Page 6 of Mated By the Alphas
“We don’t have an Ice Queen,” he says. “But we still make money.”
We continue talking and he asks about my family life. I tell him the same story I tell everyone. My mother died when I was little. I’ve never met my father. Don’t even know his name. My mother took that to her grave, and like it usually does, talking about my family makes me a little sad. I have to blink away a couple of tears.
“Oh gosh, I’m terrible at dating,” Charles chuckles nervously. “I’m already making you cry. That usually doesn’t happen until I bore them to tears.”
“No, it’s fine,” I say, waving off his concern. “Why don’t you give me your number? We’re both in finance. Maybe we could get a drink sometime and continue to debate the finer points of working for the Ice Queen or Mr. Pendleton.”
“I’d love that,” he says, smiling as he writes down his number.
Charles is the best candidate so far. Mainly because I know we’d have something to talk about other than the things I hate discussing on first dates. After Charles walks away, Daisyapproaches, but she has to hand out a couple of beers before she makes it to the end of the bar.
“So, how’s it going?” she asks, grinning from ear-to-ear. “Meet any interesting guys?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.” I shrug. “I mean, I didn’t feel any fireworks or anything. The last guy seems nice, but I’m not sure he’s Mr. Right.”
“Mr. Right Now could be good enough,” she teases. “No reason to sit around waiting for Mr. Right. If he comes along, he comes along. If he doesn’t, at least you could have some fun looking for him.”
“I suppose, but I’d still like to feel some kind of connection,” I sigh.
“You don’t need to feel a connection to get your cherry popped. Trust me,” Daisy giggles, giving me a nudge across the bar. “You’re old enough to start having fun, Ansley. Live a little! I’ll find your next date.”
“No, I’m done with that,” I say, shaking my head. “Plus, I can’t keep downing glasses of wine so they can buy me another one. I’m already feeling it.”
“Alright, suit yourself. I got people who need drinks!” Daisy hurries towards a guy who is trying to flag her down.
I spin my glass of wine, relieved that I don’t have to finish it quickly or sit through another conversation with some random guy. I kind of feel like I’m chickening out, but I collected a few phone numbers. I might actually give Charles a call. We’ll see if I still feel that way after the wine has worn off.
The night seems to drag on without Daisy sending eligible bachelors my way. I’ve never been a big fan of bars, especially when they’re this loud. I’ll have a headache tomorrow from the noise, even if I escape the wine hangover. Thank goodness I don’t have to work.
After discussing my family, some thoughts linger. It’s hard for me to remember my mom. I’m not sure I could actually remember her face if I didn’t have photographs. I remember a period of sadness. Lots of crying because she was gone. Lots of hugs from my grandmother. But eventually, life had to go on. My grandfather made sure of that.
Then I met Daisy, and it’s hard to be sad when she’s around.
“Ready for more wine?” Daisy asks, sliding over so fast it’s almost like she appears in front of me. “I promised you wouldn’t pay for one all night, and I meant it, so this one is on me.”
“I should probably go,” I sigh, sliding my glass towards her.
“What? It’s Friday night. The party has barely gotten started,” Daisy laughs. “One more glass, at least. If you want to go after that, I’ll walk you out. I’ll get Mac to come out of his office and watch the bar for me.”
“Alright, fine. One more glass,” I relent, nodding in agreement.
Some of the crowd at the bar thins and I feel a little more comfortable. Except I feel a strange sensation, like I’m being watched. I try to shake it off, then look around the bar. I’m sure it’s just the alcohol until I see a guy in the corner who actuallyisstaring at me. We make eye contact for a moment, but I look away.
I take another sip of my wine and glance at him. His dark-eyed stare is still locked on me, and he’s hard to miss. I’m surprised I didn’t notice him when he came in. He’s got a thick, rugged physique, dressed in a long-sleeved red flannel shirt and jeans. His hair is black with hints of charcoal gray, tossed back like it’s intentionally meant to look messy. A beard that’s a shade darker adorns a chiseled jawline.
He reaches for his beer, not looking away, and nods to me before he takes a sip. I turn away again.
“Okay, we’re in a bar. It’s not that weird for someone to be staring at me. He probably saw me talking to a lot of different guys tonight,” I mutter to myself, taking a sip of my wine.
I feel a strange tingle between my legs. A pulsing heat in my core. That’s never happened before, and I don’t think it’s just the wine. None of my speed-dates made my body hum. I try to shake it off, but every time I glance over my shoulder, the man is still staring.
“I could go talk to him. Nothing wrong with that…” I think, with an internal sigh. “He’s pretty hot. Daisy would probably tell me to go for it. Hell, she’d probably run over there and drag him to the counter just so we could meet.”
I get up from the stool, but chicken out before I can convince myself to go through with it. Instead of walking over to him, I walk straight to the bathroom like it was my original destination.
The strange tingle is still there. The pulsing heat is too. I put my hands on the bathroom counter and take a deep breath.
“He doesn’t have to be Mr. Right,” I say, staring at myself in the mirror. “Just Mr. Right Now. That’s what Daisy said.”
