“So explain to me again how this isn’t a date?”

I sighed and shot Lacey an annoyed look. “I already explained to you, we’re just trying to get to know each other.”

“Uh huh”

“For the show...”

“Ok.”

“It’s true,” I said, more forcefully than I should have.

Lacey glanced at me from the corner of her eyes. “Whatever, kid. If it weren’t such a big deal then why are you protesting so much?”

I considered her question but didn’t have an answer.

“I’m his partner. If we have any chance of winning, we need to know everything about each other. I noticed that some of those challenges are based on how well you know your partner.”

“Well, maybe when you’re done discussing that, you can stick your tongue down his mouth. “

My eyes grew wide and I shook my head at my cousin’s bold words. “Lacey, you’re insufferable.”

She nodded. “I know.”

The baby was home with Jude and even though I wanted to take an Uber to meet up with Magnus, Lacey insisted on dropping me off at the park where we’d arranged to meet. I’m pretty sure she was just being nosey.

As we pulled up, we spotted Magnus casually leaning against the entrance gate to the park, directly across from the sparsely populated parking lot. I was surprised by how empty most of the parks were in South Florida, at least in the parts where I’d visited. People seemed to so used to the beauty around them that they almost took it for granted, while people like me who hadn’t ever experienced a tropical climate thought it was paradise.

And paradise was the perfect backdrop for Magnus. He was wearing a pair of loose fitting shorts and a white shirt. He looked cool and sexy. In fact, he looked like a leading male role in a 1990s commercial, I thought with a smile to myself.

“Wow, Jude’s lucky I didn’t meet Magnus first or else Jude would have had some serious competition.”

I punched her in her arm. “I’m going to tell Jude that next time I see him.”

“I dare you.”

“You win. I’m a chicken.”

“Yep, I know. Get out. Go have fun.”

“I’m not too sure how to have fun.”

“That’s bull crap. You know how to have fun. You were always fun as a kid.”

“Really?”

She sighed and sat back. “Don’t you think you need to let go of this “Lesli is a just a geek or nerd idea”? It’s like you’re putting yourself in a box.”

I knew she had a point, but I wasn’t willing to let her tell me something I already knew and get credit for it. “For the record, I am a nerd... maybe even a geek.”

“Maybe, but people’s expectations for nerds or geeks shouldn’t affect how you view yourself.”

“Fine. I’m fun. I’m great... blah blah blah.”

Lacey laughed. “Get out of my car. Have fun.”

I came across a few joggers as I made my way to him. I scanned the area and there were some kids playing as well. It was a sunny day, but the temperature was in the seventies. A rare cold front for South Florida.

“Hey, you’re early,” he said in greeting.

“I’m on time.”

“That’s my idea of early.”

He started walking toward a path and extended his elbow to me. In his other hand, he held a bag. I assumed it was croissants or something similar for us to eat while people watching and getting to know each other. With a second of hesitation, I hooked my elbow in the crook of his own. I thought it was old-fashioned, but for some reason, I found it charming. And I had to admit, I liked touching him, more than I imagined I would, no matter how innocent the touch was.

To keep myself from thinking about his body being near mine, I kept my eyes on the path and started talking. “Funny. I would have thought you would be the “if you’re not early, you’re late” type of person.”

“You mean a stick in the mud?”

“Well... kind of...”

“I’m not sure what gave you that impression.”

“I don’t know. You just seem the type to plan everything.”

“I’m not like that at all.”

“Really?”

“Really. In fact, my personal assistant does all my planning so that I don’t have to.”

I chuckled. “Figures.”

He laughed and I realized he’d been teasing me. “Actually, I don’t have a personal assistant. I’m too controlling to let someone else handle my personal affairs.”

“Ha. I knew it,” I said with too much enthusiasm. I loved to be right.

“No, you were wrong. I’m a bit controlling, but I’m not inflexible. I don’t mind the occasional surprise… And I think I’m pretty open to change.”

“As long as you’re controlling it, right?”

He gave a guilty shrug. “I won’t dignify that question with a response.”

I gave a self-assured nod. “Which means I’m right.”

“So let me guess,” he said, studying me. “You’re the type of person who has to be right all the time?”

“What? No.” I scoffed. I was lying of course. As a child, I’d had trouble making friends because I had been a bit of a know-it-all. I think I’d improved since then, but probably not by much.

“I believe you. But not really.”

“Hey!”

“Let’s just both agree to be flawed individuals and call it even. How does that sound?”

“Sounds like something I can agree to...”

“Good. Grab some bread.”

I had guessed correctly, I thought smugly, as I reached into the bag. I took out a bread roll and promptly took a bite. It was a bit hard and dry, but whatever, I never turned down free food.

“Don’t order me around,” I said testily as I chewed on the bread.

“It wasn’t an order. It was an offer.”

“An offer?”

“Yeah, I thought maybe you would like to feed the ducks with me.” It was then that I noticed that he had led me to a large pond where several ducks were starting to congregate, obviously aware that Magnus was providing their next meal.

“Hold on,” I said swallowing the bread that was in my mouth. I looked down at the roll in my hand, that I had already partially devoured. “Are these rolls for the ducks?”

He nodded, clearly amused.

“And you just let me devour stale bread without mentioning that this was for some random ducks?”

“I honestly didn’t expect you to just start eating it.”

“Well, Magnus. When someone offers you food, you don’t normally question it, you just eat it. An offer would have been like, ‘Hey, Lesli. Care to help me feed the ducks?’ Not, ‘Grab some bread.’” I was so embarrassed. This was exactly why I didn’t want to date him. Who knows how many other embarrassing faux pas I would commit?

“Aren’t you testy this morning? Tense even? Is something bothering you?” I could tell from his tone he was teasing me. His eyes held amusement and I planted my hands on my hips and hoped he couldn’t guess that he was what unnerved me and my embarrassment over the bread situation made me even more aware of just how awkward I could be.

“I wouldn’t say that something is bothering me... More like someone.” I looked pointedly at him and he laughed.

“Your laugh is contagious, you know. So carefree,” I said, begrudgingly complimenting him. I didn’t want to give him the idea that I liked him, but I did. Admittedly, I liked him a lot. It felt weird to immediately like someone that I didn’t know, but he seemed to be what my mom would call “good people.”

“Wow, a compliment. From you? I must be doing something right.”

“Just one thing. You did one thing right.”

“You can tell you and Lacey are related. You both have a way of making a man feel—”

“Emasculated?” I asked innocently.

“Not the word I was about to use, but I don’t want to get myself into trouble, so I’m just going to drop the subject—”

“That’s smart of you.”

“And offer you the opportunity to feed the ducks with me.”

“I’ll take that offer.”

“Great. I’m ecstatic.”

His dry sense of humor made me smile and we spent the next few minutes feeding an ever-growing flock of ducks, and suddenly turtles also showed up. They were all coming from the water and approaching us with little greedy expressions. In minutes, we were surrounded.

“Umm... Magnus?” I said, moving closer to him as the circle of ducks and turtles encroached upon us, decreasing the size of our inner circle.

“Yeah?” he said, clearly unworried.

“We’re kind of attracting a crowd... Maybe we should leave while there’s still time.”

“While there’s still time? They’re not going to eat us, Lesli.”

“I don’t know...” I said looking at a duck that seemed to only have one eye and its wings were covered in dirt. “That duck right there looks like it’s part of a biker gang or something.”

“You’re not a fan of ducks? That’s a lot of unfair judgment toward a duck.”

“I don’t like ducks, true. But that duck is scary. I mean, look at him. Could be running a fight club or something.”

He laughed and looked in the direction of the duck. And then suddenly without any warning, the duck lunged forward and snapped at Magnus who instinctively took a step back, knocking me over. As I fell over, the bag of bread flew out of my hand and I fell to the ground.

The next thing I knew I was covered in ducks and turtles, snapping at me from all directions while I tried but failed to pull myself off the ground. And then Magnus’s hands were on me as he dragged me away from what now had turned into a duck and turtle feeding mania. Scratch that. It looked like the Hunger Games of nature.

I gratefully looked up at Magnus who was frowning in the direction of the ducks. A family had stopped what they were doing to stare at me and I realized there was a group of teens recording my disgrace.

“Seriously?” I yelled at them and they just snickered and continued filming.

“Come on, let’s get you out of here before that video goes viral.”

I sputtered as I got up. “This sucks. Great idea, Magnus.”

“I accept full blame,” he said as he helped me up.

“Well, you should. It is, after all, your fault.”

“That’s not one hundred percent true, but I’ll take the blame for the team. It’s good practice for the game show.”

I looked down at myself. I was covered in grass stains, dirt and breadcrumbs. With a sigh, I wiped myself off, finally feeling deeply embarrassed. “I must look a mess. I think I’ll head home.”

“So soon?”

“I think I’ve had enough of nature for one day.”

He looked ready to argue with me but appeared to change his mind. “For what it’s worth, I was having a great time before the duck apocalypse.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “When Ducks Attack should be its own show.”

“There were a few turtles attacking you too.”

“Thanks for the reminder, Magnus.”

“No problem,” he said, smiling down at me. He had a beautiful smile and unlike many people I’d known, his smile actually met his eyes. There was no guile there. No hint of underlying intent. He was genuinely entertained by today’s activities.

“You’re definitely surprising me, Magnus. You’re not who I thought you were.”

“People are complex. Just because I’m a billionaire doesn’t exclude me from that fact.”

“I see that now.”

“Can I walk you to your car?”

“Such a gentleman,” I said with a small smile. “But Lacey dropped me off. I just plan to Uber back.”

“Nonsense. I’ll take you home. It’s no problem.”

“I don’t mind taking an Uber... it’s no big deal.”

“And I don’t mind taking you. I don’t have any plans for the day, so it’s no hassle.”

I opened my mouth to argue and then thought to myself, why not?

I followed him to the parking lot and I wondered what kind of car he drove. A Lamborghini? Nope. I didn’t think he would be that flashy. A Toyota? Nope. He didn’t seem to be that humble. Hmmm. Maybe a plain Mercedes? He stopped in front of a car that was completely unrecognizable as any sporty car for the affluent.

It was long, yet sleek and there were weird panels attached to the top. Its body was mainstreamed, and I found it to be very modern and futuristic looking with its wide windshield.

“What kind of car is this?” I said as the door opened on its own, lifting straight up. “Wooowww!”

We hadn’t even touched anything and the door was already opening on its own. I was more impressed than I should have been, but the car was like something from the future.

He laughed. “Cool, isn’t it?”

“Super cool. And it means you never have to open the door for a date.”

“I never have to worry about chivalry when I’m driving this baby.”

“I guess not. I bet you don’t have to ever worry about getting a date either... I mean you’re a billionaire and you have this car.”

“Actually, most people think this car is pretty awful.”

As I got closer to it, I realized that it was a reproduction of a car I’d seen before, but I couldn’t put my finger on it until I slid in.

“Oh my gosh, did you reproduce the DeLorean from Back to the Future?” I said. “I love eighties movies.”

He nodded. “I’m a nerd. I totally did.” He smiled self-consciously. “It’s my pet project. My first invention.”

“You’re an inventor?” I asked, surprised.

He nodded. “Well, it’s more like I came up with the modified design and I had a team create this beauty.”

“It really is a beauty.”

He pressed a button as he slid into the car. The passenger door lowered, making me feel as if I were in a spaceship. He placed his hands on the wheel and then to my surprise the car said, “Good afternoon, Mr. Deacon. Where to?”

“Jude’s loft, Jaz.”

“Your car talks and her name is Jaz? Oh my gosh, is this a self-driving car?” I couldn’t hold back my excitement.

“It sure is. Well, it’s a prototype. I still manually control it, but it’s equipped with sensors, the whole nine-yards.”

“That’s freaking awesome. I’ve never been in one before.”

“Yeah, that’s true for the majority of the population.”

“Wow, if this is a perk of hanging out with a billionaire, then I’m all for it.” I settled in as a seatbelt wrapped around and secured me. “Sweet.”

He laughed. “If I’d known that my car would impress you that much, I would have shown it to you when we first met.”

“It’s not every day that a girl gets the chance to hang out in a fancy version of the DeLorean. You’re a lucky man, Magnus.”

“Oh trust me, I know it.”

He gave me a devilish smile and then the car smoothly started to move.

“It’s like we’re riding on air.”

“Engineered to feel exactly that way. This is probably one of my few toys.”

“Some guys buy yachts and foreign cars, but you build a DeLorean.”

He shrugged. “We all need our hobbies. But I want to hear more about you. We didn’t get around to doing that since we were jumped by a duck and some turtles.”

“More like I was jumped by a gang of ducks and turtles.”

“True.” He smiled down at me again. “So tell me about yourself. What should I know about you, Lesli?”

“What would you like to know?” I said, relaxing as I enjoyed the ride.

“Where are you from? Let’s start there.”

“West Virginia.”

“Oh really? You’re the first person I’ve ever met from there. I heard it’s beautiful.”

I nodded. “Some places really are.”

“Did you go to school in West Virginia?”

“Undergrad and graduate. It was awesome. Especially if you love the outdoors. It’s beautiful in the springtime. My mom has a place in the country. I love it there.”

“It’s just you and your mom?”

I nodded. For some reason, I wanted to share with him what I shared with few others. “I never knew my dad.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, and I truly thought he meant it. Most people just said it to be polite, but I could tell from his eyes that he was genuinely sorry for me. It wasn’t that he felt sorry for me. He actually was empathetic.

“What about your family? Have you always lived here in Florida?”

He nodded. “My dad is a lawyer. He used to be really involved behind the scene in politics in D.C. He met my mother who was from here and moved here.”

“D.C. lawyer, huh? That’s pretty impressive.”

He shrugged it off. “You’re pretty impressive yourself. Jude mentioned you have a PhD?”

I wanted to kick Jude. I nodded. “Yep.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-three.”

“Wow.”

I shrugged. “I skipped a few grades and was always good at school. It’s no big deal.”

“I’m not sure why you’re downplaying it. That’s quite an accomplishment.”

“To me, it was just something to do. There wasn’t much going on in my town.” I had grown up in a small town, but not too far from a major city. However, I didn’t tell Magnus that.

“I’m sure there are other things to do in West Virginia than earn a PhD.”

Of course, he was right, but I was tired of being the subject of conversation just because I happened to be smarter than average. When people found out, they seemed to lose sight of me and wanted to ask me questions about my IQ, or worse they’d ask questions about my parents, as if trying to figure out whether or not being intelligent ran in the family. Which meant I had to ignore the look of disappointment on their faces when I explained I didn’t know my father and that my mother was pretty average, just a hard-working woman in a male-dominated field.

“There’s nothing wrong with being smarter than your average person. You shouldn’t try to hide it.”

“I don’t try to hide it,” I lied. Sometimes I did, but Magnus didn’t need to know that. “I just hate dealing with people’s reactions once they find out. It’s amazing how people treat you differently when they’re intimidated by you. Or they treat you like some sort of freak and want nothing to do with you.” With that last statement, I was referring to kids in school.

“Their loss, my gain.”

“That’s kind of you to say.”

His comment had been unexpected and stated matter-of-factly. I truly believed he meant what he’d said. So not only was he gorgeous, but he was also a genuinely nice guy. Resisting Magnus’s charms was going to be hard, especially when he was so effortlessly charming.

“I’m just being honest. I like hanging out with you. Simple fact.” We paused at a stoplight and he took his hands off the wheel and said, “I’d like to hang out with you more often if you’d let me.”

I sighed and looked away from him. I knew that it would be hard to resist his seemingly innocent request since I found myself liking him more and more, and I was running out of reasons to not date him. I didn’t really have reasons though… more like excuses if I were honest with myself.

“Ok, enough with that topic of conversation. Let’s talk about Brain Pain level questions. You know, the hard-hitting questions.”

“I didn’t think Brain Pain did any hard-hitting questions.”

“I’ve never seen the show before,” I confessed. “Besides those few clips we watched on your phone the other day.”

“You haven’t missed much,” he said, and we smiled at each other before he turned his attention back to the road...not that he needed to, the car was pretty cool and seemed to be driving itself. I felt like I was in a dream.

“Ok, ask me a hard-hitting question that you think Brain Pain would ask.”

I narrowed my eyes. “If you had to be any fruit, what would you want to be and why?”

He laughed. It was deep and sexy and it was contagious. Was there nothing that I didn’t find attractive about this man?

“An apple.”

“What?” I said, not knowing why he was suddenly talking about fruits and then I remembered my question. Jeez being around Magnus was apparently so distracting that I couldn’t even remember my own questions. “Boring.”

“Hey. No judgments. This car is a judgment-free zone. Ok. Your turn. How about you?”

I pretended to think deeply, but I was really just checking him out. He had long eyelashes and high cheekbones. I wondered about his ancestry. Maybe a hint of Native American somewhere along the lines?

“I don’t know. A grape.”

“A grape?” he said, sounding disappointed.

“I like to eat them.”

“I like to eat a lot of things but I wouldn’t naturally compare myself to any of those things. Like I wouldn’t want to be tofu.”

“You eat tofu?”

“Let me guess... You thought I stuffed myself with lamb chops, steaks and ribs all day?”

I thought about that and said, “Well, not all those things, but perhaps some of those things.”

“Well, I’m a vegetarian, so actually I don’t eat any of those things.”

“You’re a vegetarian?”

“Stop sounding so shocked.”

“I just associate vegetarians with being really slender and kind of soft looking.” My eyes traveled down his body before I could stop myself. I was just happy he was too busy paying attention to traffic to notice. “You don’t look... soft.”

“Go ahead and find out,” he dared me. “I can assure you that I’m anything but soft.”

I couldn’t help myself. I blushed. I could think of hard things and none of them were PG-rated.

I expected the conversation to take a sexual turn, but he surprised me with a gentlemanly response. “I get enough protein and I work out religiously, so I don’t have a high body fat percentage. I know a lot of vegetarians stuff themselves with pasta, but I’m not one of them.”

“I don’t work out at all,” I confessed.

“Well, then we know which of us will be doing all the pain challenges.”

“Great. I’m glad you nominated yourself,” I said jokingly. He laughed and I was surprised that he found me so amusing. Most people didn’t really find me to be a funny person. But I could be funny and even fun. Lacey had been right. I was so busy fitting into the box people decided for me, I’d even forgotten who I was.

And I found it very telling that I was finding myself again by just getting to know Magnus. I felt like I’d been living in a shell for years. I could be fun. I could be funny, but somehow being in school under all that pressure to perform had made me lose sight of me. I had been so busy pretending I was mature enough to be there, that I’d let other aspects of my personality fall to the wayside. I made a decision right then and there to be myself. I just had to remember who she was. Maybe if I hung out with Magnus enough, I’d get to learn about me even more.

“So tell me more,” I asked him.

“What’s there to tell?”

“Well, I heard you’re a billionaire. What’s that like?”

“It’s boring... like an apple,” he joked.

“Oh yeah, it must be so boring being a billionaire. Having everything you could ever want, never having to worry about bills, being able to come and go as you please must be so very boring.”

He nodded. “You guessed it...”

I rolled my eyes. “Come on. What’s it like?”

He sat back and said, “I’m like any other person, but you know—”

“Crazy rich?”

“You guessed it. But I’m just a boring vegetarian who works out all the time and loves sci-fi shows. Nothing interesting there. Tell me more about you.”

“I’ve already told you enough.”

“All I know about you is that you’re smart, beautiful, and you talk in circles when you get nervous.”

“You were doing good up until that last description...”

“Was I wrong?”

“Yes.”

“Really?” he said with a small smile. “So I don’t make you nervous.”

“Nope,” I lied.

He pulled up in front of Lacey’s and Jude’s loft where I was still staying and said, “Well, if that’s the case, why won’t you go out with me?”

“I am out with you.”

“You know what I mean. Let me take you to dinner.”

I shook my head. “I think we should keep our relationship strictly professional.”

“Professional?”

“Yeah. You know... none of this.” I gestured in between us.

He looked at me with amusement. “What exactly is this?”

“It’s a date like situation.”

“This is your idea of date?”

“No, I’m just saying that it is sort of like a date and that’s what I’m trying to avoid. And I think you did this on purpose. You orchestrated a non-date date.” I knew I sounded ridiculous, but I had to set some boundaries or I would probably find myself in a very compromising position with Magnus Deacon on top or bottom. Oh wow, my mind was in the gutter.

“Trust me, Lesli. If I wanted to take you out on a date, I would. And you wouldn’t have any trouble figuring out if it were a date or not.”

For some reason, I didn’t like the promise his tone held. I was suddenly curious about what a date with Magnus would entail. But I couldn’t date him. I didn’t belong in his world and something told me that the type of date he would take me on would make me feel out of place and awkward. And as of today, I was done feeling that way. Maybe meeting Magnus was the catalyst I needed to get on track to finding myself, but I didn’t know anything about his lifestyle. So far, all our encounters had been on neutral territory. I couldn’t promise that I would feel the same self-assuredness I felt now if we were in his territory.

I ignored the subject at hand and gestured for him to open the door for me. He did silently with a touch of a button and stepped out to help me out of the car.

He was studying me. To avoid his searching eyes, I looked back at his perfectly white, leather seats and saw grime plastered across where my butt had been only seconds ago. Talk about embarrassing. “Sorry for dirtying your car... and umm, thank you for saving me from the ducks.”

“It was all my pleasure.”

From the way he looked at me, I could assume it was a lot more than his pleasure. Instantly, I felt shy. I mumbled a quick goodbye and walked away from the DeLorean, avoiding taking the hand he held out to assist me.

“Thanks. I guess we’ll catch up soon.” I avoided his eyes yet again and reached into my bag for keys to the loft. I found them and awkwardly stood there, not knowing what to say.

He politely said, “Have a good rest of your day. I hope to see you sooner rather than later.”

“Yeah... we’ll see each other soon.”

He gave me another sexy little smile that made my heart skip a beat and my skin flush. Dang, just his smile was arousing.

I didn’t watch him walk away. Instead, I inserted the key into the door and disappeared behind it as he pulled off. I closed my eyes and sighed. Magnus was smart, funny, sexy, and way out of my league. And the worst part? He was clearly very much into me. What in the world had I gotten myself into?