Lina smiled. "No, not a date," she replied. She found it amusing that he assumed that she had a boyfriend, or something to that nature.<br/><br/>In actuality, she'd never really had a serious relationship before. Sure, she'd dated around, but she'd always been the type to put her career first, and most guys she knew craved her attention and felt ignored. She couldn't help it; she'd always been the type to put herself before others. She didn't think it was selfish, just practical. Lina knew about the harshness of the world already, and had come to the conclusion that she couldn't trust anyone, at least for now.<br/><br/>She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He was staring intently at her, as if he was about to say something fairly important. She took another sip of her beer, scanned the room one last time for any sign of Vinny, and then turned to look at him.<br/><br/>"Not a date," she repeated, cracking a smile. This guy seemed nice enough, but she still had to be careful.