Amanda Sinclair had to admit, despite how she was feeling-basically like crap warmed over-the coffee house William whisked her off to was a delightful unpretentious place, warm and homey. Cozy, but at the same time spacious and airy. Too bad she didn't discover this spot before that damn dive bar. Too bad she didn't meet William here.

Fortunately the muscle cramp in her leg had subsided by the time they arrived so she was able to walk into Crimson Lights on her own. If not, she was quite sure William would have tried to carry her again. That's how nice he was. He was so nice and tall and handsome.

"I kinda got used to taking care of you last night," he winked as he brought their coffee to the table and sat down.

She wondered what he meant by that. William was being ultra kind to her. Still she cringed at the memory of waking up next to a stranger unable to remember anything. He'd taken care of her, how? Slowly bits and pieces were coming back. She remembered a lot of talking and laughter, but what she babbled about was a complete blank. Also she couldn't recall what he said to her. If only she could remember fully what happened, she'd feel so much better. Or would she? Did it really matter and what was the point of obsessing over one night? She was pretty sure William wouldn't pal around with her again after today. He offered her a ride and was concerned about her leg. Certainly he would not want to hang out again with a person who was planning to divest his friend of billions.

"What do you think of our little coffee house?" William asked. She found his deep voice oh so soothing.

"This is probably where I would have taken you this morning if you hadn't run away." He chuckled ruefully, shaking his head. "You know just a few hours ago, I wanted nothing more than to find my 'Kim' again," he finger quoted. "And I worried that she might be lost to me forever. Well imagine my surprise when you surface without me having to look, but you're really Amanda Sinclair. This is all completely surreal."

"Yeah, that would be an understatement," Amanda said. "This is a totally awkward situation and Twilight Zone level weird."

"You ditched me then I end up being a witness to you helping someone take away the inheritance of a friend of mine. And yet here we are having coffee…"

"Sheez….well, when you put it like that, feel free to not be so nice and friendly to me," Amanda placed her elbows on the table and stared down into her coffee. "And I thought you forgave me back there in the lobby."

"I did. I do but this stuff is way too good to not tease you about forever and ever."Billy laughed heartily. She loved his laugh.

Amanda took a sip of her coffee. "You might not want to be seen teasing and cavorting with the enemy, especially not forever."

"You're not my enemy," Billy said.

He leaned back in his chair and was silent for a moment as he regarded her with tranquil brown eyes. Why did she find him so comforting yet at the same time exciting? This dichotomy in itself unnerved her. "So do you have something else to say or do you just want to ogle me all thru this coffee because I look like your friend's dead wife?"

"I liked Hilary," he said. "She was a good person."

"Well, I'm not her," Amanda stated emphatically.

"Which leads me to my question, who are you? I'd really like to know because last night..."

"William, about last night…"

"Billy, call me Billy." He reached for his own coffee and removed the lid.

"Okay, Billy. I'm going to tell you something," She took a deep breath and continued. "I get the feeling that you're a good guy and you have been so nice to me. I have to let you know that I drank way too much and I don't remember much about last night. I'm getting flashes, but nothing concrete."

"Jesus." Billy wiped his hand over his face. "You don't remember anything?"

"Not after the lights went out."

"Damn. But now I understand," he said nodding his head slightly. "Your reaction and the blank stares you give me when I mention what happened last night make sense."

"It's so frustrating. I've been trying to remember, but it's just not clear."

"I knew you were drinking too much. You were insisting that you could out drink me. I should have stopped you."

'No, don't blame yourself. Do I strike you as the type of person who can be stopped once I put my mind to something?"

"You have a point there."

"And I guess I should thank you again for not revealing me as your drinking buddy to your mother and Devon. Not that it would have any relevance to the case, but it would have been very, very embarrassing."

"I never drink and tell," Billy grinned at her and another vague memory flashed through her mind. Billy and her talking and laughing.

"We must have had a pretty good time? You have this goofy smile on your face when you talk about it."

"I'll put it like this," He leaned forward. " I haven't enjoyed myself so much with anyone else in years. We must have talked for six hours nonstop. We really bonded.I was surprised and disappointed to wake up and find you were gone. Now I know why."

His sincerity touched her. "If I remembered and knew you were a good guy, maybe I wouldn't have panicked like that."

"I can only imagine what you must have thought when you woke up if you couldn't remember anything."

She kept her voice low. "I thought we had sex. We didn't have sex right? Please tell me we didn't have sex." She folded her hands into the prayer position and looked up toward the ceiling.

"No. Not even close."

Amanda placed a hand on her chest and let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God, I was afraid of asking the question because I was afraid of the answer."

"You did kiss me tho," Billy said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.'.

"Oh crap! I did?" She covered her cheeks mortified.

"Yeah, you said you liked my dimple and kissed me."

"On your cheek?"

He nodded.

"Oh, that's not so bad."

"Yeah, you told me I would forever more be in the friendzone. I think part of the reason you friendzoned me is because I'm white."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because you said it."

"Oh my God!"

"Yeah. You said you never go for white guys because you could never relate. And you said fortunately you usually don't find white guys attractive at all anyway. And you said if you were open to dating a white guy you would consider me. But it could never happen. You went on and on, saying it would never happen."

"That sounds completely awful. I'm so sorry Billy. But I'm sure you understand it was the liquor talking.."

"Are you saying you don't feel that way about white men?"

Amanda couldn't confirm or deny her drunken statements. After college she didn't think much about dating white men since there were quite a few fine brothas vying for her attention. The latest was Ripley. She shuddered when she thought of him. "No matter what we think, some things should never be said out loud. It was rude and wrong. Again I'm sorry you had to hear all of that. I can't believe you still liked me after I said those things."

"I found your honesty very refreshing. You weren't trying to be mean or insult were telling me how you felt. Sometimes the truth comes out when we've had a few."

"So after I go on this anti-white man diatribe, how the hell did we end up in bed together?"

"That's a long story. There's a park near here. Would you like to go for a walk?"