I flittered around the house the next morning, getting ready for my date. What does someone wear on a lunch date? I had never even been on a real date before. I changed my outfit seven times before deciding on a mauve wrap dress with little white flecks patterned all over it. It was casual enough that it could be worn with white wedge sandals. I pulled my long hair up into a tight ponytail high on my head and curled the ends in large waves before applying some light makeup.

I was standing in the mirror looking at myself when I heard the doorbell ring. Jessa was busy playing with some baby dolls on her bed when I walked past her room to look in on her before going downstairs to answer the door.

I pulled the door open and saw Ezra smiling at me from the other side.

"Come on in. Thanks for agreeing to watch her." I said, opening the door wide. "She's upstairs playing with her babies right now."

"Yeah, no problem." He said, eyeing my dress suspiciously.

"She didn't eat much for lunch, so she may get hungry later." I went back to the hall mirror to look at my reflection again. I was getting really nervous about going out. This was the first time I was leaving Jessa with him. "Do not let her have any cookies until she eats something resembling food. She will bat her eyelashes and tell you how much she loves you. She is really good at getting her way. Don't give in." I kept rattling off random things he needed to know about her as I turned and danced in front of the mirror. I looked at my profile to check out how my hips and butt looked in the dress. It wasn't super clingy, but it still flowed over my curves, hitting me in the right spots. It was passable.

"Why are you so dressed up?" He asked me suddenly.

"Huh?" I said distractedly before my brain caught up to what he was asking me. "I'm grabbing lunch with someone."

"Are you going on a date?" I froze. I was so excited about finding a little freedom. I completely forgot to tell him that was why I wanted him to watch her. Maybe forgot wasn't the right word. It was more like I omitted that part from our conversation.

I turned to look at him while I was fiddling with my earrings. His jawline was hard.

"Yeah, is that a problem?" I asked nervously.

There was a knock on the door. Matt was early.

"How sweet, he came to the door to get you. Do you want me to open the door for you so you can make a grand entrance down the staircase?" Ezra said through gritted teeth.

"Ezra, if this isn't going to work for you, then I will cancel and reschedule. You can go back home to your fiancé." I said, lashing back out at him.

"Oh, Riley, don't worry about me. You go out and have a good time and I will stay here and take care of our daughter." Ezra sneered at me.

"So glad I have your permission." I patted his shoulder as I walked past him and picked up my purse. I put it on my shoulder and began to walk to the door to open it.

"Hey, Riley." Ezra turned to me.

"What now, Ezra?" I was so exhausted from his mood swings.

"Did you remember to bring a condom?" He turned his head as his jaw tightened when he looked down at my dress.

I turned the doorknob and walked out without saying another word. What I did was none of his business anymore. He had no right getting angry at me for trying to move on. He already did. I should have the same chance of being happy as he did.

"Hey, Riley." Matt smiled at me when I opened the door. "Wow, you look gorgeous. Are you ready?"

I turned back to close the door and saw Ezra's eyes staring darkly at me from the hall.

"Yeah, Matt, let's go have some fun." I smiled and shut the door.

Matt placed his hand on the small of my back and walked me to his car. Of course, it was red and sporty. He opened the door for me and I slowly lowered myself in. I was ready to cut loose a little and enjoy having some adult time for a change. I was ready to forget all about the dark-haired man.

It was official; dates were awkward and boring. I don't know why anyone would ever subject themselves to this type of torture. The only thing that even made this one remotely interesting was the spiked electric blue frozen lemonade drinks. As soon as I would empty one, Matt would make sure I had another one on the table. I lost count of how many I had as I sat there listening to Matt prattle on about his project management job. He talked more than I did.

I nodded and smiled at the right times, but I spent the majority of the time, making a cleaning list in my head of everything I had to do when I got home. My mind started in the bathrooms, went to Jessa's room, and I even was cleaning out the garage mentally before the lunch was over.

Matt thought he was a lot funnier than he really was. I thought he was charming when I agreed to go on the date last night. It turned out, picking up a guy at a bar was as bad as everyone made it out to be. He was a nice guy, just not the type of guy for me. I hoped Jules wasn't going to be mad at me if this didn't work out.

I kept drinking the drinks, thinking it would make the date go by faster. My fingers and lips started tingling, I was getting a crash course in day drinking and I was pretty good at it. When the check came, I reached out to grab it to pay, but Matt was faster. He pulled out an American Express card and placed it in the card slot. Of course, this guy would be paying with an American Express card. Matt was a tool.

I thanked him for lunch as he walked me back to his car and opened the door for me. I stumbled a bit as he held my hand to lower me into the car. My head was fuzzy and I was ready to get home to see Jessa. I drank way too much at lunch. I never really knew my limits. I was hoping Ezra would stay long enough for me to lay down a bit until the buzz wore off so Jessa didn't see me like this. Her Momma was not doing too well.

About ten minutes later, Matt had pulled back up to my house and shut off his car. He got out and walked over to my door and pulled it open for me. I climbed out and he walked me up the front stairs. The floor was moving under my feet and I was starting to feel sick. Blue lemonades are evil. I stumbled up the stairs laughing as he held on to my hips so I didn't fall.

I went to try to pull out my keys and he stood in front of me as I dug in my purse, looking for them, swearing.

"I had a great time." He said, smiling down at me.

"Yeah, thanks again for taking me out." I said looking up at him, trying to be polite. Where were my keys? Did I even bring them?

Matt stepped closer to me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I stopped digging through my purse and froze dumbfounded. We clearly were not on the same date.

"You are a wild one. I can tell. How about we go back to my place? I'm sure your babysitter won't mind. Just go inside and say I'll double whatever you are paying for a few more hours." He whispered, leaning his head down near my neck while running his hands down my back. There it was, he thought I would be easy to get into bed. Bartender with a kid, makes perfect sense to me now why he would want to take me out. He thought I was a sure thing.

I put my hands on his chest to push him back and he took it as a sign to go in for a kiss. He pressed his sloppy wet mouth against mine. His face had to be half lips. I didn't feel anything for him when he kissed me. Paying bills would have turned me on more than this guy. I wanted to laugh at how wrong this felt.

He slid his hands down my hips and squeezed my butt, almost knocking me off my feet in the process. I tried to pull away, but he held on. He moved his mouth to my neck and kissed it with the skill of a Saint Bernard licking an ice cream cone.

"I can't wait to see what's under that dress." He moaned, squeezing my butt harder like he was trying to pop a water balloon. This was so completely awkward.

"Ahem." I heard a throat clear from the doorway.

This was going to be really bad.