Aileen had some big decisions to make and she wanted to get an early start. It was, perhaps, very early in the year for her to browse Flourish and Blotts and decide on the textbooks she’d assign to her students in the fall. She was looking forward to her new job though, so the more prepared she felt, the better.

This afternoon she wore her hair loose and charmed it to fall in soft waves. Her robes were a soft turquoise with a stylish ruffled collar that brought out the blue in her eyes. She wasn’t the type of researcher to wear heavy, dark robes all the time just to make a more serious impression. If people underestimated her, it was their mistake. Aileen scanned the rows of titles, then picked out the fourth and last book she wanted to consider. She carried the heavy tomes in her arms and unceremoniously dumped them on the rickety display table in front of the window. She was not about to hunker down on the floor or try to juggle the books like the other customers.

Without hesitation, she removed the animated sign that flashed, “New Joke Book! Dazzle your friends and confuse Muggles! On sale!” and plopped it on top of another, equally annoying sign. She thought it mentioned something about the penalties of shoplifting.

Now that she had her space, she carefully spread out the books over the numerous covers of laughing faces. Ancient Runes for Beginners by Cindy Digg might work for the third years. She didn’t fancy the childish, cartoon images, or the avoidance of proper vocabulary in favor of simpler words, but it was an option. It had more illustrations than the other book for beginners, even though she didn’t like the style.

Aileen moved the Digg book over to one side and compared the other three books before her. This was where her decisions became more difficult.

“Miss?” A timid, young man wearing employee’s robes appeared beside her. “I’d be happy to move those books for you over to the counter,” he gestured towards the empty cashier’s station.

She barely glanced at him and continued flipping through A History of Ancient Languages. “That’s very kind of you, but as you can see, I’m not quite ready to order any books yet. I’ll be placing a large order, so I need to know I’m making the right decisions.”

“I see,” he answered nervously. “But miss, this is the display table. I just set it up… I mean, it’s not a big deal-“

Aileen flashed him a distracted smile. “Oh, is it? I’m sorry, hadn’t noticed. It’s a very handy space though, very handy indeed.”

She turned slightly away from the boy and continued shuffling her books around, clearly dismissing him. He made a strangled sound, or perhaps just cleared his throat, and stiffly walked away.

Confident that there would be no more interruptions, she scanned the advanced books, the ones she’d be assigning to her seventh years. Her expression grew grave as she stared at the author name of A Guide to Ancient Runes and Other Languages. Arvid Winter. He was a man she used to love and still, admittedly, cared about. Her hand hovered over the book, as if touching it would somehow bring her closer to him, but then she let her hand drop and rolled her eyes at her sentimentality. She was being silly. The past was the past.

Squaring her shoulders, she firmly reminded herself that she needed to choose an advanced book for its own merit, not because of her attachment to the author. She held up the other option and stared at it, lost in thought.

Diagon Alley. Felix thought it should be changed to ‘Boringly Overcrowded Alley.’ It would have suited it better, and been more accurate! Then people would know exactly what they were getting into when they showed up! Even on a Thursday there were too many people for his tastes. Granted, it was nothing like the back to school rush (he tried to do as much of it as early or late as he could). Sometimes he express owled Gabby some extra supplies that he had no patience to wait in line for. Honestly! Who waits three hours for fresh ink?!

Clearly some wizards and witches. Felix had done that for her first year, and nearly went insane. He was irritated, going off on anyone who would listen, and embarrassing poor little Gabby when they finally did get help and paid for their things. No, in comparison to the bedridden dragon pox of those horrid lines, today was nothing but a hiccup. It was still annoying for people to bump into you when there was plenty of empty cobblestone to trip over away from Felix.

Contrary to his normal grumblings about the Alley, he was in a rather good mood today. He’d woken up feeling rested and good! He’d made himself a hearty breakfast, shared a portion with Merlin, took care of the dragons, and got cleaned up to come out for a few essentials. He’d known while he was getting ready how the place would look. For all his grumblings and complaints, he’d probably be worried if Diagon Alley was deserted.

Coming out of the cool mountains, where snow was still prevalent on the ridges around him, Felix had planned ahead of time to be too warm. His dark blue robes were light and form fitting, kept at the knees, and with little loose material. He didn’t do the whole ‘flowing and free’ thing. The black trousers he had underneath were resting on top of his black dragon hide boots. They were clean and actually rather nice. Even after a few months of wearing them in, they didn’t look ratted or like he’d been dashing around a dragon barn in them.

Walking down the alleyway, however, Felix was starting to regret the robe choice. Perhaps he should have gone with none at all. Unbuttoning the top few to allow some air, he let out a hard breath and stopped at the coffee and tea shop. A hot tea later and he was wandering back on the streets. He had to stop down Knockturn before he went home for some potion ingredients… and there was that book he’d been looking into. Figuring he’d prefer getting home sooner than later, Felix finished his tea, tossed it in a bin, and practically jogged over to the bookstore.

Flourish and Blotts carried most things Felix needed. The books they didn’t, he had a couple other sources to look through before enlisting the help of the family friend bookhunter. He also got a bit of an ego boost seeing his book on dragons in the Magical Creatures section. Sometimes it was on display, when they cycled books through to show off. It had a nice cover; he supposed that was one of the reasons for it.

Walking past the front window, he happened to do a quick glance in, surveying the place. That was when he saw her. His eyes roamed over what he could see, his step slowing down. A half smirk appeared on his lips—they came to him, honestly. Nearly stepping into a little old woman bundled up in her robes and hat taller than half her body, Felix had to snap his attention away and jump back. She berated him a bit before he could open the door to the bookstore and step in.

Once the door shut on the mutterings of the old woman, Felix rubbed his hands together and glanced to the woman he’d been eyeing outside. She was busy with books… how cute. He took a step towards her but noticed another young man making his way to her. Frowning in slight irritation, Felix stepped instead towards the bookshelves near the woman. He was a worker at the bookstore, but still… Felix didn’t like any type of perceived competition.

He could hear parts of the man’s conversation. So maybe Felix didn’t have any competition, after listening to him try and assert himself. Rolling his eyes at that, he smirked as the remark came from the striking woman.

“Oh, is it? I’m sorry, hadn’t noticed. It’s a very handy space though, very handy indeed.”

Oh, this was adorable. Crossing his arms over his chest, Felix grinned and watched as the young man seemed to pump his chest out and lose all his confidence as she turned around dismissively. When he walked by, Felix gave him a supporting (and sarcastic) pat on the back. “Nice try, lad.” The odd look the young man gave him was replaced with a slight frown and an ask as to whether he needed any help. “Not after the display I just saw, but thanks for warming her up.”

Dismissing the younger man himself, Felix dusted nonexistent particles off his robes before stepping up towards the table. He had to be sly… clearly this woman was not your average blonde. Another once over and he found himself grinning. Or maybe she was just the over-the-top kind. Either way, Felix was feeling as if his odds were well in his favor. Women didn’t really stand a chance with him anyway.

Glancing over her shoulder at the book, Frank raised an eyebrow and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Was she trying to read the title? An amused smirk came to his lips as he stepped next to her. “One Hundred and One Reasons to Learn Ancient Runes sounds like a reasonable place to start, love.” He was a charmer wasn’t he?

Someone, Aileen realized irritably, was hovering over her shoulder. If it was the nervous shop employee again she was going to have a hard time keeping her thoughts to herself. The looming presence seemed taller, somehow. Maybe the shop boy had fetched his manager. If he had, she’d take her business elsewhere and Flourish and Blotts would miss out on a big sale.

The voice that breathed in her ear did not sound very professional, however. He even had the audacity to call her ‘love’. Lips pursed, she turned to give the hoverer a steely glare. The handsome face she met caused her to quickly mold her expression into something a bit more pleasant. Aileen studied his smirking mouth carefully, as it was nice to look at and she thought she recognized it from somewhere. A slow smile spread across her face. She’d have to stall to try and remember who he was.

“I’m afraid the name’s not Love,” she informed him jokingly. “My parents despise those trendy monikers young wizards go by these days. Cauldron. Gurdyroot. What is the world coming to?”

Aileen looked at the book in her hand, set it down, and grabbed the two she’d been considering for the beginners. She’d already decided which one she wanted, but she wasn’t about to tell Mr. Smirk that.

She looked into his face again and widened her eyes flirtatiously. “Perhaps you can help me with something,” After waiting a beat, she showed him the two options. “Say, that you’re just starting to learn Ancient Runes. Would you prefer better illustrations,” she shook the Digg book slightly, “Or, a better vocabulary list?” Which the other book had.

Aileen had already decided on the obnoxiously bright Digg book, if only because she could easily hand out vocabulary lists and explain the history of the runes without any text. Good illustrations were difficult to come by. However, she’d let this cute stranger think he had a say in the matter. Part of her felt relieved that he didn’t seem to know her, because so many reacted either sycophantically or negatively to the family name. It felt nice to be on neutral ground, if even for a little while.

Now, where had she seen him before?

Felix was confident, upon seeing her reaction to him standing there, that he had it in the bag. The way she looked him over, slight surprise at what a handsome devil he was, and that smile that seemed to grow the longer she stared at him. Yes… completely hooked. At least, Felix thought that. Smiling back, an amused look on his face, he decided to let her enjoy the look some more rather than rush it. All in due time…

“I’m afraid the name’s not Love… My parents despise those trendy monikers young wizards go by these days. Cauldron. Gurdyroot. What is the world coming to?”

Her parents? Glancing over her face once more, he reassured himself that she wasn’t underage. Or close enough, at least. Licking his lips around the grin, he raised an eyebrow and shook his head slowly. “Hopefully it’s coming to a point where we don’t worry about what our parents think.” The majority of mothers to girls he had dated or been with over the years would find him quite displeasing as a possible suitor (or heaven forbid son-in-law).

That was part of the reason he didn’t try hard to find ‘the one;’ part of it was because he was a selfish man, another part because he couldn’t keep in a relationship long enough to get that far, and partly because he couldn’t stand being married to both the woman and her family. It had been different with Kay… he’d been over the top in love with her, and neither really cared at that age what either parents wanted. It was about each other. Now… he was a bit more ‘wise’ to the game.

When someone mentioned ‘meeting’ her parents, it was time to end it as quickly and efficiently as possible so they couldn’t infer that there was anything else there to hold on to. As she had such a problem with the nickname, however, Felix was about to ask her her name when she suddenly switched gears.

“Perhaps you can help me with something… Say, that you’re just starting to learn Ancient Runes. Would you prefer better illustrations… Or, a better vocabulary list?”

Her eyes caught him and held his attention for a moment longer than they should have. Berating himself mentally for letting her catch him, he glanced to the books and frowned slightly before putting on a half smirk again. How cute… she was going to learn Ancient Runes? Blonde… older woman… just learning… Clearly a picture book was the best option. Resting his hands on his waist as he looked at both, he finally looked back to her face and gave her a knowing smirk.

“I would think for a beginner in anything, seeing it would do loads more than just hearing and reading about it…” She made it too easy to flirt, honestly. He liked it that way, though. When he had to work for it, it just wasn’t as much fun. He was surprised with the use of a big vocabulary with the subject in question, however. “I wouldn’t think there would be many vocabulary words to need to learn in order for a list to be made.” He didn’t really pay attention to Ancient Runes, though…

He stepped a little closer, leaning against the display table slightly as he gently took the picture book from her, glancing through it. If anything, it was more a way to get a little closer while seeming as if he was interested. It was too bad Felix couldn’t see how wide eyed and red in the face the employee was at seeing him now resting on the edge of the table. “So, if it’s not Love, what is your name?” Closing the book with a soft thud, he set it nonchalantly on the table beside him, his eyes now once again on the wonderful woman in front of him.

Aileen nodded at his astute point about the opinions of parents. She really needed to stop referring to her family to complete strangers. She was a grown woman after all. The fact that they still had a strong hold over her was not something she’d admit though, even to herself.

His answer revealed that he knew very little about Ancient Runes, which was all right with Aileen. She enjoyed flirting with him. The slightly arrogant look on his face told her that he assumed she was the beginner in the subject. It almost made her laugh out loud. She stifled her amusement with the knowledge that she’d wipe that smirk off his face soon, and perhaps even replace it with a look of surprise.

“Precisely what I was thinking,” she replied, referring to the illustrated book. “Oh, but you’d be surprised about the vocabulary lists,” she murmured with a shake of her head. “If a fancy word doesn’t already exist for something, we of course have to make one up.” It was one of those silly annoyances that all Ancient Runes scholars had to endure, and most likely scholars of other disciplines had to deal with as well.

Aileen was content to let him lean over her a little, now that she knew that the hoverer in question was not unpleasant to look at (quite the opposite), creepy, or a shop employee. In an attempt to stop looking at his mouth, Aileen admired his footwear- dragonhide boots if she wasn’t mistaken- and then looked up again when he asked for her name.

“Aileen Reid,” She said, holding out her hand for him to shake. There were two tests. The first was to see if he recognized the name, and the second would show if he remembered it later. “Now, don’t tell me. I know I know you from somewhere.” She tilted her head and grinned at him. “Hint, please?”

As she waited for him to reply, she noticed the shop boy staring at them. She widened her eyes at him innocently and then plopped the Sale sign back onto the joke books she’d scattered. He could clean up the slight mess she’d made when he was finished ordering her books. She certainly wasn’t going to reorganize the display for him!

Aileen deliberately leaned over the handsome man to grab the Digg book, and then she made her way over to the counter where she set down the two books in front of the employee. A quick glance over her shoulder paired with an inviting smile told Felix he was more than welcome to follow her.

“Precisely what I was thinking… Oh, but you’d be surprised about the vocabulary lists… If a fancy word doesn’t already exist for something, we of course have to make one up.”

His smirk did come down slightly, but he was still amused by it all. Would he be surprised? Did she really think so? Felix really didn’t care two broomsticks about Ancient Runes. He might have looked into it at Hogwarts, and was fairly certain Gabriella was taking the class… but other than that, it held no reason to be intriguing in his mind. A bunch of stones with symbols painted on them to be thrown to decide the fate of something? No. He had enough witchery in his life, no pun intended.

At least she was cute. When she looked down, his eyebrow rose in enjoyment. Of course, his instinct wasn’t to thinks he was admiring his boots, as nice as they were. High priced work boots, but they were the best for what he did. Nevertheless, he wasn’t thinking of his boots. Leaning back a little at the waist, not noticeably but enough, he smirked once again. “Of course you do.” Who was this ‘we’ and why was she talking about them? Hopefully not voices… he didn’t want to dump her after a fun night—she looked fun.

”Aileen Reid.”

Taking her hand, he had a flicker of recognition across his face but masked it quickly with a half grin. Reid… familiar. Plus the name. How old was she? Maybe a Hogwarts student? Maybe his family knew her family? Maybe it was just a popular name? Whatever it was, it caused cobwebs in the back of his head to start being beaten down with old brooms. What kind of nickname could he come up with for Aileen? He really wanted to say ‘I bet you do,’ but didn’t find the bookstore the appropriate place for such stupid jokes. Or anywhere, really, that didn’t involve a pint or two of liquor.

“Now, don’t tell me. I know I know you from somewhere… Hint, please?”

Slight confusion came over him as he frowned slightly, that grin still on his lips but suddenly not so sure of himself. Had he been with her before? One of those nights he didn’t quite remember? Feeling kind of embarrassed now, Felix let out a soft laugh and tilted his head, still holding her hand. “Do you want me to tell you or not?” Leaning a little closer, his eyes dropped down to look at her lips a moment before flickering back up to her eyes.

Then she was messing with something, and he glanced towards who she was looking at. Blinking slightly, he let her hand go and leaned back on the table, shrugging. “I’m Felix. And while you look quite young, you might have gone to… Hogwarts at some point that I did?” He wasn’t entirely sure, but knew from past mistakes to never guess a ladies age. Always make her feel young by implying they couldn’t be nearly as old as he.

“Maybe e… even…” Then she was leaning over him, and his mind wandered off the topic at hand. His eyes followed her body and when she stood back up, he was suddenly like a little house elf following the owner of the house around. Pushing up from the now messed up table, not giving it another look, he saw the look she gave him and felt quite motivated to move after her. That was the look he expected, and thought he had her wrapped around his finger. It was too bad he didn’t realize it was more likely the other way around.

Stepping up behind and to the side, his eyes having watched hers the entire walk up to the counter, Felix smirked and leaned towards her without actually pressing against her. “Gone with the picture book; smart choice Miss Reid.” It was the perfect time, really. “You know what else would be a smart choice…” Leaning forward a little more, his mouth closer to her ear with each sentence, he stopped just shy to breathe softly against the delicate skin. “Dinner… with me. Tonight.” Pulling back, he smiled and waited for her answer.

A little line appeared between Felix’s brows that betrayed his confusion. Now, that was almost as adorable as his knowing smile. She couldn’t wait to see the look of shock on his face when he found out the real reason she was buying these books for beginners.

Aileen stood at the counter where she gave the shop boy the two Ancient Runes books. She was delighted and unsurprised when Felix followed her, and her mind worked furiously, trying to remember how she knew that name. Then it dawned on her. The dragonhide boots. The voice. That smile. She held up her index finger to the employee, who cut himself off in the middle of his ramblings about membership opportunities, and without a word she walked over to the Magical Creatures section of the bookstore and searched. Dragons, it was about dragons. She didn’t care much for the creatures themselves, but she did like the man handling them.

There it was! She picked up the book, flipped it over, and found his smirking face on the back. Laughing a little, she made her way over to the counter again and set it down with her other purchases. Then she smiled at Felix. He had grown up quite nicely.

“I remember you now. Ravenclaw. A year older than me. Sarcastic. Smart mouth. Hmmm,” she teased him, eyes flicking over to that smirk again.

Of course, he chose that moment to comment on the picture book, which made her cover her mouth with her hand to stop the girlish giggles that threatened to escape. If he only knew. His next comment, however, stole her laughter away.

“Dinner… with me. Tonight.”

“That depends…” she replied quietly, repressing a nice little shiver that had run up her spine at his breath in her ear. “Where would you like to go?”

She’d already decided that she would go out to dinner with him tonight. But she had to make him wonder, just a bit.

When she realized the shop boy had finished ringing up her three books, suddenly she was all business. The switch might have been somewhat disconcerting.

“One more thing,” she told the boy, digging in her purse to find the neat little account slip from Hogwarts. She handed it to him. “I’d like to place an order for thirty of the Cindy Digg books, and fifty of the Winter books to be set aside for Hogwarts students in the fall. Make sure the orders arrive by early August. Also, please keep me updated if any new editions come out. I don’t want to give the students outdated material.”

Yes, she’d decided on the advanced books by Arvid Winter. It was a moment of weakness, certainly, but one she couldn’t help. Besides, he was the best in the field.

The shop boy hesitated, looking completely bemused. He glanced at Felix as if searching for confirmation and stared at the Hogwarts slip as if he’d never seen it before.

“Think you can manage that?” She asked dryly, scanning the area behind the counter for an employee who wouldn’t gape at her stupidly. Aileen hoped Felix wouldn’t be offended by any curtness towards underlings. If she thought they couldn’t do a simple job, she was the type to let them know. There was only so much incompetence she could take before the claws came out. This hadn't made her very popular with some of the employees at the Ministry, however.

Felix was quite proud of himself, bagging a beautiful woman so early in the day. If it weren’t for the fact that he had too much to keep track of, he might try and break his record of four dates in one day. Really, though, he was both proud and disgusted by that figure. It could be a lot more, but he had standards. Not every woman fit them, either. His daughter noticed that, eight times out of ten, he had a blonde on his arm.

He just preferred them these days. Perhaps it was the stereotype… perhaps it was that Kay hadn’t been one. Whatever it was, he liked them now. This one, he thought he figured out. Ancient Runes for beginners. Sure, the way she talked threw him, but he just assumed she listened to a lot of radio or… something.

When she put the employee on hold and walked away, however, Felix didn’t know whether to follow her, wait, or do a little dance. Maybe she was trying to get him alone in between the bookshelves… Raising an eyebrow at that thought, Felix smirked and glanced at her, trying to figure out what she was doing. Then she was rifling through books and he rolled his eyes a little. Honestly… When she came back, he glanced at the book and his smirk fell a little. She recognized him then…

“I remember you now. Ravenclaw. A year older than me. Sarcastic. Smart mouth. Hmmm”

He had been in Ravenclaw, he was sarcastic, very smart, had a nice mouth… Oh yes, and a smart mouth. That too. A smile came back to his lips and he couldn’t help but look her over another time. “A year older?” Depending on everything that happened, he might or might not remember her. He was quite head over heels during his fourth year on and didn’t much look at other females other than for help with homework and for pranks.

Saying the name over and over in his head helped pull up memories that best be left untouched. Aileen Reid, pain in the arse Slytherin. Kayleigh would have known her. “Don’t forget amazingly handsome, Miss Reid.”

“That depends… Where would you like to go?”

Biting on his lower lip, grinning wide around it, he shrugged a little while putting his hand to rest on the counter beside her, stepping up so that he gently brushed up against her. “I suppose that depends on you, love.” He fought over multiple ideas, finally coming to two. “Either we go and have a wonderful candlelit dinner, all romantic and have someone wait on us with wine over the meal… Or we can go back to my place-” Yes, he was actually trying that so early. “And I can impress you with my cooking skills.”

“One more thing… I’d like to place an order for thirty of the Cindy Digg books, and fifty of the Winter books to be set aside for Hogwarts students in the fall. Make sure the orders arrive by early August. Also, please keep me updated if any new editions come out. I don’t want to give the students outdated material.”

Hogwarts students… students… students. Felix took a moment to process that, as it seemed the shop boy did too. So that meant she was… a teacher? Of Ancient Runes? Of the class… his daughter… took. Taking a slow breath in, he forced the slight surprise off his face into a quizzical frown, resting his chin in his hand and watching the shop boy seem to reprise the situation.

“Think you can manage that?”

A smirk spread instantly across his face at that. Letting his hand drop, giving the boy a look that said ‘Yeah’ as if he had Aileen’s back, Felix watched as he seemed to fumble with his things, stuttering and talking quick. “Poor kid, probably hasn’t had to talk to a pretty woman all week.” He did not mind incompetent people being put in their place. He was known to be quite a jerk, after all, and half the time to people who knew what they were doing. It wasn’t often a woman could do that effectively.

“Don’t forget amazingly handsome, Miss Reid.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I won’t forget,” she said under her breath, secretly amused at his sudden switch to formality. At least he proved he could remember her last name. The nickname business she could handle, because he was just that cute. Even if she suspected he called all women ‘love’, probably to avoid remembering their real names later.

Her lips twitched in amusement when he suggested meeting at his place that night. Bold move on his part. She took her sweet time signing the paperwork the employee slid in front of her, and then set the quill down and glanced up at him.

“I do love a man who can cook,” she murmured, pausing to let him know how tempting of an offer that was. “But you know, it is a bit risky… some men say they have excellent cooking skills, and then they burn down the kitchen.”

She gave him a smirk to match his own. Teasing him shouldn't be this much fun. She picked up the quill again and wrote out her address in careful, neat cursive. No childish bubble letters for her.

“How about that candlelit dinner?” Aileen gave him her address. “8:00? You can meet me at my place and then we can head out from there.”

She gave the shop boy the briefest of glances and nodded at him to let him know the transaction was over; he could gape at someone else now. She stored the receipt slips in her purse and took her purchases under one arm. The other arm she hooked with Felix’s as they walked out of the shop. Personally, she thought she made the right decision. Dinner at his place would probably give him the wrong idea (men were such simple creatures), so she thought it best to play it safe. For now.

Felix waited, a bit impatient as she took her time signing paperwork. If he didn’t know better, he would have said she was having fun with this. Rolling his eyes slightly, raising an eyebrow and smiling to himself as the quill was put down, watching her face as her eyes turned back to him. They were very nice to look into…

“I do love a man who can cook… But you know, it is a bit risky… some men say they have excellent cooking skills, and then they burn down the kitchen.”

Risky was Felix’s middle name… figuratively. Perhaps he should have it changed legally… He dealt with dragons, women, and his teenage daughter on a regular basis. That put him in the ‘risky’ category in his mind. The problem was that he didn’t know which of the three was worse to deal with. Dragons, he knew them. Understood them. Studied them, and researched them. Women… well, he studied and researched them as well, but understand them? He figured no man ever would.

And Gabby. She was her own category, and he probably understood her the least. Brushing that off, he thought about what she said and smirked. “I suppose that is the upside to it being in my kitchen.” Felix loved a woman who… well, he needn’t think about that quite so soon. A slightly mischievous glint came to his eyes before he was able to reign it in, turning his mind to not so loose thoughts. “Only one way to find out if I’m lying or not.”

“How about that candlelit dinner?”

Felix tried not to let the disappointment show, and accepted her address. Glancing it over, he nodded and pocketed it, turning his attention back to her. Some women would have gone for somewhere public to meet, in case he (or whoever asked her out for dinner) were a bit on the odd side. Stalkers were never fun. Perhaps she trusted him all ready…

“8:00? You can meet me at my place and then we can head out from there.”

Nodding again, Felix looked over her face once more, wanting to seal the deal with a kiss but keeping himself in check. “Sounds splendid.” When she hooked her arm in his, he was a little caught off guard but didn’t miss a beat by stepping forward and heading out with her. Since he was acting like somewhat of a gentleman (men should always start off that way, easier to get the woman), Felix opened the door and followed her out. The wrong idea had all ready seeded itself in his mind, and it only fermented the longer he was with her.

All ready he was placing a mental bet with himself. By nine she’d be begging to see his… kitchen. He could whip up a nice dessert as well.