A/N: Wow, I'm loving the feedback for this. I wasn't sure anyone would warm up to a storyline like this, but I appreciate your responses. Thank you especially to wwefanatic365, xoxo Olivia, IRENELOVE83, nikki1335, Tammy, ChelleLew and justkimmy for the fabulous reviews.

It's date night! Enjoy!

Joe stood at the foot of his king-size bed, eyeing up the shirts and jackets lined up. He was still walking around in a towel, half an hour after showering. He always took a while to get ready, definitely took the longest of the three members of The Shield. He prided himself on his appearance, always made sure everything was put together and carefully planned. It wasn't necessarily because he was vain. His bigger frame forced him to be more careful about what he wore. Colby looked effortless no matter what he had on, while Jon didn't give a shit as long as it covered him up and he looked decent. Joe didn't quite have that luxury, so he was more particular than most. Tonight however, it was imperative that he dressed to impress.

He shook his head, a short laugh escaping him. Joe wasn't known to be nervous often, but this was one of those times. He couldn't remember the last time he'd actively pursued a woman. He hardly ever made the first move, simply because women flocked to him before he even opened his mouth. Sasha was the first woman in a long time that made him look twice, that sparked a genuine interest in him. He wasn't going to lie; he thought his forwardness would blow up in his face, after what had happened at the grocery store and after she'd tried to turn him down at the Grill. It surprised him to know the unfamiliar number flashing on his iPhone belonged to her. He'd played it cool when he picked up and hoped he'd pulled it off. It was a long time since anyone made him feel this way. There was something there and he was willing to pursue it.

He got dressed in a grey button-down shirt and black pants. He opted for the business casual look, not knowing how Sasha herself would be dressed. Checking his appearance one more time, he grabbed his phone, car keys and wallet before heading outside to his Range Rover.

Sasha stood in front of the full length mirror, pulling the zipper up the side of her black long-sleeved dress. She slipped into a black pair of high heels that she hadn't worn in a long time and hoped she wouldn't fall on her face tonight. She stood up straight and stared at her reflection. Hair up or hair down? Was the dress too short? Too flashy? Was she showing too much cleavage? Should she have used the nude lipstick, or just stick with the red? What was going to happen tonight?

Relax. It's just dinner. Nothing more. But what if Joe wanted more? Did she? Could she handle it? She recalled Pam's words from the day before: If it's just sex he wants, even better. Get in, get off, get out. Sasha wished it was that simple. A number of daunting scenarios traveled through her mind, but she pushed them all aside before she could change her mind about the whole thing.

A text message flashed up on her phone. Joe was here. She was worried he'd have some difficulty finding her place but apparently not. She took a final deep breath in front of the mirror. Too late to back out now. God I look like a hooker.

Stepping out of her apartment building, she saw Joe walk around the parked Range Rover to the passenger's side. He looked like he'd just stepped out of a photo shoot, that dress shirt and jeans combo doing wonders to his imposing figure. Damn. She walked towards him, a smile forming at his expression. "Hi."

"Hey." It was all Joe could do not to drool all over the curb. She looked amazing. Her hair was down and wavy, as opposed to the severe ponytail she had at the Grill. Her black sequinned dress clung to her curves and accentuated her chest and that delectable backside of hers. He would know; he'd spent the entire time at the Grill staring at it, imagining how it would feel in his palms. He settled instead for her hand, planting a small kiss on the back of it. "Wow. You look beautiful," he remarked.

"Thank you. You look good yourself." The kiss was unexpected and made Sasha's heart beat faster. She climbed through the door he opened for her, smoothing down her dress. Gosh, she was nervous and then some.

"So, anything you're in the mood for?" asked Joe, willing himself not to openly ogle her thighs. "Mexican? Italian? Thai?"

"Thai sounds good."

"Then Thai it is."

The drive to the restaurant was relatively quiet. They found a private corner in the dimly lit establishment, soft music played in the background, creating ideal conditions for conversation. They sipped on their drinks while waiting for their orders. Sasha decided to break the ice. "When you answered the phone, there was something you said. It sounded like a foreign language. What was it?"

Joe squinted in thought. "Oh yeah. I said Anoa'i. It's my last name."

"Anoa'i," she repeated, getting a feel of it. "Much more exotic than Morgan. Is it Hawaiian?"

Joe shifted in his seat, glad she couldn't see just how much his body liked the way his name rolled off her tongue. "Nearly there. Samoa. My dad moved to the States when he was fourteen. I grew up in Pensacola, but moved to Tampa when I started training to wrestle."

"More points to you for the exoticness. I was born and bred in Tampa. So do you go back to Samoa often?" Sasha sat back in her chair and studied his face. The word beautiful did not do him justice. His skin was smooth and an appealing mix of olive and caramel. His jaw and cheekbones could have easily been carved from marble. She knew grown women that would slit a throat or two for hair like his. She wondered what it would be like to run her fingers through it. And his eyes...she was a sucker for beautiful eyes, and she could easily look into his all night if she was allowed.

"Not as often as I should," Joe was saying. "Been to Hawaii tons of times though. We're there at least twice a year for family occasions and stuff."

"Are they anything like Reggie's? One time I went to one of his family gatherings at his home and I swear I've never seen so many people in one place." She shook her head at the memory.

Joe took a sip of his drink. "We're twice as many in my family."

Sasha's eyes widened. "Wow. The reunions must be epic."

"And messy as all hell," said Joe, smiling when she laughed.

"I can imagine. So wrestling..." Sasha went on, "Is it something you've always wanted to do? Mom and dad didn't bite your head off and order you to be a doctor instead?"

He licked his lips. "Nope. Wrestling's practically in my blood. My dad and uncle wrestled as a tag team for years. A lot of uncles and older cousins were wrestlers. My big brother worked for the WWE for a while and now a bunch of my cousins are there with me. It's a family thing, really. It's either football or wrestling with us."

"I've heard about the crazy traveling WWE does. Shouldn't you be off wrestling in some other city right now?"

"Not this week. A number of us got to come home for a very rare week off. Unfortunately I've only got like five days left, which sucks." He stopped, realizing he was doing a whole lot of talking about himself. "So what about you, Sasha? What's life like outside of Reggie's Bar & Grill?"

Sasha shrugged. "Nothing compared to yours, obviously. I live a very unadventurous life. I go to the Grill, come home, spend the rest of my time with T.K. and..." She stopped abruptly, her eyes wide.

"T.K. That's your brother, right?" asked Joe, "Seems like a cool kid. How's he doing?"

Sasha wanted to kick herself. She had hoped this topic would come much later. "I don't have any brothers." When his eyebrow lifted in confusion, she bit her lip. Here goes nothing. "T.K. is my son."

She sat back and watched his reaction go from curious to taken aback. "Wow," Joe finally managed. "He's what? Sixteen? Seventeen?"

"Seventeen. And I have an eight-year-old daughter as well." She paused, holding his gaze. Her children had always been the turn-off point for most men that wanted to date her, and those that didn't mind were eventually pressured out of a relationship with her by outside parties. Sasha was now at a point where she just fended them all off herself. If they didn't care for her kids, then they could fuck off. Her son and daughter would always come first. Always.

Joe stared at her, then shook his head quickly. "I'm sorry...I just thought...You don't really look old enough to have a teenage son."

"Why, thank you," Sasha giggled, glad she could still laugh about it. Things could be very different by the end of the night. "I'm thirty-five but I like to think I'm not so old. I had Tyson two months before my eighteenth birthday. Obviously I was older and wiser when I had Mia, my little girl. She's a wrestling fan too, just like her brother. Not as fanatic as he is, but she knows the basics. She'd probably know you if she saw you. She loves her dancing though, she's my little dancer. While it's all about basketball and wrestling for T.K. When he's not trying to be the next Rock, he's trying to be the next LeBron," she added with a laugh.

Joe could hear the pride in her voice as she spoke about her children. That Sasha was a mother intrigued the heck out of him. Raising children was no small feat and it only made her more attractive to him. "They sound like great kids."

"They are." She braced herself for the answer to this next question. "So I'm curious, Joe...how old are you?"

"Twenty-seven."

Twenty-seven. Not quite twenty-five, but still... "You're a kid."

"I think kid is the last thing anyone would use to describe me," Joe smirked.

"Well, you are."

"Does it bother you?" He placed his forearms on the table, bringing his large shoulders in close and their bodies in even closer proximity. "The age gap between us. Does it make you uncomfortable?"

Admitting it to Pam was a whole different ballgame from telling him. She cleared her throat. "I'm not sure yet."

"Well, if you asked me, I don't think it should," he told her. "I personally don't think it's that big a gap, but it shouldn't matter either way. We're just two adults having dinner, that's all."

She made eye contact with him. His confidence was so effortless, so seductive. She was proud of herself for keeping her composure for this long. "So, have you got any kids of your own?" she inquired.

Something flashed in his eyes but it disappeared as quickly as it came. "No. Not yet. But I got tons of nephews and nieces for practice."

"Oh trust me, you're gonna need it." She felt her face, as well as other parts of her body, flush when his tongue darted over his lips. Again. She'd been watching him do that all evening, and she couldn't keep silent anymore. "Please stop doing that."

"Doing what?" There was a twinkle in his eye.

"The...tongue thing. It's distracting." And incredibly hot. She knew he did it subconsciously, but damn if it wasn't screwing up her concentration. She rolled her eyes and laughed when Joe gave her an amused look. "I'm serious!"

Joe had noticed the way she'd been staring at him, but only because he'd been staring right back. "Sorry, it's a bad habit of mine," he chuckled. "But I'll stop...on one condition."

"What?"

His smile widened. She really had no idea, did she? "If you stop doing that thing with your lip." Watching her continuously nibble on her bottom lip was starting to seriously test the gentleman inside of him.

She abruptly released her lip and grinned shyly. Oops. "Deal."

Arriving at her apartment building, Joe killed the Range's engine and climbed out, making his way around Sasha's side. He helped her out and walked her to the front door. Sasha liked the contrast of her hand encased in his much larger one. It was protective, comforting. She saw him looking around and wondered what he thought about her living quarters. Unlike him, she didn't reside in the most opulent areas in Tampa. But if he had any comments, he kept them to himself.

"I had a really good time tonight. Thank you." She meant it too. Dinner was great. He'd been sweet and funny and attentive, and was the consummate gentleman all evening. There weren't many men she'd come across like that. Either her stories ran them off or they demanded pussy straight afterwards. She wondered which category he would fall under.

"The pleasure is all mine," Joe answered, smiling broadly. He'd spent an amazing evening with an amazing woman, and as corny as it sounded, he didn't want this night to end. Silence fell between them, and he lowered his head for a moment before letting his eyes drift back up to hers. "Are you doing anything tomorrow night?"

He wanted to see her again? Her kids hadn't scared him off? And no pussy request? A mixture of surprise, elation and dread invaded her. "Sadly, I got a busy day. T.K. has a basketball game in the afternoon and I got night shift at the Grill." In all honesty, she was torn about seeing him again. She had since established that she was very attracted to him, and the last thing she wanted was to get involved only for him to disappear. With the kind of job he had, it was bound to happen. It was inevitable that she would be just a fling to him. So why not just walk away now?

He was standing close enough for her to see the grey color of his eyes. He was still holding her hand, and she was all too aware of the way his thumb kept skating across the back, causing tingles over her skin. The look he gave her littered her skin with goose bumps. He licked his lips, and a tiny gasp escaped her when he moved in closer, his face inching towards hers. Was he going to kiss her? Though she always knew it was a possibility, she still wasn't prepared for it. Panic engulfed her and reflexively, she took a step away from him. "I'm sorry," she ground out, wincing at the look of hurt in his eyes. "It's not you, I promise. It's just...it's been a while for me." She bowed her head in embarrassment. You are such a dumbass.

Swallowing back the rejection he was feeling, Joe squeezed her hand and kissed the back of it with a smile. "I understand. Don't worry about it; I won't ask you to do anything you don't want to do. But I do want to see you again, Sasha. I'd like to spend more time with you and get to know you better. If that's okay with you, of course."

Taking in his words, she forced herself to relax and stop overanalyzing the situation. This was meant to be about fun after all, and there was nothing wrong with at least starting out as friends. Ultimately, Joe was a nice guy, and she liked how tonight's date went. Meeting his eyes, she nodded. "Sure. I'd like that." She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, letting the embrace linger for a little while. Wow, how good did he smell? "Thanks again, Joe."

He hugged her back, breathing in the scent of her hair and wishing he didn't have to leave. "I'll call you." He kissed her cheek, marveling at how soft her skin was. He couldn't help but wonder if her lips felt the same. Reluctantly, he let go of her and stepped back. "Goodnight, Sasha."

"Goodnight." She watched him head back to his car. Even the way he walked was sexy. God, she was in so much trouble.

A/N: I know Joe's 28 (as of this post, at least). I slashed the age for my own use. Hope you like it so far. Do you think the date went well? Kindly review!