"No. I'm not turning here. It's a dead end, Steff.

"Relax. We're going in through the back. VIP, if you will. There."

Pulling down the tiny side street, Andie's gaze followed Steff's pointed finger to an unassuming wooden door with a small engraved plaque next to it. Spago.

"Do you know it?" A smile played around Steff's lips.

"No." She was lying, of course. It was only the most famous restaurant in the city.

Opening the door and stepping out of the car, Andie hesitantly took the sweater from the leather seat and knotted it around her shoulders. Steff watched her smugly.

…

The digital clock in the car glowed 11:00. The streets were empty. Dinner was long over. Andie had been dumbstruck by the glamour of it all, though tried not to show it. Steff had lapped up every minute of it. He knew the chef through his father, and asked the kitchen to make her something special; in defiance, she said her favorite food was grilled cheese. The waitstaff came out with pancetta and gouda on a baguette, fried in truffle oil.

Now, they sat quietly in the car outside Steff's as he finished his cigarette, preparing to drive her home. Andie gazed out the window into the warm summer night.

"You know, I used to drive by here all the time to look at this house. Before I knew it was yours."

Steff smirked. "Well, yeah, I guess it's nice if you're into that sort of thing."

Andie acted like she hadn't heard him.

"Do you know what it's like to want something so bad, while knowing that it will never, ever be yours?"

"I have - " Steff wet his lips as his eyes skated up and down Andie "- some experience with the feeling, yes."

"Like...I'll never have money like that. I'll never live like that. It wouldn't matter if I wasted my whole life dreaming about it. And...well, the thing is, I'm sure you don't think your house is half as beautiful as I do. What I think about it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter at all."

"You're right. There's people who matter, and people who don't. But I want you to be a person who matters, Andie."

She turned to look at him, partially smiling and partially grimacing. "God, what an awful thing to say, and you - you just can't even understand how shitty the things you say are."

He shrugged. "You think I'm heartless."

Her voice was hard. "Yes. I do."

"That wasn't a question."

They maintained quiet eye contact for a moment, Andie's face defiant and Steff's stony. He broke the silence first.

"Then show me what having a heart is like. Just one kiss, Andie. I won't push my luck. I won't touch you."

She leaned in, her pearls swinging slowly forward. She hovered for a moment, savoring the tension in the air...and then she kissed him.

Pulling back slightly, Andie met his lidded eyes, felt his chest rising and falling hard. She watched one of his hands rise to her face, and he touched her puffy lips reverently. Andie shifted to the side, away from his hand, and leaned into his neck. She pushed her lips into the soft skin beneath his chin and kissed it, slightly openmouthed. Moving parallel to his jawline, Andie worked her way up slowly to the spot just behind his earlobe. "Jesus - ". She could hear his breath shuddering, feel his body shivering, flooded with adrenaline and hormones.