Emily Maynard totally has a thing for Ryan—why else would she bring him home with her?
With ABC already spilling the beans (or did it?) on who will most definitely not be the last man standing on The Bachelorette this season, it was time to focus tonight on who the single mom does have chemistry with.
And she was definitely cooking with Ryan. For this season's first one-on-one date, Emily brought the former football pro back to her house to...
Bake cookies for her daughter's soccer game!
But Emily hasn't lost her mind—no one's meeting little Ricki just yet. After Ryan donned an apron in the name of snack time, they drove out to the soccer field, but he stayed in the car while she dropped off the cookies.
Only then was it time to change their clothes and enjoy a romantic (for an interrogation) dinner.
"I don't want to be the game," Emily informed him, explaining how she won't be putting up with guys who are just in it to win it in the most shallow of ways. (At least, she's not planning to, right?)
"Are you going to be open to allowing a man to come in and really treat Ricki the same way that he's going to treat the other children that he's going to have with you?" Ryan inquired right back, giving Emily a run for her money in the serious-question department.
The sparks flew overall, but no big kiss just yet, even when they slow-danced in the spotlight at a Bachelorette-special Gloriana concert.
Skateboard-riding Jef, meanwhile, scored the group-date rose after making Emily feel like somebody's..."annoying little sister"?! Apparently, he failed to catch her eye and give her the I-like-you-too validation she was looking for, so once she had approached him to see where he was at (he thought that she didn't care for him), she gave him floral props for the lesson learned.
Lastly, the second one-on-one date was Joe's to screw up—and he did (which, alas, we already knew).
Emily flew him out to her home state of West Virginia, they went for a swim at a swanky indoor pool, had a romantic dinner...and she didn't feel butterflies.
"He did nothing wrong," she tearfully explained afteward. "It's just, we're not looking for the same thing...I know I'm not the right fit for him."
Joining Joe for the long ride outta there were group-daters Aaron and Kyle.
(Originally published May 21, 2012, at 8:10 p.m. PT)