"I don't like you very much right now." I didn't have to look up and see who was standing by my door.

"I am really, really sorry Laura," I said standing up to approach her. She stood with one arm on her waist, wearing a look that screamed blue murder. Laura and I had an almost similar build except that she had a couple of inches on me height-wise and where her eyes were dark brown, mine were a deep green. She had black hair that matched my brown mane in length and she was curvy in all the right places. The definition of gorgeousness. 

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Explain yourself Troth."

I knew if I said that I forgot to call her she would probably murder me and bury my body where no one would ever find it so I had to find a way to explain that I only forgot because I was distracted by work and Kyle's phone calls. But how do you explain Kyle?

"I have a date," I said sheepishly. Her demeanor changed faster than I could snap my fingers. Her eyes lost the interrogative look they had a few minutes ago and her lips widened into a smile as she grabbed my hand and dragged me back to my desk.

"Tell me everything!" she shrieked excitedly.

"There really isn't much to tell. Kyle is one of my new clients and he flirts endlessly," I said rolling my eyes as I sat down in one of the visitor's chairs and she sat in the other beside me.

"So you met him on the job?"

"Not exactly," I said then I launched into the whole debacle of what happened at the café when I fell on Kyle and from then it was a matter of he said then I said and he said.

"Why would you just answer the phone without checking who it was?" she said laughing so hard that she was crying when I told her what I had said to Kyle last night when I thought it was her calling.

"You're the only who nags me at night so I never bother," I replied.

"Yours is a sad life my friend," she said shaking her head. "What if he'd been a client? Oh wait..." and she started laughing again. When it happened I was mortified but in hindsight it was really funny and I laughed too.

Once our laughter died down, I told her about the phone calls, the tea and the one week arrangement we had.

"One week, huh?" she said.

"Yeah," I replied, "I still don't get it. He's an incredibly handsome man, ridiculously sexy and loaded. I can't imagine why he would want to date me."

"Because you're incredibly gorgeous, ridiculously sexy and you're an overall great person love," Laura replied.

"You're supposed to say that, you're my best friend."

"I don't do besty bias; you know that," Laura argued, "I meant every word."

"I feel like he's just having a spot of fun, being from out of town and all and once he's had his fun he'll move on and forget all about me," I stated.

"If you think that then why did you agree to this thing?" she asked confused.

"When I found Craig in bed with another woman, something died in me. You remember how I was back then, before that incident. I was outgoing, actively involved in anything and everything. I was..." I struggled to find the right word.

"Alive?" Laura supplied.

I nodded. "I was happy. I had a great job that I loved and the man of my dreams. And then it all fell apart and I was never the same again. I can't trust anyone, I can't even trust myself to make the right decision when it comes to a relationship."

"But Em, that was a year ago. You can't still feel that way now?" Laura asked, concern written all over her face.

"I do feel that way and that's why I need something to jump start me to life again and Kyle is...well he seems like the perfect thing for that purpose. I'm not looking for a relationship right now, I'm far from that but I need to start living again and Kyle is really lively. He's perfect."

"Hey! I'm lively too and I invite you to parties all the time! Why can't I be your jump starter?" Laura pouted.

"You're part of my past ad I don't mean that in a bad way," I added hastily when I saw her narrow her eyes, "Kyle doesn't know about all my baggage and it will feel really great to just forget about Craig, about my dad and all that and just live. Please tell me you understand."

"Yes," she said grudgingly, "But is it fair to use Kyle like that then dump him?"

"I won't dump him because we won't even be in a relationship. He asked for one week to try and convince me that he and I could work. At the end of the week I'll just tell him that his attempts failed and he'll move on."

"But what if he doesn't? What if he genuinely falls in love with you?" Laura persisted.

"Come on," I said frustrated.

"Okay. Then what if you fall in love with him?"

"That's never going to happen," I said firmly. Laura sighed resignedly and leaned over to give me a hug.

"I really hope you know what you're doing. I just don't want you to get hurt and if this whole thing backfires..."

"It won't," I interrupted her, "We're just going to go out a couple of times and that's it. I won't fall in love with him."

I had to threaten Laura with a slow and painful death to keep her from spying on my upcoming lunch date with Kyle and after making plans for a date of our own, she left. I dug into the sky high pile of paper work that I had to get through that day and I was so engrossed in it that I didn't realize it was almost lunchtime until Kyle called me to say he was waiting downstairs in his car. I grabbed my bag and my phone and went down. Kyle stood leaning casually on his car, wearing dark shades, blue jeans and an army green tshirt. His hands were behind his back. I approached him with a slightly amused look on my face.

"What's with the Terminator impersonation?" I asked.

"It's all the rage these days," he quipped, "You don't like it?"

"Well..." I dragged out.

He laughed, "I knew I should have gone with the James Bond look."

"At least with the glasses, I have one less distraction to worry about." Aaannnddd, I should not have said that.

"My eyes distract you?" Kyle asked grinning widely.

"Don't let it get to your head," I said dismissively but I could feel the warmth in my cheeks and I knew they had turned red. It didn't help that he kept giving me that heart melting smile of his.

"You're adorable when you blush."

"I thought we were going for lunch," I said pointedly.

"We are, but first..." he brought his hands forward and handed me an A1 sized sheet folded in half.

"What's this?"

"Open it." So I did. A colored drawing of several flowers stared up at me from the page. I stared at it confused.

Huh?

"I wanted to get you flowers but I didn't know your favorite or if you're allergic to any and I didn't want to risk ruining lunch by landing you in the E.R so I drew the flowers. Absolutely risk-free," he explained beaming proudly at me.

Oh there was definitely a risk, a risk that my heart would melt in a puddle. This was such a ridiculous yet really sweet gesture. I stood there, staring at the drawing, unable to say a word.

"You don't like it," he said, face falling, "I should have just picked out roses, everyone loves roses."

"No, no, it's lovely. Although I worry that the five year old you stole this from will have my head," I joked.

His head snapped back up and he smiled again. I felt my knees go weak.

"I didn't steal it, I drew it myself especially for you."

"And you expect me to believe you have crayons?" I asked, eyebrow raised.

"And water colors and gel pens and glitter," he replied proudly puffing out his chest.

Riiigghhht.

"Is there a pink diary and a life size teddy bear to go with those, Princess Kyle?" I mocked.

"How did you know?" he said laughing. He opened the door for me and I stepped into his car and continued to stare at the drawing whilst he got in. He pushed his glasses up over his forehead and set them on his hair then started the car.

"I'll replace them with real flowers once I figure out your favorites," he spoke up after we had been driving silently for a while.

I smiled at him. "No need. I love these. Thank you."

"Really?" he said surprised. I nodded and patted the top of his hand lightly. He turned his hand over and laced his fingers with mine. The action gave me palpitations. I tried to gently pull my hand out of his hold but he held on tighter.

"Don't you need both your hands to drive?" I asked him. My voice was a breathy whisper and my heart was racing.

Lesson number 1: Avoid any kind of physical contact with Kyle. Side effects include, increased heart rate and a possible swoonfest.

"It's an automatic, I can manage with one," he replied with a smile.

We arrived at the restaurant and he replaced his shades over his eyes.

"Seriously, what's with the shades? We're indoors, you don't need them," I said as we sat at a table in a corner facing away from the busy streets of the city.

"I just like them," Kyle shrugged.

"You look weird. Take them off."

"Wouldn't want you to get distracted and do something you'll regret," he said wiggling his eyebrows. That shut me up and I turned my attention to the menu.

"How did your meeting go?" Kyle asked after we had ordered.

"It went great actually. I sold a house," I said smiling excitedly and leaning back in my chair.

"Congratulations," Kyle smiled. "How long have you been in Real Estate?"

"Five years," I said.

"Do you like your job?"

"I love it," I declared smiling.

"Really? Why?" Kyle asked.

"I'm a people person and Real State gives me a chance to meet all kinds of people. The newlyweds looking for a place to start their life together, a family looking for a new beginning..."

"A good looking bachelor searching for a slutpad?" Kyle offered with a grin.

"Yes," I said laughing. "I meet all kinds of interesting people and I study them and try to understand them."

"That's interesting," Kyle said studying me, "So do you understand me yet?"

I laughed heartily. "Unfortunately you're the Bella to my Edward. I can't get a read on you."

He looked confused. "Bella to your Edward?"

"You know how Edward could read everyone's mind except Bella's?" I said but he continued to stare at me blankly, "Twilight, Stephanie Meyer. No?" He shook his head.

"Wow. Now I know where you crawled out from," I said as the waiter approached with our food.

"And where's that?" Kyle asked amused after the waiter had left our food.

"The land of the dead," I said. "Because every living person knows Twilight."

He chuckled as he dug into his food. "I'm just not a book person."

"What kind of person are you then?" I asked piling some fries onto my fork.

"A music person," he replied.

"Hmm," I murmured as I savored my first mouthful of fries with my eyes closed. When I finally opened my eyes, Kyle was eyeing me strangely.

"What?" I asked him.

"Nothing," he said, ducking his head and smiling.

"I don't listen to a lot of music," I said.

"What's your favorite song?" he asked.

"Having a favorite would require me actually listening to music," I said sheepishly.

"So you don't know any songs? At all?" Kyle asked shocked.

"I hear songs occasionally on the radio or from my neighbor's apartment and sometimes I hear the same song several times but I just never bother to find out what the song is called or who sang it. I've heard people talk about songs or artists that they like but it's a load of gibberish to me," I replied.

"Well that explains a few things," he said.

"Like what?"

"Never mind," Kyle said waving his hand dismissively, "This is unreal."

"Hey it's not that big of a deal Mr-I-don't-know-the-most-popular-novel-in-history," I retorted.

"We have to fix this, immediately. My new mission is to teach you about music. By the time I'm done with you, you'll be ready to start your own band. We'll go to concerts and road shows and operas too. I have to expose you to every genre of music," Kyle said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Whoa, whoa. Slow down there cow boy," I said panicking.

"It'll be fun, trust me," he said smiling reassuringly. Trust me; the two words I dreaded the most coming out of anyone's mouth.

"I'll make you a deal then," I said.

"Look who's a dealer now," he said laughing.

I ignored him. "I'll let you do the music thing if you read all the novels I give you."

Blood drained from his face and I almost laughed at the comical look of dread on his face. He re-composed himself and nodded grudgingly.

"Fine, it's a deal."

I clapped my hands excitedly. "This was fun but I should really be heading back now."

Kyle waved over the waiter and paid for our lunch then we went to his car, where he pushed his shades up again and he drove me back to work.

"So did you learn anything new about your stalkee on Day 1?" I asked when he dropped me off.

"This wasn't actually day 1," Kyle said.

"What? Why?"

"We made the one week deal around 10. I had already missed out on a lot of hours of the day so it doesn't count."

"Then why did we have lunch together?" I demanded.

"Because I missed you too much to wait till tomorrow to see you," Kyle said smiling, "Today is only Day 0.5. The real deal starts tomorrow."

"I feel like I've been cheated somehow," I grumbled and Kyle laughed.

"I'll call you later, Beautiful," he said pulling his shades back down to his eyes.

"Bye Terminator," I rolled my eyes.

"Hasta la vista, baby."

A/N Kyle #sigh. What's the cutest but most ridiculous thing anyone has ever done for you? I would love to hear all about it. Until next time lovelys!