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He opened the door and helped Ryleigh on the golf cart. Ryleigh waved bye, and I blew her a kiss as Shameek punched the gas, taking off out the gate and towards his parents’ house.

By the time I was finished going through emails, it was after five, and I had managed to talk myself out of going to Royal Flush at least three times. There was nothing for me to do there. The operations manager had already sent me the numbers from the night before, payroll had been approved, and one of the managers had called to let me know the liquor delivery came without issues. I had hired more people to take some of the weight off me, yet I was still learning how to let them do their job without me micromanaging. I closed my laptop and reached for my phone. Lloyd’s message was still sitting in my text thread unanswered.

Lloyd: I’m starting to think you’re avoiding paying your legal fees.

I had to laugh because he was still stuck on that lunch or dinner date since I signed those damn papers. Every time he would mention it, I found a reason to push it off. Some of my excuses were legitimate. The truth was, I didn’t know how I felt about sitting across from another man at dinner. He could call it friendly all he wanted, but I wasn’t stupid. I knew how things could look. It made me feel guilty. Then, I thought about how Jaharee was constantly pushing the get your life back on me. I mean, if the man wanted a damn steak in exchange for all the shit he has helped me with, that’s the least I could do.

Me: Are you busy tonight?

His response came in less than a minute.

Lloyd: Depends on who’s asking

Me: Never mind.

My phone started ringing immediately.

“You give up entirely too fast. What happened to persistence?”

“I’ll never have persistence for a man. Are you free or not?”

“I can be.”

“It’s a yes or no.”

“I’m free, Kyenna. What time?”

“Does seven-thirty work?”

“Seven-thirty is fine. I can come by and pick you up.”

“No. I’ll meet you.”

“I figured you would say that.”

“So why say it?”

“Courtesy.”

“I’ll see you at seven-thirty.”

I sent him the address of where I wanted to go. It was my favorite place to eat steak. As the time ticked on, I was finding every reason to cancel. Taking a shower and getting dressed had become more of a task than I expected. I finally had to remind myself that I had been dressing myself for years without a man’s approval. This wasn’t a date, it was a business dinner. After finding something appropriate to wear, I grabbed my purse and headed downstairs. Security was waiting outside when I stepped through the door.

“I can drive myself,” I told him.

“Shameek–”

I held my hand up.

“I don’t give a damn what Shameek said.”

I really did that because I didn’t want Shameek to even know I was going out. If he did, then he was going to have a million questions that I didn’t feel like answering.

“Mrs. King, I think it would be safer if I drove you.”

I climbed behind the wheel and pulled away before somebody could find another rule to give me. When I arrived, Lloyd was already there. He stood as I approached the table, dressed down from the suits I was used to seeing him in. It was my first time seeing him outside of lawyer mode.

“You’re on time,” he said, pulling my chair out.