.

I stared at her for a moment and then lifted her hand from the table. I brought it towards me, raising it in the direction of my lips. My eyes never left hers, and she followed the line of my hand. I was within an inch of pressing my lips against it when a voice distracted me.

“Dyson!”

I released Ava’s hand from mine and turned in the direction of it. Approaching me was my team manager, Darren.

Talk about killing the mood.

Completely oblivious, he walked right up to the table. I leaned back and exhaled, looking up at him in disgust. Before I could speak, he glanced first at the oversized basket full of roses and then at Ava.

“Ava, nice to see you,” he said, smiling at her.

I had no time for any of this. I looked up at Darren. “What do you want?”

“Well,” he began, reaching around the back of his head and scratching his neck. “I was on my way out after eating and saw you sitting here. We need to talk about the set up first thing in the morning.”

I shook my head. I couldn’t believe he was this dense.

“Yeah, okay, that’s fine.”