Love at Blind Date Complete Series: Books 1-4

by Lorelei M. Hart

  After getting a glass of wine and basket of chicken fingers, I took a few steps in to get out of the way of incoming customers and looked for a table where the people seemed ready to leave, and my eyes were drawn to a man sitting alone in a booth. And when he signaled me over to sit with him, I found my body on autopilot, heading in his direction. Sure, he was good-looking with his broad shoulders and sexy facial hair and that smile...oh, that smile, but it was more than that. I just couldn’t place what.

  “May I sit here?” I asked, already scooching in, and he nodded with a brief chuckle.

  “Did your date work late?” It took me a moment to figure out he meant Sophia.

  “Alas, it was me that worked late this time.” I settled the bag with Sophia between us. “Sophia was not impressed. You can pet her. She’s a pretty amazing dog.”

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look more like the golden retriever type.” He gave her a scratch behind the ears. “But Miss Sophia does have a way of winning hearts, doesn’t she?”

  “I’m more of a basset guy, if you must know, but I didn’t pick Sophia, she picked me.”

  “Isn’t that always how it goes?” I said no to his offer of another drink, and he waved over the waiter and ordered more beer for himself. “Help me eat some of this food I ordered and then tell me all about how you found your person, Sophia. You can’t exist on chicken fingers.”

  “Deal,” I said in my Sophia voice, enjoying the alpha’s rich laughter at my antics.

  “I’m Harry,” he held out his hand and I took it, the warmth of it feeling far too good. I wasn’t here for a date, but maybe...maybe I could scratch an itch? That wouldn’t lead to falling into my bad habits of love the one you're with, would it?

  “I’m Richard.”

  34

  Harry

  Richard fed Sophia a chicken finger, and she swallowed it in one gulp. He patted her head. She leaned into him and licked his hand. He gave her a look of what could only be described as love—pure, unadulterated love. She adores him. Wish he’d look at me that way. “She’s so lucky you found her.”

  “While that’s true,” he replied, “I’m the lucky one. She’s great company.”

  I ignored the background noise of regulars playing pool and the thwacks and dings from pinball machines and concentrated on the man sitting opposite me. Each time he took a bite of food, I admired his long slender fingers and shivered, picturing them pressed on my flesh or wrapped around my dick.

  His scent had captured me the moment he sat down and made me its prisoner. I was mesmerized.

  As he licked breadcrumbs from around his lips, I mewed, imagining his tongue sliding over my skin while lapping droplets of sweat.

  “You okay?” he asked. “You’re a little flushed.”

  Shit! “Yeah, I’m fine.” I gulped my drink, wishing I could pour it over my head. “It’s warm in here.” I picked up a paper napkin and waved it in front of my face which did nothing except probably make me look like an idiot. Richard gave me a weird look but said nothing.

  Sam wandered over, and Sophia sank down into the messenger bag. “Your dog is a cutie, but next time, you should leave her at home,” he told Richard.

  “Oh, yeah, sure. Sorry about that.” The omega checked his phone. “We should go.” He pulled a few bills from his wallet.

  I was hoping we’d sit for another hour at least while I gathered the courage to ask him for his number. I glanced around for Matt, but he and his alpha had left. Wonder if they’re at our place.

  “But could you hold Sophia while I go to the men’s room, Harry?

  “Of course.” I welcomed the delay and cuddled the dog against my chest. She whimpered as Richard walked away, and I nuzzled her head. “Dad will be back in a minute, sweetheart.” I bounced her in my arms as I calculated the money for my dinner. Damn Matt, ordering so much food. I’d have to get a doggie bag.

  Richard sauntered back, and I wasn’t the only alpha admiring him, but he seemed oblivious and was studying me. Or was it Sophia? The dog wagged her tail as he retrieved her and drained the last dregs in his glass.

  I gulped as he swallowed a mouthful of wine and some trickled over his chin. I longed to lean over and catch it—with my tongue.

  Why am I so nervous about asking to see him again? It’s either yes or no. Not a big deal. Except it was. “Hey, I’ve enjoyed m-meeting you and Sophia. And I’d really like to s-see you again. How about we exchange n-numbers and try to meet up again soon?” They were a lot of words and I’d stumbled over most of them.

  Richard cleared his throat. “I have a suggestion.”

  “About?” Say you want to see me naked. Need me to have dinner next week? Want me to fuck you. I held my breath, and my pulse raced.

  “Wanna get out of here? Right now?” he suggested.

  I tried to make sense of the words spilling from his mouth.

  “With me?” he continued. “To my place? Or yours, if you prefer.”

  Was this what I wanted? God, yes, I wanted to grip his naked body, plunge inside him, and have him scream my name. But much as I was tempted to say yes, I needed time to think this through. “I… that… it’s…”

  He sat back, his eyes darting left and right and avoided looking at me. “If you don’t want to, it’s fine. I made a mistake. I thought we had chemistry.” He stood up. “If you’re not into it, no problem.”

  He’s giving up easily. Not a good sign. Grabbing his hand, I said, “Wait.” And pulled him back onto the seat as Sophia whined. “You’ve misunderstood me.”

  “How? I said I wanted to sleep with you and you said nothing and then stuttered the beginning of an excuse.”

  His voice rose, and I whispered, “Keep it down,” as multiple pairs of eyes peered in our direction. “Asking for your number was an expression of interest, or did you think I was planning on popping in to see Sophia?”

  “Look, Harry. I like you and I want to fuck. It’s as simple as that. But exchanging phone numbers is a step too far.”

  “So, you’re expecting a one-night stand?” I asked.

  “Yeah. We have a good time but say goodbye afterwards. No commitments, no pressure, no tears. Just fucking.”

  It sounded so clinical. “Nothing else?”

  “Nope.”

  “Shame. I’d love nothing more than to fuck you until morning, but I’ve been there, done that with one-night stands. It’s fine at that moment, but I always feel icky running out with bad breath and holding my shoes before dawn or having the guy disappear from my bed before I wake up.”

  He shrugged. “I get it. It’s not for everyone. But that’s all I can give right now. I’ve recently moved to town, got a place and a new job.” He kissed the dog’s head. “And an unexpected companion. Adding a relationship into that mix is asking for trouble.”

  “You’re right,” I sighed. “And I’m also concentrating on my career and wasn’t looking for anything serious when I arrived earlier. But there’s something about you that made me change my mind.”

  He pointed to Sophia who was fast asleep. “It’s Sophia. Most guys don’t wander in with a puppy. You’re in love with my dog.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” While Sophia was adorable, that wasn’t it. I inhaled that intoxicating aroma that wafted off him and allowed it to curl around my nostrils.

  “Sorry. We could have had fun. Maybe I’ll see you around.” He outstretched his arm. “Nice meeting you, Harry.”

  With my hand in his, my fingers gripped his warm flesh, trying to memorize the texture and his scent. “Bye, Richard.”

  “See ya.” And he was gone. I sat surrounded by leftover food and wanted nothing more than to be at home. But I waited a few minutes. I didn’t want Richard to think I was following him. That’d be awkward.

  Sam brought my doggie bags, and I paid. So much for a fun night out. My roommate left me for a night of passion, and the sexy omega with the twinkling eyes wasn’t looking for a commitment. Maybe I should get a dog. Wonder
if Richard would loan me Sophia.

  35

  Richard

  “I hear they are considering adding a new family practitioner come spring. They need to figure out logistics of space and all that first,” Enrique whispered over the sound of Christmas music echoing through the office. He could be such a little gossip. I didn’t hate it. If he didn’t keep me in the loop, there was a good chance I wouldn’t have known there was a loop.

  “I heard their wait lists have been increasing lately.” Mostly from people at urgent care pissed they couldn’t see their doctor for two weeks for an ear infection, and frankly, they had every reason to be pissed at that. They really needed two more practitioners but finding the physical space for one was going to be challenging enough. Eventually, they would have to add on or move one of the specialists to another location, but that all took time and money.

  And in the meantime, I was going to continue to work my ass off to be top of their list. I loved what I did, but the hecticness of it paired with the crazy hours wasn’t sustainable in the long run. It just wasn’t. Eventually, I was going to want more of a social life than watching a movie with my dog.

  “I heard your name is being considered,” he whispered even lower, and it was all I could do not to offer a fist bump. My six-month evaluation had been solid, but for all I knew all the evaluations had been great. It wasn’t as if I were privy to them.

  “I’m not going to hold my breath.” Except I totally would. I’d worked so hard for this opportunity, and if it passed me by, who knew how many years I would need to pay my dues until someone decided to retire or move or whatever.

  “You coming tonight?” Enrique spoke a little louder this time. Looked like gossip time was officially over.

  “Probably. I need to stop home first and take care of Sophia. William is visiting relatives for the holidays.” Which I had to admit I was a little—no, a lot jealous of. I was scheduled to work most of Christmas week so there would be no going anywhere for me.

  “Promise me you will come. It will be fun.” He gave my shoulder a squeeze as the bell on the door chimed. And our brief moment of calm was officially over as a steady stream of patients began to come in.

  Five hours later, I was freshly showered and saying good-bye to Sophia who gave me the saddest little look ever imaginable.

  “Daddy will be home soon. This place isn’t dog-friendly.” And given it was a half-hour across town, I wasn’t up for risking it. Why they picked someplace so far away was beyond me, especially when so many of my coworkers enjoyed a nice drink during these get-togethers, and the distance made ride shares far too pricey in my opinion.

  I drove the distance, singing along to the radio Christmas marathon the entire time. I liked Christmas. I enjoyed the music, the decorations, the food...all of it. It was better with family, but I wasn’t going to let distance destroy the magic. A video chat and cookie baking could partially fill the void of being alone. Probably. Or so my theory went. It would be my first Christmas without even a roommate so time would tell.

  I shut down my almost pity party for one as I pulled into the parking lot of Jack’s. It looked like a fun enough place, the sign toting everything from karaoke to billiards.

  “Thanks,” I walked in through the door held open by what would typically be thought of as a hot alpha. Maybe I was broken or just overworked, but the last person I felt any stir from was the guy who turned me down a few months back. Probably overworked.

  I walked the perimeter of the place looking for a sign of anyone from work. I checked my phone and as I expected it was a few minutes past when they planned to be there. Great. I headed back to where I saw an empty table, figuring I would snag it for when they finally arrived to hear my name called from behind. I snapped around expecting to see a familiar face, the noise of the room making it impossible for me to recognize it by sound alone, and to my surprise, there stood Harry. The Harry from that night.

  “Hi?” It shouldn’t have been a question but out it popped like one.

  “Guess who ditched me again.” He rolled his eyes. I had a feeling he didn’t mind too much. He didn’t seem like the type to keep doing something over and over again if he hated the result. But what did I know? I managed to talk to him for a grand total of what, an hour or two?

  “Your roomie?”

  “Sure enough. He found a Santa who wanted to play.” He half shrugged, “Wanna grab a seat?”

  “Actually, I’m here for a work thing.”

  “Sorry to bother you,” he started to walk away and my hand dashed out and settled on his shoulder.

  “No, I mean I have a thing, but they aren’t here yet.”

  He just looked from my hand to me and back again.

  “What I mean is yeah, I would like to sit with you.” And just like that I found myself back at his table chatting away about nothing of any consequence. It was so easy to be around him, which was bad. I could so easily be lulled into the ‘fall in love and then just as quickly out of love’ trap that was my life. I couldn’t risk it, not with my dreams so within reach.

  “So how is the little princess?” he asked, and like a true dog dad, I whipped out my phone.

  “She is doing great. She just had a Christmas photo shoot—don’t judge.” I handed him the phone, and much to my surprise, he didn’t laugh at my sweet girl and me with Santa, her wearing a little elf hat and me a Christmas tie. It was my Christmas card, because sure enough, owning a dog led to all kinds of other domestic weirdness. If Jesse could see me now.

  “This would be a great Christmas Card,” he finally said. He must’ve seen something on my face because he quickly added, “It is your Christmas card. That’s fantastic.” Not an ounce of judgement in his voice, unlike a few of the comments from some of the nurses at work. Not that I cared. The cards were adorable and Christmas was my jam.

  “Do you have one on here of the day you got her?” he asked, handing me back the phone.

  “I have one, yes. I took it when I thought she might...yeah, I have one.” I grabbed the phone, not wanting to think about the look on the vet’s face when I brought her in and how for a brief period we weren’t sure if she was going to make it. How did people manage to raise kids without losing their mind to worry if a little stray dog could have the feels running so hard?

  I scrolled through and handed it back to him, checking the clock on the wall behind him for the third time.

  “Wow, you weren’t exaggerating. She looks like a completely different dog now. You have such a kind heart. Most people would’ve dumped her at the shelter or ignored her completely.” I wasn’t sure if most was accurate, but he was probably correct that a large number would...especially if they had seen the bill. But that didn’t make me any kind of hero. It just made me a sap who instantly loved the little furball. Nothing more.

  “When were they supposed to be here?” he asked as I glanced at the wall again.

  “Only fifteen minutes ago, not enough time to call and pester anyone,” although I was tempted to.

  “I hate to mention this because I am having a lovely time, but are you sure they meant this Jack’s?”

  “This Jack’s?”

  “Yeah, there are two, one is across town near the river.”

  Right by work. How did I not know there were two? I was officially an idiot. “I gotta go.” I shoved the phone in my pocket. If I left right away, I would still be almost an hour late, but at least I wouldn’t look like I didn’t care enough about the people to go.

  I slid out of the booth. “It was nice talking to you again.”

  “Maybe I could get your number?” He bit his bottom lip, and I almost caved. Almost. But then I remembered all the reasons having an alpha now were not good for me. The timing was just wrong.

  “Sorry, I gotta go,” and then, like a loser, I hightailed it out of there so fast trying to convince myself it was all for the best.

  I failed.

  36

  Harry

  Shit! The
re he goes again. I half stood as the voice in my head urged me to go after him. And do what? I snarked back. Beg? Traces of his scent remained and teased me as they intruded on my thoughts. Damn that omega.

  Not only had I been rebuffed twice, but it being Christmas made me a Christmas reject! I slammed a fist on the table as Richard made his way to the exit and was swallowed up by the crowd.

  “What did this table ever do to you?” a husky voice whispered in my ear. I inhaled a shaky breath. And now the air that held Richard’s aroma was overlaid with another powerful omega perfume as a tall, dark stranger sat opposite me. But it wasn’t the tall, dark one I wanted.

  He rubbed a palm over the five o’clock shadow that covered his chin and grinned, revealing brilliant white teeth. They have to be capped. No way are they real.

  When I didn’t respond, he slapped the wooden surface. “Whatever it was, it must have been something bad. Bad table. Bad! Bad! Bad!”

  He raised one very sexy brow, and I wondered how an eyebrow could be so alluring. Can I train mine to do that? Perhaps there are brow-training classes.

  “Was it?”

  “Sorry?” His penetrating gaze probed every pore, and I couldn’t look away from those piercing blue eyes.

  “Bad,” he repeated.

  “Well…” I answered.

  “Or perhaps it’s you who’s bad?”

  There was that quirky brow again, doing its thing.

  “Care for another?”

  “What?” He must think I’m an idiot replying with one-syllable answers, but the words coming out of his mouth didn’t compute.

  He nodded at my empty glass.

  “Sure. Thank you.” While the omega bought more beer, I considered my choices. I could pine after Richard who clearly wasn’t interested in me or a relationship. And we weren’t anything more than passing acquaintances. Bumping into one another every six months or so was hardly a friendship.