Zack frowned. “I hate it when you’re right. And after how I reacted, he’ll probably never call me again.”

“I don’t think you have much to worry about, actually,” Alexa said.

“How do you figure?”

“Think about it: John realized who you were, but you had no idea it was him until he told you, right?”

“Right.”

“Well, he could have let you walk away. All he had to do was not say anything and go back to his table, and you would have been none the wiser.”

“So . . .” Zack scrunched up his face, “he wanted me to know it was him?”

“Exactly.”

Zack huffed. Alexa was right. John could have easily just turned away, and Zack never would have known who he was. “So, what does that mean?”

Alexa gave him a thoughtful look as she ashed into the beer bottle. “Well, I don’t know exactly. I mean, I’m not a mind reader. I think it’s a good sign, though, and I don’t think he would have told you who he was if he wasn’t interested.”

“But he still might not because of how I reacted,” Zack argued. “I’m not much of a romantic, but if a guy literally ran screaming from me, I would assume I’d been rejected.”

Alexa shrugged. “Technically, you didn’t scream.”

Kira cut in, “Thank you for bringing that up, Zackary. I have a point to make about that. I agree that John went out on a limb for you when he revealed who he was. Granted, he might have been so shocked to see you that he acted without thinking, but there must have been some part of him who, like you, wanted the fantasy to become a reality. So, is it really so bad that you ran?”

“Um, yes?” Zack looked at her with disbelief. “Of course it was. I’ve been hung up on the guy for weeks, and now I might never see him again.”

“Consider this a lesson learned, then,” Alexa said. “When your fantasies materialize in front of you like magic, don’t run away from them.”

“No, Zack did the right thing,” Kira said, “however unintentionally.”

Zack and Alexa whipped their heads around to look at her.

“How do you figure?” Zack demanded. “I just lost my one chance to talk to John in person.”

“Yeah, and in so doing, you probably kept yourself from losing your job.”

“Oh.” Zack clicked his mouth shut.

Alexa whistled. “Well, shit, I didn’t even think of that. It’s, like, rule number one in the sex worker handbook too. You never get personally involved with your clients. There’s always a chance someone will get jealous of your other clients, or worse, they’ll get obsessed, and then things get ugly. Just because he’s cute doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous.”