Page 3 of Alfie

Alfie looked around the bar. The only females were workers that he’d seen before and knew for sure weren’t soulmates for any of them. But that little ember of hope was still glowing faintly, pulsing with the possibility that someone—maybe his someone—might walk through the door tonight and he could start the next chapter of his life.

The night was young.

Anything was possible.

Chapter Two

Myla Jones put the lid on her favorite lip gloss and dropped it into her purse, then looked at herself in the mirror. She was going on a date. A blind date of all things. Just because her brother was getting married on Valentine’s Day and her future sister-in-law was giving her a hard time for not having a date for the wedding yet.

It was still December for goodness’ sake.

But there was a soft, aching sort of loneliness that was riding her heels like a wraith at Halloween. She didn’t have anyone special in her life. She didn’t even have anyone to kiss at midnight on New Year’s Eve. And that was in a week!

So she’d agreed to go on a blind date with a friend of a friend from work.

Even though she wasn’t big on surprises, and she knew next to nothing about the man she was meeting. He had dark hair, ran marathons for fun, and worked at a bank. She’d never run for fun in any way. She couldn’t think of anything less fun than running. But maybe they’d hit it off and it would turn out to be the best thing she’d ever done. So despite her actual desire to go home, turn on the electric fireplace in her little apartment, and read a good book, she was going on a date.

She leaned forward to get a better look at her face and wiped a smudge of gloss from her skin. Then she smoothed her hands down her dark jeans and adjusted the hem of her thick sweater.

Grabbing her purse, she headed out into the theater.

The owner of the small, family-run theater, Mr. P., was filling a bucket with popcorn for a patron.

“Have fun with Eddie,” he called. Eddie was the friend of a friend of Mr. P’s daughter, Joy, who was a few years older than Myla.

“Thanks!”

“See you after New Year’s, enjoy your time off, honey,” Mrs. P., wife of the owner, greeted her from the ticket booth.

“I will, see you in a week.”

Myla had never taken an entire week off work in her life. She’d always just taken long weekends or a few days in a row. But her bosses had gotten after her for having too much vacation time accumulated, so she’d agreed to the time off between Christmas and New Year’s.

She didn’t have any plans that didn’t involve reading or catching up on her favorite shows. She wasn’t normally home in the evenings because she worked the afternoon into evening shift at the theater where she’d worked for the last four years. She loved seeing movies whenever she had free time, plus all the popcorn she could eat. And who didn’t like the little gummy orange slices with sugar on them?

Myla sure did.

Pausing at the glass doors, she buttoned up her coat and braced herself for the cold as she stepped out into the dark night and the chilly air hit her skin.

“Ha-holy crap,” she breathed, hurrying to her car. She got behind the wheel and turned the car on, immediately pressing the button for the heated seat. While she waited for her car to warm up, she opened her phone and put the address for the restaurant into the GPS. She was supposed to meet Eddie at seven at one of those standard sporty restaurant bars that had good burgers and appetizers. She’d texted with him the day before when he’d reached out to see if she wanted to meet up.

Once her car was warm enough that her teeth weren’t chattering anymore, she put the car in gear and headed toward the restaurant.

Now she was starting to get nervous.

It had been months since she’d been on a date. Suddenly, everything was feeling very real.

But what if this was the best thing she’d ever done in her life? What if meeting Eddie was part one of a new chapter, the catalyst for what she’d always wanted?

To find Mr. Right, get married, and start a family.

She wasn’t sure, and maybe she was just placing a lot on a blind date.

But who knew what the night would bring?

“So I grew up in a really traditional family,” Myla said, when the waitress had set drinks on the table and taken their orders. She paused in her thought as she watched Eddie lecherously ogle the waitress for long enough that she thought his eyes should have popped out of his head.

Ew.