Page 21 of Alfie

“At Shoreset downtown?” Myla asked.

“Yep. Crazy, huh? Fired during the holidays.”

“Don’t mind her,” the other woman said with a laugh. “She’s a gossip.”

“I just tell it like it is,” the first one said.

Myla shrugged with a hum and continued down the hall. She handed Alfie his coat and he helped her on with hers first, then put on his. “Is that the same guy you went on that blind date with?” he asked.

“I think so.”

“That’s weird,” he said.

“For sure.” She smiled up at him. “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer…schmuck.”

He grinned. “I agree.” But despite how unbothered she seemed by the news, Alfie filed it away in his mind. A male with a bruised ego could be dangerous. He’d be sure to warn her to keep an eye out for her surroundings, just to be safe.

They moved outside, closing the sliding door and stepping out onto the patio. The awning kept the concrete from being covered with snow, but Myla took his hand and led him out onto the snow-dusted grass, out from the awning and underneath the starry sky.

From inside, they could hear people getting excited for the last few minutes of the year.

“I’ve never kissed someone at midnight,” he said.

“No?”

“Nope. I’m glad I didn’t, though. Because it means it’s just special for you.”

She let out a soft sigh. “You’re so freaking romantic.”

“I’m not the one who suggested we come outside in the snow to kiss at midnight. I think you’re the romantic one.”

“I haven’t had a serious kiss at midnight before,” she said, taking both his hands in hers. “With you, everything feels serious and special. Alice has been pushing me about it because she wants me to have a date to their wedding. And she also wants me to be happy. But I wasn’t worried about either thing, until I met you. Now I want you to have my first serious, special midnight kiss. And I want you to be my plus-one to the wedding. Not because I think I need a date, but because I’m falling for you.” She pursed her lips for a moment, then said, “It’s fast but it feels right. Do you…do you feel the same way?”

His wolf wanted to howl in happiness.

As it was, he was surprised his hips weren’t swaying with how hard his wolf’s tail was wagging in his head.

He heard the countdown to the new year.

Letting go of her hands, he cupped her face. “I’m falling for you too, Myla. My sweet, beautiful soulmate. Happy New Year.”

At the stroke of midnight, he kissed her, and the whole world dropped away, just like it should when two soulmates found each other.

Chapter Ten

“How was your time off?” Mrs. P asked when Myla arrived at the theater early Monday afternoon.

She unwrapped her scarf and shrugged off her coat. “It was wonderful.”

Mrs. P’s brows rose. “Oh? You look like you’ve got a new beau.”

“You sound like my mom,” Myla said with a laugh. “Yes, I do. His name is Alfie. He works at the safari park.”

“How fun!”

Myla told her about meeting Alfie and how he’d intervened when Eddie had been such an ass.

“Well, I’ll definitely let Joy know she needs to not recommend anyone date Eddie. He sounds like a total jerk! But a silver lining for you. Sounds like something out of a romance movie, where the hero steps in to save the day and the heroine swoons.”