Back at the table and unable to deny my interest in this man with a goatee and slicked-back hair, I asked Tyler what he did for work.

“What do you think?” he asked teasingly.

I studied his biceps before speaking. “Construction?”

He laughed heartily. “That sounds like a lot more fun, but I’m an accountant.”

I tried to picture his muscular body crouched over a calculator with his glasses sliding down his nose, but it just didn’t fit. A puzzled look must have crept onto my face because he laughed again.

“Come on,” he said. He dragged me to the bar for another shot. “You’re really something.” His smile washed over me.

“Naw, I could take you any day of the week,” I joked. The bartender slammed the salt-rimmed shot glasses onto the counter and filled them to the brim.

“How about pinning me? I just might have to take you up on that.” Tyler’s soft tongue swept the rim of the glass, and he threw his head back.

Saturday morning, I was still dizzy with it all. The master I had dreamed of and studied for hours was suddenly a corporeal presence. I smiled and rolled over to find not Tyler in my bed, but Mouse, who had fallen asleep half naked after staying up late to study. My lips involuntarily stiffened as I looked at him. I rolled the other way and got out of bed.

Traffic was already bustling on First Avenue below the living room window. I laced up my running shoes and left for the gym, hoping Mouse would be gone by the time I got back.