"Well, it kinda was today," she told him.

"No one saw that kiss but the three of us," Phoenix mumbled.

"That's what you think," Tarik stated. "There're video cameras in those places."

Phoenix's eyes widened.

"Okay, I think it's safe to say it's true," Mia said, placing her hand on Phoenix's arm. "Did you not want people to know?"

"I don't know what's true," Phoenix said softly, looking down at his hands resting on the table.

"Oh." She thought... But they'd... That kiss had kind of said it all, as far as she was concerned.

"He's in denial," Tarik muttered, peering up at Phoenix as he said the words.

Phoenix's only answer was to glare at Tarik.

Tarik looked at her and asked, "Did it bother you?"

Mia shook her head, fearing she wouldn't be able to get the words out. It hadn't bothered her. Not the way he was thinking. She'd been a little surprised, a lot aroused, but not entirely taken aback since she had read the articles that claimed they'd been together.

"I've never..."

When Phoenix didn't continue, Tarik filled in for him. "He's never been with a man."

Mia read the underlying meaning. Phoenix had never had sex with a man. Interesting.

"But you're attracted to them?" she asked.

"How'd this become an interrogation?" Phoenix asked, his tone clipped.

"Sorry, I just... Forget I asked." Mia reached for her water, wishing like hell the waiter would bring the food and the margaritas. She needed something to do with her mouth and her hands because clearly Phoenix wasn't interested in talking about himself, and after the day they'd shared, she had nothing but questions.

"Look," Phoenix said, placing his hand on her leg. "I'm sorry. And to answer your question, I've been attracted to men before. But I've never ... given in."

"Until Tarik."

"I don't consider a kiss as giving in," Phoenix rebutted.

"He's stubborn," Tarik inserted, looking at Phoenix, a silent conversation taking place between them.

Mia noticed the longing in Tarik's golden gaze. She hadn't seen it before now, but it was clear. Tarik wanted Phoenix. Hell, she'd go so far as to say he was probably in love with the man. But Phoenix was obviously not there yet.

Luckily, as though he knew the tension had grown too thick for them to continue, the waiter interrupted, bringing their food and drinks. For the next few minutes, the three of them ate without speaking. An uncomfortable silence settled between them. By the time Tarik was preparing his third fajita and Phoenix was finishing his second, Mia couldn't take it anymore.

"Can one of you explain something to me?" Mia asked, pushing her plate away and pulling her margarita closer. "And I promise, I'm not going ask about your sexual preferences."

Tarik grinned, but Phoenix still looked a little worried.

"What do you want us to explain?" Phoenix asked, looking over at her sideways.

"Is he" - she nodded toward Tarik - "really your bodyguard?"

"Technically, yes. Or he seems to think so. His real job's handling public relations for the Arrows. He needs something more to do besides stand around and look pretty."

Mia grinned as she looked across the table. Tarik was definitely handsome; he was also extremely intimidating, but he certainly was not pretty. "How long have you worked for him?"

"Six years for the Arrows," Tarik explained.

"As a bodyguard?"

Phoenix didn't hesitate with his answer, and Mia realized she'd stumbled onto a much safer subject. "He started out as PR working for my father. Somewhere along the way, he became his pseudo-bodyguard, and he's remained in both roles after the incident a year ago. Nothing serious, but my mother didn't seem to care how small it was. She was worried, and by having him there, I think it puts her mind at ease somewhat."

"Nothing serious?" Tarik snorted. "He had a crazy husband threatening to shoot off his balls and feed them to him."

"Oh." The thought of Phoenix sleeping with married women made her gut tighten. She'd been on the receiving end of a cheating spouse, and she absolutely didn't condone it.

"It sounds worse than it is," Phoenix said, lowering his voice and speaking directly to her. "Honest to God, Mia, I had no idea she was married. Not until the guy threatened my life. That's not who I am."

"He's telling the truth, Mia," Tarik imparted as he leaned over the table, reaching for her hand. Obviously the two of them must've noticed how the news bothered her. "She never told him."

Mia nodded, wrapping her head around it. For a moment, she wondered if Damien had told the women he slept with that he was married. Then she remembered that he was in the public eye, so most likely they'd already known, anyway.

Not that she cared.

Not anymore.

"Well, I think it was smart for you to have someone to watch your back," Mia told Phoenix. "Damien never hired a bodyguard. He insisted that he was man enough to take on any threat."

"He's also a fucking idiot," Phoenix stated under his breath, his tone reflecting his apparent dislike for her ex-husband.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring him up," she told him, looking down at the table.

Phoenix took her hand, and she peered back up at him. "Landry's part of your past, Mia. I don't expect you to be able to talk about yourself without his name coming up. Do I like the guy? No. But that's for personal reasons."

"So you know him?" she asked, trepidation churning in her gut. She knew Damien was suing Phoenix, but he'd never brought it up, so she hadn't, either. Mostly out of fear that he wouldn't want anything to do with her. The first time they'd gone to dinner, Phoenix had seemed oblivious to anything to do with Damien, yet she knew that wasn't the case.

Phoenix released her hand and leaned back when the waiter delivered another round of margaritas and started taking empty plates from the table. "I know him. I'm actually surprised that you hadn't heard of me. Landry claims that my father backed out of a deal to sell the Arrows, right before he passed away. He's suing me for a ridiculous amount of money to compensate for his time."

"He wanted to buy your team?" Mia asked, trying to think back to previous conversations she'd overheard when she was married to Damien. She hadn't usually been privy to his business because he'd believed that she wasn't smart enough to understand, and quite frankly, Mia had never corrected him. "I knew he'd become obsessed with hockey, but I didn't know he was looking to go that far."

"So he claims. It's all hearsay at this point, because my father's not here to defend himself," Phoenix said, his tone reassuring.

"So what happens now? With the lawsuit?"

Phoenix met her gaze and leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table and clasping his hands together. She looked over at Tarik, then back to Phoenix. She knew that whatever he was about to say wasn't going to make her happy. At least not if his expression was anything to go by.

"I met with him a few weeks ago and informed him that he needs to go away. I'm not interested in him or anything he has to say."

"A few weeks ago?" Mia couldn't believe what she was hearing. If Phoenix had spoken to Damien a few weeks ago, the chances of him making the connection to her had to be rather great. The guy was smart, there was no denying that. She had to wonder why he hadn't said anything. "Before or after you and I went to dinner?"

"Before."

"Why did you act like you had no idea who he was?" she asked, exasperated. She should've known. He was a liar, like Damien.

"That's not entirely true," he stated cautiously. "You asked if I'd looked into your history. I told you that I would prefer to hear the details straight from you. There's a big damn difference there. He's your ex-husband, Mia. I didn't think that was relevant."

"So you knew exactly who I was when you had that meeting with Damien?"

"Yes," he admitted.

"And when you manipulated the seating chart at the charity ball?" She didn't know for a fact that he was responsible, but based on what Alex had told her, she figured it was safe to assume.

Phoenix looked at Tarik before nodding his head.

When Phoenix's gaze lowered to the table once more, she knew that was guilt. He'd pretended not to know who she was. So the big question was... "Why? Why did you pretend?"

"I didn't pretend," he said defensively, looking up at Tarik and then back to her. "I wanted to get to know you. I don't give a shit about Landry or the fact that you were married to him. That's your past, and it doesn't mean anything unless you want it to, Mia. Last I checked, you weren't party to the lawsuit, so I didn't think it mattered."

Mia didn't know what to say to that. She was angry and hurt, and for whatever reason, all the millions of tiny pieces of her shattered heart were rattling around in her chest, aching all over again. Although for an entirely different reason now. Damien had been blatant with his adultery. He'd purposely ended their marriage by making it obvious that he'd cheated, and he hadn't tried to hide anything. But Phoenix... He clearly wasn't being honest with her. He was pretending.

And that hurt more than it should have.

"I'd like to go home now," she told him abruptly.

Phoenix nodded his head in understanding and moved out of the booth to allow her to get up. When she stood, stopping to look at Tarik briefly, she couldn't resist asking him the same question. "Did you know about this?"

Tarik met her gaze head on. "I know everything that goes on with Phoenix, Mia."

Nodding her understanding while the band around her heart tightened even more, Mia tried to calm herself. She was so angry she felt tears threatening, and the absolute last thing she would do was let another man see her cry. She'd done enough of that with Damien.

Turning on her heel, Mia snagged her coat and headed for the front doors. Phoenix and Tarik followed right behind her.

Mia continued walking until she was outside while Phoenix stopped and talked with the hostess.

She was tempted to start walking home, but her condo was several blocks away, and she wasn't comfortable walking alone that far from home. Especially as the sun was beginning to set behind the buildings, and the shadows were slowly filling in. So she waited, trying her best not to let the anger get the best of her. She found it strange that she felt betrayed by Phoenix in ways she'd never felt by Damien. It wasn't like she knew him all that well. They'd been on a couple of dates, they'd talked and kissed, but other than that...

God, she felt so pathetic standing there feeling as though someone else had purposely trashed her heart for reasons unbeknownst to her. She was a lightweight when it came to relationships, that was clear. Why couldn't she be stronger? More resilient? Wasn't she starting over? Taking control of her own life? Living in the moment?

Shouldn't she be the one with armor encasing her emotions?

Unfortunately, she didn't have answers to any of those questions.

Instead, she was worried that Phoenix was playing her.

Mia took a deep breath, let it out.

Hadn't she kept that information from him as well?

She hated the thought that they'd started this off with secrets between them, but that was exactly what had happened. Mia was doing her best to sever her life from Damien's. She didn't want any part of him or anything he did.

But why hadn't Phoenix mentioned that he'd met with Damien? Was he using her? He'd already said that Damien's beef had been with his father, not him. And it wasn't like Phoenix could use her against Damien, anyway. Her ex-husband had initiated the downfall of their marriage; she seriously doubted he actually cared.

Mia sighed, looking up at the sky as it turned a fascinating shade of dark blue, mixed with pink and purple. She really needed to get a grip.

This wasn't a relationship. If anything, it might lead to something casual, but Mia wasn't looking for anything more.

When Phoenix and Tarik joined her outside a second later, she turned to face them. And the music. She'd overreacted.

"I'm sorry for my reaction," she told Phoenix sternly, feeling both embarrassed and annoyed at her initial response. "I have trust issues, as you can imagine. I think I got a little ahead of myself. You and I ... we're ... we're friends, and I shouldn't have reacted like that."

To her surprise, Phoenix moved closer, his eyes locked with hers, his mouth a firm, thin line. He cupped her face and stared down at her, the look on his face reflecting what appeared to be ... irritation.

Not at all what she'd expected.

"We're more than friends, Mia. At least that's what I'm hoping for," he said, his voice low, authoritative. "If you want friendship, I can offer you that, but I'm looking for more. I can assure you, I didn't withhold information to hurt you. That's not the way I do things. From this point forward, I'll be open with you about what I know."

Mia was lost in his emerald-green gaze. She heard his words, but it wasn't what he said that had her mesmerized, it was the intensity reflected there. He wasn't playing her as she'd assumed. How she knew that, she wasn't sure, but she knew that much.

Not that it made her feel any better. She'd felt used by Damien and then tossed out like yesterday's garbage. She wasn't looking for that again. Ever. But she didn't know how to do this, didn't know how to venture forward without the fear strangling her. Casual sex wasn't her thing. She'd only been with one man in her life, and he'd betrayed her.

"Do you want to go back inside and have dessert?" he asked, his hands sliding down to her shoulders and then running down her arms.

Mia glanced through the window of the restaurant and noticed the hostess and another man staring out at them. "No. I don't."

"What about a movie?" Phoenix asked. "That was next on my agenda."

Mia was too tired to sit in a darkened theater and watch a movie. "No. I think I'd rather go home."

"Why don't we go back to my place then? I'm sure I've got something there for dessert."

Before she could object, Phoenix linked his fingers with hers. The warmth of his touch calmed her further.

"Just dessert, Mia. That's all. What happens from there is your call."

Despite knowing better, Mia found herself agreeing.

Chapter Twenty-One.

THE NIGHT HAD taken a decidedly unexpected twist, but somehow Phoenix had managed to salvage it.