Page 40 of The Dating Pact

“May I join you?”

I opened my mouth to tell whoever it was that I was in no mood for another bad date but looked up to find Wyatt standing over me.

“We have to stop meeting like this.” Somehow, seeing him here came as no surprise. “You were assigned to watch out for me again, weren’t you? How did you even know where to find me? I didn’t tell Ben anything.”

Wyatt slid into Fred’s seat, his presence warm and comforting, like a loaf of bread fresh from the oven.

Frugal Fred would have liked him, I decided.

“Sorry,” Wyatt said. “I’ve sworn to keep my source a secret. But if it makes you feel any better, I sat at the bar and hadn’t planned on approaching you until I saw your date leave. What did you do to scare this one away?”

I rolled my eyes but failed to hide my smile. “I didn’t do anything.” After offering Wyatt a half full basket of bread, I proceeded to tell him everything that had happened. By the time I reached the part about Fred mummifying loaves of bread, Wyatt was in fits of laughter, and I was enjoying my glass of wine and slice of chocolate cake.

Molly walked by and waggled her eyebrows.Nice,she mouthed, pointing to Wyatt.

Yeah, I thought so too. Shame whoever broke his heart didn’t think so.

I gestured to my dessert. “Want some illegal cake?” I leaned in closer and whispered, “They think it’s my birthday.”

Wyatt’s eyes shone with amusement. “I figured that out when the waitstaff sang to us. No, I won’t touch your cake. It’s all yours, Ev. You deserve it.”

I did, didn’t I? And I could think of nothing in the world that a yummy dessert and a glass of wine couldn’t make better. I glanced over at Wyatt. Actually, scratch that. Nothing a glass of wine, a slice of yummy cake, and great company couldn’t fix.