Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Okay, so Alfie was not only the most gorgeous guy Myla had ever laid eyes on, but he was freaking adorable too. He had an infectious smile, an easy laugh, and sapphire blue eyes that reminded her of the lake in the summer.
Around the extended table, their two groups melded seamlessly: Alfie and his friends, and Myla and her family. Her brother was a mechanic by trade, and so was one of Alfie’s friends. Alfie himself was part of the security team at the safari park, a place Myla had been to once on a school trip.
“So do you get to eat as much popcorn as you want?” Hyde asked.
Myla giggled. “I could, I suppose. But how much popcorn would a person want to eat?”
He settled back in the seat and patted his stomach, which was quite flat, so she suspected that he—along with Alfie, Amadeus, and Nathan—all worked out regularly.
“I can pack away the popcorn, lemme tell ya. We’ve got some at the park that’s covered in a candy coating. But I straight up love butter popcorn.”
“I never get tired of it,” she said, “but I don’t really eat it unless I’m watching a movie.”
“Can you watch any movie you want?” Alfie asked.
“Yep. When we’re not busy, I sometimes sit in and watch a movie for a while.”
“Ah, remember that time you went to watch a movie on your lunch break and found people having sex in the empty theater?” Alice asked.
Alfie and his friends all looked at her in surprise. Myla smiled. “I was so surprised I dropped my lunch and ran out.”
“What happened?” Nathan asked.
“The owner walked in and told them to put their pants back on and get the heck out. Then we steam-cleaned all the seats.”
While conversation flowed around them, Alfie smiled at her. “I haven’t been to a movie theater in a really long time.”
“What’s your favorite kind of movie? Let me guess, action?”
He snorted. “Because I know how to throw a punch?”
“It’s a pretty standard movie genre for guys that look like you.”
His voice went low when he leaned in and asked, “Look like me?”
She inhaled softly and picked up his cologne, which smelled freaking amazing. Like a bonfire in the woods.
“Sexy,” she whispered. “And like you could bench press a truck.”
His chuckle was low and made her belly clench. Damn, he was sexy.
“Well, I do like to take care of myself,” he said. “And I don’t mind a movie with some action scenes, but I really like comedies. Or a good animated one, but only if the parents don’t die. I hate movies that start out like that.”
“I get that,” she said.
“Yours?” he asked.
“I like comedies too, but I really like good old-fashioned family movies. The theater where I work plays old movies on Tuesday afternoons, and they’re so fun to watch.
My parents said they’re the movies that used to play in the eighties on Friday nights, the kind you can only find on streaming services now. ”
“Sounds like Tuesdays are a lot of fun.”
“Well,” Alice said, as she finished the last fry from her extra-crispy batch, “I’m about to turn into a pumpkin, so we need to scoot.”
She and Milo stood and put their coats on. “We can walk you out, Myla,” her brother said.
Alfie rose to his feet. “I’d be happy to walk you out, Myla.”
She smiled at him and stood. “I’d like that.”
“I’ll be right back,” he said to his friends.
He put his jacket on and walked with her out into the cold night.
“Where did you learn to fight like that?” she asked.
“My dad and grandpa taught me to defend myself when I was a kid. When I was a teenager, I got into boxing for a while. I figure there’s not much use in being strong if you don’t know how to protect the people you care about.
Plus, it’s handy knowing how to take someone down without using a weapon in the park. ”
She stopped at her car and waved at her brother and Alice.
Then she looked at Alfie.
“I had a really nice time,” she said. “Thanks for rescuing me.”
“I’m glad I could.” He rocked back on his heels. “I’d like to see you again, Myla.”
Her heart pounded. “I’d like that.”
“How about dinner tomorrow?”
“Dinner sounds great. Six?” She took her phone from her purse and opened the contacts so he could enter his information.
“Perfect.” He sent himself a text from her phone so he had her number, and then she texted him her address. “I’ll pick you up.”
He put his phone in his back pocket, and she just couldn’t stop thinking it had been a really long time since she’d felt so captivated by a man. And maybe she’d never really felt like that.
“Okay,” she said, tucking her phone back into her bag. “Tomorrow it is.”
She felt like an utter dork right now.
But then he said, “Tomorrow.”
Were they stuck in a time loop or something?
He stared at her for a moment, like he was memorizing her face, and then he said, “I want to say a lot of things to you because I want to keep this moment going forever, but I don’t want you to be cold, so you should get in the car and get home and warm up.
Maybe some tea like you mentioned would do the trick. ”
Had he honestly recalled her rambling earlier about how much she liked hot tea when she was cold?
“You’re too good to be true, I think,” she said, more to herself than to him, but she’d said the words out loud anyway.
“I’m just me, Myla,” he said. His eyes softened, the blue going a little darker.
“I was at the right place at the right time to meet you. If either of us is too good to be true, it’s you, since you’re gorgeous and sweet, and I can’t believe I was lucky enough to get to hang out with you tonight.
I’m sorry you had a crappy blind date, but that jackass’s loss made tonight the best night of my life. ”
“Now I know you’re too good to be true,” she said.
He grinned, eyes crinkling at the corners. “Be careful driving home, sweet Myla. If you want to text me when you get there safely, I’d love that. But only if you want to.”
There he went, being all sweet.
“I will. You be careful too.”
He hesitated for a moment, then leaned in slightly. She picked up the amazing scent of his cologne again and it made her stomach flip. “I’m so glad you walked into the bar tonight.”
“Me too.”
She thought he might kiss her, but instead, he leaned back and smiled. “Tomorrow,” he said, the word a promise between them.
She unlocked her car and he grabbed the door for her, and once she was seated he shut her in, waved, and walked toward the bar. He turned at the door and watched until she had pulled from the spot and headed out of the lot.
As she drove home, the night replayed in her mind in little vivid snapshots—the way he’d intervened with Eddie, the easy conversation she’d had with him, and the way it felt like she already knew him.
It was nuts to feel so strongly so fast. She absolutely knew that.
She wasn’t a tween with her first crush, she was a whole adult and had been on plenty of dates.
But none of them had ever felt like this.
Her phone pinged as she put her car in park in front of her apartment and she saw it was a text from Alice.
Holy crap, he is perfect for you! How lucky that you had a crappy date!
Myla laughed. Just my luck, I guess! I thought the night was ruined but it was saved by a sexy knight in shining armor.
Lucky duck. Date?
Tomorrow, dinner.
Call me in the afternoon and I’ll help you pick out a perfect outfit. Milo says nothing sexy, but I say put it all out there, girl! He could be your Mr. Right!
I’ll call you. Love you.
Love you too.
Was Alfie Mr. Right? It sure did seem like it. He was everything she wanted in a guy: protective, sweet, funny, and oh yeah…sexy as hell.
Alfie was all of that in spades.
Whatever was between them, it certainly felt like the start of something amazing.
Once she was inside, she sent him a text that she’d made it safely to her place, and then sent him a picture of a mug with a tea bag while she waited for her kettle to boil.
A little while later, he sent her a picture of a mug with steaming tea.
Freaking adorable.
Sleep well, Myla.
Sweet dreams, Alfie.