The Dating Game (Alphalicious Billionaires) Read online

  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.

  CHAPTER 7

  Muffy

  “Are you driving me to the back edge of town to do all sorts of nefarious deeds to me? Should I call my roommate and let her know that I made the horrible decision to get into your truck and let you drive me into the middle of some isolated parts and hope that she can track my call to find our location? Should I say my goodbyes now? My family would really miss me too, you know.”

  Okay, she was kind of kidding. Kind of. You never knew. If she let Alex know that she was into him right from the start, maybe he’d change his mind about anything he had planned for her. Maybe. Then again, maybe now that she’d said she knew what he was all about, he’d drive her somewhere else, steal her cell, and she’d never be heard from again.

  Alex shifted his eyes from the wheel for just a second. He glanced at her briefly, brow arched halfway up his forehead. The action caused his brow to wrinkle adorably.

  “I am definitely not driving you out of the city to kill you. That’s quite an imagination. Too many late-night crime shows for you.”

  “Well, you never know.”

  “I know you can never be too safe, but seriously? I work for- uh- well- basically I try to help people, not commit unspeakable crimes.”

  “Isn’t that what they all say?”

  “I seriously wouldn’t know. Do you want me to ruin the surprise?”

  “Well, you did tell me that it was a surprise and asked me if I trusted you enough to take me for a ride out into the middle of nowhere, so I can’t say that you didn’t warn me.”

  “Exactly. Would a killer say those things to you beforehand?”

  “I don’t know. Probably. A lot of the times they’re really smooth talkers.”

  Alex sighed. “Look in the back seat. If I was planning something horrible, I’d have some crazy looking implements back there. A knife set, some trash bags.”

  “This is just getting creepy. And weird.” Muffy shivered.

  Maybe it was a bad idea. She’d been a little too enamored after dinner and had taken Alex’s hand in the parking lot. It did something to her in all the right places, places that hadn’t felt right or womanly or shivery or much of anything in a long time. Maybe it was also a good thing Steve broke up with me. She had to admit, now that her rose colored glasses had more than just fallen off, that the sex with her ex had been pretty lackluster at best.

  This though… maybe she was a little too desperate. A little overeager to feel something. Anything. Maybe she liked Alex. Even if his credit card declined at dinner. Money wasn’t an issue. It wasn’t like she had an abundance, but she certainly wasn’t struggling. She didn’t even care that his truck was bouncing and jostling and bumping along like the suspension had just given up entirely. It wasn’t that bad, nearly flying up to the roof and back down. It just made for a more interesting ride.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean it to be creepy. This was supposed to be romantic. It was the only thing I could think of short notice. I- well- I don’t exactly want to ask you to take me out. I mean… well- everything costs money, except this. I have a full tank of gas and I haven’t given the old girl a good drive in a while. Not like this.”

  “So really, it’s just an excuse to clean the carb?”

  Alex shot her a look. His lips wobbled and he lost the battle and had to smile. “It’s not a diesel, but you get the idea.”

  “Er… about dinner- don’t worry about it. It’s seriously not a big deal. I think women should pay sometimes. It’s the right thing to do. At least for herself. But- uh- don’t- well- maybe for the guy too. I think costs should be shared equally. I’m not one of those super forward liberal female people but I don’t expect someone to provide for me either. I think when you’re with someone it should be like, a partnership.”

  “That’s nice of you to say. It makes me feel a little less like I just handed in my man-card.”

  “Man-card? No! It’s not about money anyway. I like this. The drive. It’s nice. I haven’t been out of the city in a while.”

  “Nice, other than the whole fear of being murdered thing, you mean,” Alex deadpanned. “Which I am seriously not going to do,” he tacked on. “I know you don’t know me but I seriously am a decent guy. Never even road raged before.”

  “I don’t think you actually could in this. You’d have to chase them down most of the time and I’m not entirely sure that would work out.”

  “Easy there,” Alex said, forcing a mock wounded note to his tone. “Don’t hurt Ol’ Bonnie’s feelings. She has to get us home, you know. It would ruin whatever romance there was in this if she broke down and left us to walk when it’s so cold.”

  “I’m sorry,” Muffy giggled. “I didn’t mean anything by it, Bonnie.” She patted the dash, just to prove her point. “Don’t listen to me. You’re perfect.”

  Alex flashed her a wry grin. “I’ve never met a woman who talks to cars before.”

  “I just don’t want to get stranded.” Muffy shivered. “I’m not dressed for it.”

  “We’re almost there.”

  “How do you know about this place anyway?”

  “As a kid, we used to drive out here. Well, maybe not as a kid,” Alex quickly amended. There was something off about his tone, but his next words were so much lighter it left Muffy wondering if she’d imagined it. “I mean, as a teenager. After I got my license and could get up to whatever trouble I chose.”

  “Hmm. Sounds about right.”

  “Did you get up to any trouble as a kid?” he asked.

  The truck slowed down as Alex veered off, taking the right-hand exit. He drove up to the stop sign and turned right, heading straight into what looked like the middle of nowhere.

  “Don’t sound so incredulous.”

  “I’m not. It’s just that you’re an accountant.”

  The dark shape of the trees that lined the road flashed by in the sweep of the truck’s headlights. The night was cold, made colder by the absence of clouds. The moon was almost full and provided almost more light than the old truck. The road wasn’t great. It was crumbly and full of holes, but Alex navigated it with expert ease.

  “Because accountants are boring people that don’t have any experiences?”

  “That’s the cliché,” he said.

  “Oh really? I thought accountants were the kind of people who had lots of surprises in store. Not only are they often ridiculously smart and insanely good at solving problems, they also often lead a mysterious life out of the office. An alter-ego that no one knows about.”

  Alex turned to her, and his grin lit up the car. Lit her up. Jesus. Do I have to be so pathetically easy?

  “Did you watch a lot of superhero cartoons growing up?”

  “No,” Muffy giggled. “I really didn’t. It was just me and my sister, so we mostly watched shows about ponies and more girly stuff.”

  “Some girls are into superheroes.”

  “Did you watch superhero stuff? Or maybe you read comics.”

  “No- I- not really.” Alex’s lips settled into a thin line and his hands tightened on the wheel. At least, Muffy thought his knuckles looked a little white. It was really too dark to tell or it could have been a trick of the moonlight filtering into the cab or the low light from the dash. He turned back to her and he was smiling, even if it did look a little forced. “So, what’s your alter-ego?”

  “Oh…” Muffy hadn’t actually thought that far.

  The truth was, she was perfectly boring. She didn’t really have any adventures. She dated all the wrong men but she couldn’t exactly list that as a talent or a superpower. She came from an average family. A mom, a dad, a sister, a dog and a cat. Their house was even painted yellow.

  “It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me. That would ruin the secret. Real super people say they aren’t super people. That’s the point. They have to protect their identity.”

  “Oh good. You’re going to let me off the hook.” Muffy breathed a fake sigh of relief.

  The truck hit a hole in the road a second later and bounced precariou
sly making her grip onto the door’s handle. The truck’s box was long, and the cab was short, a tiny backseat and a bench seat in front. The damn suspension was probably gone altogether because maybe it was her superpower that she could sense those types of things, but she was pretty sure the truck should not be bouncing and slamming like that.

  “Sorry.” Alex looked at her contritely. “Didn’t mean to hit that. The holy shit bar is the right thing to hold onto though. You have good instincts.”

  Muffy resisted the urge to scrunch her nose and flip him the bird. She would have if he was Carla, but Alex was definitely not Carla. Oh, no. With those disarming blue eyes and those overly masculine features and a body carved out of the damn earth itself, he was definitely not Carla.

  He took a surprise right turn before she could respond. Her hand tightened around the same handle on the door, which she didn’t know was termed the holy shit bar. The road wasn’t paved, and it wasn’t exactly graveled either. It looked like packed down dirt. It took Muffy a minute to realize they were actually heading towards a field.

  It really had been a long time since she’d been out of the city.

  She waited as the truck slowed and eventually pulled to the side. Alex killed the ignition and shut off the headlights.

  Muffy’s eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness. She stared through the windshield and oh my god, incredible, didn’t even start to do the scene justice.

  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.

  Whoever invented bench seats in trucks got shit right. They must have made them for guys just waiting to score. For make-out sessions and for horny teenagers who wanted to get out from under their parent’s ever watchful, disapproving eyes. The truck might have been a piece of shit, but that bench seat was worth its weight in gold.

  Alex shifted on the seat, inching his way towards Muffy. She leaned left, towards him. Maybe she meant to do it. Maybe she was just trying to get a better view of the stars. Whatever the reason, it got her within reach. It might have been old-school, but Alex slipped an arm behind Muffy’s shoulders. He was careful not to touch her, even if the leather of his jacket did brush the back of hers.

  Just that small movement, combined with Muffy’s scent filling up the truck, sent a rush of blood flowing straight to his cock. His pulse jumped to life, hammering hard at the side of his neck. His insides turned into a pile of mush, and what the hell? His insides weren’t supposed to be anything close to mush. He wasn’t a sappy kind of guy. He wasn’t sentimental. Hell, he wasn’t even one for emotion.

  So, what the hell was happening to him?

  If this was just about the bet, then he was happy to comply, but his body’s reaction to Muffy was just completely… strange. He tried to form a coherent thought but found that his cock had actually funneled all the blood away from his brain. Thoughts weren’t happening at the moment. It felt like his damn brain had taken a permanent vacation.

  Before he even fully realized what he was doing, he had a hand threaded through Muffy’s thick hair. Dear God, her hair. She must use the world’s best shampoo because it didn’t feel like regular hair between his fingers. It felt like espresso colored silk.

  He was going to kiss her senseless. Maybe she’d join him since he already appeared to be there. He was already planning on how he was going to be completely ruthless. How he wanted to bruise her lips. How kissing her was going to be unforgettable.

  Muffy whipped her head around, just as he went in for the kill. He angled too far the wrong way and maybe she was taken by surprise, or maybe she was as eager as he was because it was suddenly hot in the truck and the damn windows were fogging up, because she arched into him at the same time.