The sky was alive with a thousand twinkling stars. No, obviously more than a thousand. She just pulled that number out of her ass. There were probably millions up there. They danced in their blanket of inky purple black, the moon their constant companion. The night was so crisp and clear, it was like someone had painted it all. It was so pretty and so breathtaking it almost didn’t look real. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d ever seen the night sky in all its glory. Or at all. When was the last time she’d even bothered to look up and take it all in?
She turned to the side to tell Alex how wonderful it was and how she was so glad she’d taken a chance on him being a creeper and decided to trust him. She thought he’d be looking at the incredible night sky, completely enraptured, like she was, but her breath caught when she realized that he wasn’t looking at the stars at all.
He was looking at her.
CHAPTER 8
Alex
Okay, so he’d just been caught ogling Muffy like the creeper he was trying to convince her that he wasn’t. It was a good thing she didn’t know about the chainsaw he’d thrown onto the floor of the truck, since his plan had already been to ask her, if the date went well, to come out and see the stars. The last time he’d driven down the road in the field that in actual fact belonged to him, there had been a wild bush across. So, the chainsaw was just in case. Obviously. There was also a shovel back there. Just in case he needed to dig the truck out since the damn thing wasn’t a four-wheel drive and could easily get stuck in the mud. He had been in a pinch when he bought old Bonnie since he needed to go full-on with the bet.
Nice cars and a tasteful house in an upscale neighborhood didn’t exactly scream, I’m broke.
“I- uh…” Muffy whipped her head back to facing forward so fast that he swore he almost heard the whiplash take place.
Alex coughed. “It’s incredible, isn’t it?” He felt like he’d been sucker-punched, because watching Muffy watch those stars was probably the most incredible thing he’d seen in a long time. He had to remind himself that this was all about winning a bet.
It was hard when she was so damn beautiful, her cheeks flushed, eyes sparkling, dark hair falling in a cascade of curls down her back. His eyes may have chanced to her perfectly shaped legs, right where her dress had ridden up past her knee.
His head was in the game when it came to the bet, but his dick… that fucker had a mind of its own.
“Yeah- it’s… really pretty.”
“You’re not just saying that because you’re trying to be nice, but secretly you’re disappointed in this and the rest of the date and me and you’re too polite to say anything and what you really want is to get the hell out of here and get back to your apartment and phone your friends to tell them what a nightmare it was?”
He allowed half a smile, and it worked. Muffy responded, her gorgeous bow lips turning up.
“Who calls anyone anymore?” she snorted. “You might have had it right, up until that point.”
Her smile slayed. He was in the damn deal, but god, what he wanted more than anything was to lean across the bench and kiss the ever-living shit out of her until she either pushed him away and slapped him hard across the face or she kissed him back until they were both breathless. Maybe he’d go back for seconds after.
Okay, he’d definitely go back for seconds, because he could already tell that kissing her was going to be like tasting the most delectable dessert, the kind that always goes first at the buffets and people rush for it, the kind people shove and elbow each other out of the way for.
“What if I said that I didn’t like this place? Would you be really butthurt? Are you the kind of guy that is super easily offended and holds grudges forever?”
“Butthurt…” Alex echoed.
“Yeah. Haven’t you heard that before? Or- er- maybe you haven’t. Uh… sorry. Maybe I should clamp down on the potty mouth.”
“No. No clamping down needed. I’ll just file that one away for later use. I like that. Butthurt.”
“I can’t believe you’ve never heard that.”
“Nope. Never.”
“Well.” Muffy turned back straight. She angled her face, staring up at the sky. “I must say, you don’t have to be butthurt about this, because this is the most incredible thing I’ve seen in a very long time.”
Ditto. And yeah. He wasn’t looking up at the damn sky. He was looking at her. Again. Because he really was a creep and he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of her.