I don’t even spare the restaurant a glance. “Thank you…for taking the time to try to get to know me. And I think maybe for getting me when I’m not sure I even get myself.”

She sucks in a small breath and her eyes go wide over my proclamation. Then she smiles at me, and it is filled with care and understanding. I want to f**king kiss her so bad, my chest aches, but it’s not the time…it’s not the place. I wonder if it ever will be.

“Come on, let’s eat,” I tell her as I open the passenger door and pour myself out of the little seat.

After we’re seated in a booth and have placed our orders, Sutton turns all business on me, which is fine. After reading the binder of information she gave me, I’m actually feeling pretty excited about this project. Mainly because I’ll be working in close proximity to Sutton, which is a schmucky thing to admit, but I’m also excited about the prospect of helping kids who may have suffered some of the same stuff I went through. Just being able to give them an outlet for help is beyond thrilling to me, because I always felt so trapped and helpless while I was growing up.

“Did you finish reading all of the materials?”

“Yup. And while I have no other programs to compare it to, the California program is very impressive. I’m not even sure we’d have to modify it that much, assuming all of the information about addiction is accurate. That’s your expertise, though.”

Sutton nods, her eyes gleaming with excitement. “It’s all accurate, and while we wouldn’t use their material verbatim, we can definitely follow the outline of the program. I’ve got all of the necessary materials we can convert over that have been produced by our crisis center.”

“What do you want my role to be?”

“Well, you are the spokesperson, so most of your work will come on the back end when we start traveling to schools and events, but I’d still love to have your input while I put the program together. As I draft the materials, I could forward them to you for review, and we’ll need you to do some photo shoots for the brochures and pamphlets, videos…that sort of thing.”

“Will you go out to dinner with me tonight?” I ask, the words popping out of my mouth so suddenly, I have no clue where they came from. Clearly my subconscious decided to overtake my sensibility and make itself known.

Sutton’s eyes go round and her lips part in surprise. Fuck…I’m completely surprised myself that I just asked that.

“As in a date?” she asks carefully. “Or to work on this program further?”

“As in a date,” I tell her while looking her levelly in the eye. “Of course, we can talk more about this if you want, but I’m asking you out on a date.”

Sutton’s eyes fall to the table and she fiddles nervously with her fork. She sucks her bottom lip in between her teeth and her eyebrows scrunch with consternation. I wait patiently for her to answer me.

When she looks back up, she doesn’t surprise me at all when she says, “Should we be crossing that line? The one that splits the professional from the personal?”

“I’ve never given much of a f**k about labels and lines, Sutton. I do what I want, and I very much want to see you on a personal level. If you have qualms about crossing a line that’s important to you, I respect that and I won’t try to talk you out of it.”

She glances back down at the table for just a moment, then her eyes come back up and look at me with a hint of mischief. “What if I want you to talk me out of it?”

My lips quirk upward while my heart trips end over end. “Depends. How much convincing do you think you’ll need?”

Sutton brings her index finger up and taps it against her lips while considering my question. “Hmmm. I’m pretty torn up about this. It might take a good effort on your part.”

She’s teasing the f**k out of me and damn if it doesn’t feel good. If she’s expecting me to come back at her with some teasing of my own, she needs a quick lesson in the fact that Alex Crossman usually goes in for the kill pretty quickly.

Standing up from the booth, a quick step puts me over on her side. With no hesitation I bend over and slip my hand around the back of her neck, pulling her up slightly toward me. A tiny gasp of surprise comes out of her mouth but I see her eyes fill with challenge.

Game on.

I angle my head in decisively and bring my mouth to hers. My kiss is confidently persuasive and she opens up to me. I don’t plunder her invitation though, giving her just a moment where our lips touch, move against each other’s in a whisper, then I pull back and release her.

Standing up, I look down at her and say, “Convinced?”

She nods back at me, her fingertips coming up to lightly touch at her lips, and I swear I can almost feel the touch against my own.

Moving back to my seat, I place my napkin back on my lap and ask again, “So will you go out with me tonight?”

She smiles at me. “Yes, I’d love to.”

“Great—” I start to say, but then she cuts me off with a slap of her palm to her forehead.

“Shit, wait. I can’t. I have plans already.”

My hackles immediately rise up high, because I assume it’s a date she has planned. My anger builds quickly but before I can say something, she says, “Unless…you’d want to come with me?”

Blinking at her a few times so I make sure I understand what she’s saying, I ask, “Where would that be?”