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She was nice.
Fuck, she was too nice for him.
She was too nice for some damn bet.
It wasn’t that he was in too deep to get out of it. He could easily have stood her up and never answered her texts again. He could have found someone that he wasn’t at all interested in, someone who he didn’t have to risk hurting.
Someone who he didn’t have to risk feeling anything for.
Alex already knew he couldn’t. He couldn’t do that to Muffy. He wanted to see her again. Damn it, he wanted to see her more than he was willing to admit. He hadn’t even slept the night before, thinking about her. About that near miss when he tried to kiss her. About how next time, he damn well wasn’t going to miss.
It was just curiosity. It was easier this way since he already knew Muffy. He was going to win that bet and his competitive spirit drove him to think completely irrational thoughts. He couldn’t help it that she was pretty. Okay, not just pretty but extremely beautiful. He was a guy. It was just basic biology. He’d find a way to let her down easy, without hurting her. Not because he cared, but because it was the right thing to do.
It all just boiled down to being a simple equation. Not real feelings.
That’s all it was.
Nothing more.
So then why did he feel terrified straight down to his toes?
CHAPTER 11
Muffy
To say that she was excited for her Sunday afternoon date with Alex was probably the understatement of the century. When he asked her what she’d like to do, she tried to pick something that didn’t involve forking over loads of cash. She wasn’t exactly sure where his financial state was at and it had only been two days since dinner, so she didn’t want to embarrass him making him think that she expected him to pay for things. She didn’t find it emasculating to pony up for more activities, but she knew he probably would.
Even though it was cold, she suggested a walk around one of the parks further from the downtown area. It was close to her apartment, within a fifteen-minute drive. The area was pretty, even in winter, though it was much more beautiful in the summer. She couldn’t really think of anything better, so after packing a small bagful of bird seed, since they tended to congregate in the park and wait for kind passerby to provide them their meals, and bundling up in her warmest jacket, toque, scarf, mitts, and winter boots, she slipped out of the apartment.
Luckily, Carla wasn’t home to drill her on her date. She’d been absolutely relentless in her quest for details and honestly, Muffy knew she could use the break.
On the way there, she worried about irrational things, like not being able to find Alex in the park, since it was pretty big. There was a statue of one of the city’s most famous politician who founded the park and she’d told him to meet her beside that, but she worried he wouldn’t be able to find it.
She worked herself up into a state and by the time she’d parked and walked towards the statue, she was nearly a nervous wreck, sweating in her heavy jacket, even though there was a stiff breeze and the weather was definitely wintery.
Muffy breathed out a sigh of relief when she spotted Alex’s broad shoulders. He was wearing a warm looking black jacket, faded jeans that were firmly in the sinful category for the way they molded his thighs- and other spots she was not going to look at- and he’d completed his outfit with a black toque and a set of mitts and boots that were probably as warm as hers.
“Hey,” Muffy smiled, her breath puffing out in the air. It was the middle of the afternoon and generally, the park was crowded, but since it was so cold, there were only a few brave souls out walking or briskly jogging along.
“Hi.” Alex’s smile lit up his eyes. His eyelashes were frosted with his breath since it steamed upwards just like hers. He seemed genuinely happy to see her again, which took her breath away.
She ambled from foot to foot, shifting to keep warm. “I guess I could have picked a warmer location. Is this alright?” She produced the small sandwich bag of birdseed from her purse. “I brought this if you want to feed the birds. Generally, if you just sit down on any of the benches, they come right up, looking for food.”
One of Alex’s dark brows arched upwards, but his eyes never lost their sheen. “Yeah. Sure. I don’t think I’ve ever actually fed birds before.”
“No?” Muffy turned and walked slowly along the paved path. The park was covered with a dusting of snow from the night before, but the path wasn’t icy yet.
