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“Uh- I- well maybe you could write on there that the tip is for the kitchen staff only. At least that would give whoever looks at it a bit of a pause.”
“She wasn’t overly nice, even before- uh- well- never mind. I’ll just leave the tip. She’ll learn if people keep stiffing her.” Muffy wrote down a number and scrawled her signature at the bottom of the receipt. After, she glanced up, humor dancing in her eyes. “Do you think she’ll make fun of me after? For my name, when she sees it?”
“I have no doubt,” Alex admitted. “Muffy and the broke dude. Sounds like a band.”
Muffy giggled. Her laugh was as pretty as the rest of her. She had one of those bodies that was tall and thin but somehow still oddly womanly. She’d worn a simple black dress, one of those kind of non-casual deals that would be appropriate work attire because it was cotton and not sparkly or anything. It was tight enough to outline the gentle swell of her breasts, her petite waist and the sweet swell of her hips, without really making it obvious that she had any of those attributes at all. Her skin was pale, like she said, but it was flawless and creamy and beautiful and didn’t need a stitch of makeup, which she hadn’t worn. Her hair was just past shoulder length and she’d curled it, making it shine.
Muffy was the kind of woman who didn’t know she was beautiful and that alone made her incredibly desirable.
That and she was kind. It didn’t take a genius to feel those waves of compassion and joy radiating from her. She was one of those people with a naturally magnetic energy.
“Oh god, it does.” Muffy grabbed the receipt back and under her signature, wrote, PS. We are not a band. She grabbed up her purse and slid out of the booth. One perfectly manicured dark brow rose as she studied him. “So, what now?”
“I- er- you still want to- finish the date? Even after- uh?”
“You don’t have to explain anything. I’ve been there a thousand times before. I just got a promotion last year and before that, things were really tight. Everything’s expensive now. Everything’s a struggle. I don’t know how people make it alone. I have my roommate to share half of the expenses and still… oh god. I’m babbling. I’m sorry. I should have just said, no big deal. I’d rather you work in social services and make a difference than be some hotshot lawyer who has a big bank account but is a total asshole. Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that either. I’ll just shut up now.”
Alex couldn’t keep in a laugh. When he laughed, Muffy looked at him like she really enjoyed the sound, and god, he liked to see her smile.
He didn’t know her at all. Really, he didn’t. But he wanted to. Bet or no bet, there was no way he was going to let her get in her car and disappear.
He’d never actually wanted to see someone again. He’d gone out. He’d been through it all, all the things Jay whined and groaned about. He’d definitely fucking been there, done that, but he could just tell Muffy was different.
She wasn’t like anyone he’d ever met before.
“Want to go for a walk? I know a nice park. No, that’s probably lame. I uh… no. I have a better idea.”
He shot for the stars, reached out, and took Muffy’s hand. She didn’t pull away.
It felt good, her small palm in his. Right. Like- like, it made his balls tighten and his stomach hurt and his heart race and- all the mushy spots inside that weren’t supposed to even exist, feel even mushier.
“Do you trust me?”
“What? Hardly.” A smile danced over Muffy’s perfect bow lips.
They were a naturally pale pink hue and it made Alex want to know what they’d look like swollen from his kiss. A bolt of straight lust gripped his stomach hard. And his balls. And-uh- his cock and his jeans were too damn well worn-in and faded to hide much of what was going on, so he angled away from her like he was fifteen years old and distracted her with a smile because by some miracle, she was actually studying his mouth. Like maybe she wanted to know what his lips looked like too.
There were, like, maybe all of two times in his life he’d done something truly spontaneous and romantic that didn’t involve shelling over an assload of money to make them happen. Scratch that, this was probably the only one time.
“Good.” Alex’s fingers tightened around Muffy’s and he led her through the maze of tables out the front door, into the frigid night air.
You couldn’t really see the stars in the city, but he knew a way to change all that.
