Monday Morning

Daryl grabbed his belt and tie out of his locker and left Rick to watch the monitors while he began a walk around. Who was he kidding? He knew exactly where he was heading. He straightened his hat and tie before he stepped into the exhibition hall to catch a glimpse of Kate. Seeing her through the monitor was no longer good enough, he wanted her in colour.

She smiled when she saw him and he felt the buzz of bees in his stomach. She was wearing her figure hugging red dress and skyscraper heels that made her look like sex on legs. Holy fuck, the more he saw her the sexier he thought she was. He'd probably be drooling like a dog at the sight of her by the end of the month.

Daryl stepped close enough to Kate so that he could see the hint of Georgia suntan on her nose and a light scattering of freckles on her arms. The familiar smell of her perfume began to fill up his nose. He'd missed the sultry smell of it on Saturday. It intoxicated him and he found himself saying, "what ya doin' for lunch today?"

"Philip… Mr Blake… is taking me somewhere," she bit her lip and stared into space for a moment, "I've forgotten the name of it… but its seafood and I love seafood."

Mr Blake never took him for lunch. Daryl felt a pang of jealousy but it was short lived since he knew his boss was a married man. Seafood, he wondered if Kate would like to go fishing with him before he recalled the deer and decided probably not.

"You owe the man his prize," Lou announced with a smile as he strolled out from behind a display case.

Kate tucked her hair behind her ear, "I suppose a bet is a bet."

Daryl hadn't even been thinking about the bet and it might have been old fashioned but a part of him didn't want her buying his dinner, it seemed uncouth. "Ya don't have to pay."

"Of course she does," Lou exclaimed before jabbing his cane on the floor. "She's good for it. We shall go tomorrow."

Tuesday Afternoon

"You ready Lou?" Kate asked as she popped her head around the office door to see Lou sitting in the leather chair eating a baguette and flicking through a book.

"What's that Lass?"

"We're supposed to be going for Lunch," Kate let the door fall open and stared at his half eaten baguette with distaste.

"Oh aye, I forgot about that. No matter," he took a big bite of his baguette and went back to reading his book.

Kate grabbed her handbag and thought about telling Daryl that they could just go another day. In the past she had hated flaky people that broke arrangements. Maybe it was time for her to stop trying to avoid people and saying 'no' all the time. There was nothing wrong with a friendly lunch and besides which she was starving. There were worst things than Daryl Dixon to look at while she ate her lunch.

/

Daryl waited for Kate and Lou in the carpark while he had a smoke. He heard the staff door opening and turned to see Hailee who pulled a cigarette from her purse and held it between her teeth as she edged closer to him.

He sighed and searched his pocket for his lighter before he lit the end.

"You know my boyfriend didn't like you dropping me off on Friday night. He gets real jealous."

"Maybe he shoulda picked ya up then."

"Maybe I should find a new boyfriend," Hailee blew her smoke into an O shape and twirled her finger around her hair. "Kinda boyfriend who drops me off and makes sure I'm okay."

Daryl swallowed down hard. Hailee hadn't spoken to him at all yesterday. After rejecting her advances on Friday night he had assumed she might never talk to him again. Now she was talking to him he was wishing she was still giving him the silent treatment. He started to wonder if he was doing the right thing in chasing after Kate who was really just a ridiculous fantasy, maybe the reality was Hailee. She would still be here in five weeks and he might have been no expert when it came to women but he was certain that the blonde would say yes to whatever he suggested.

The staff door slammed open once more and Kate stepped outside to remind him why he was chasing her. Her floaty dress caught on the light gush of wind from the slamming of the door and the sunlight shone of her glossy hair.

"Lou isn't coming," Kate announced before casting a sidelong glance to Hailee then back to Daryl. Then without another word she strolled across the carpark and got into her Mustang. Daryl laughed as he slipped his keys back into his pocket. She was driving, she was paying, she was the boss, he had no doubt about that.

"I'll see ya later," he said to Hailee before flicking his cigarette to the ground. Where was the fun in a girl that would be a needy little pushover? Daryl wanted a woman that could knock him off his feet.

He ran his fingers along the fiery red paint of the Mustang before he climbed inside. Ever since he had seen it out on the parking lot he had wanted a ride in this car. He sat in the soft black leather passenger seat and Kate pressed the ignition bringing everything to life. A million lights illuminated across the dash board and the engine hummed. He pressed the button for the cooling seat and clipped his belt in. He'd never in his life been in such a fancy car and he wondered if she would let him take it for a spin.

"I thought we might do a spot of hunting down at Chick-fil-A," Kate said.

Daryl laughed. He'd expected her to take him to a place where he couldn't pronounce the name of anything from the menu. He was definitely more comfortable with Chick-fil-A.

"It's like KFC right?"

"What?" Daryl shook his head in mock disgust. "That there's a dirty word 'round these parts."

"Oh really?"

"I don't know how ya'll do it down in England but 'round 'ere its Coke an' Chick-fil-A. Ya livin' 'ere so that makes ya an honorary Georgia girl."

"None of that Kentucky fried shit," Kate said in a thick southern accent and Daryl almost choked on thin air at the sound of her swearing and the way she was saying it.

When they got to Chick-fil-A he ordered his usual chicken sandwich and a coke and Kate ordered the same. Then they sat in the window with their meals and Daryl began to watch her, just like he did on the security monitors, before he realised he was beginning to stare. Unlike in the museum, she looked slightly out of place in these surroundings. It was strange to him that she had never been to a Chick-fil-A but then he had never been anywhere. It occurred to him that Kate had lived in more places in America than he had even visited. The idea of travelling had never really appealed to him until recently. Meeting Kate and Lou was just a tiny taste of what it would be like to go to new places. "How do ya like livin' in Georgia?"

"It's nice… the humidity means I have to wear my hair wavy most of the time and I got eaten alive by bugs on my run this morning but it's beautiful… everyone is friendly."

"Ya get used to the bugs," he laughed before taking a bite of his burger.

Kate rubbed at the little red bite mark at the top of her arm and shook her head in disagreement before asking if he'd "always lived here?"

"Yeah, never even been outta Georgia."

"Never?" her big brown eyes went even wider.

"Maybe one day… I'll go to Yorkshire," Lou had said he should visit. Although Daryl wasn't so sure that he had meant it. He still couldn't quite believe how nice the old man was to him. The people who were his friends were the people he had known his whole life.

"You can't go somewhere so rainy for your first holiday…."

"I don't mind a little rain. Plenty of sunshine right 'ere."

Kate looked out of the window then back at him, "I suppose you're right." Her eyes fell to her watch, "we should get back."

/

On the drive back to the museum Kate stopped at a red light. There was a huge sign for a drive in movie theatre and she stared at it while thinking about Grease. If she didn't have Daryl in the car she might have burst into song.

"Ya ever been to one?" Daryl asked as if he was reading her thoughts.

"Never."

"I could take ya if ya want…"

Kate laughed nervously and her heart went in her throat. Was he inviting her on a date? She cast a quick glance his way before noticing the light changing to green. "I forgot… is it the next left or the one after?" she asked to move the conversation along, even though she knew exactly which way to go.

"The next."

Kate shifted uncomfortably in her seat and her hands tightened around the steering wheel. "Did you know… that…" she had to say something and act normal. "Georgia was named for King George II of England?"

"Yeah-"

"Well…." her heart was racing. She couldn't face his offer. There was no possible way that she could go on a date with him or anyone. "Did you know… he was the last British Monarch to be born outside of the United Kingdom?"

"No-"

"Right…" Kate decided the best course of action was to recount every single thing she could think of about George II. Whether the information was true or an embellishment was of no consequence so long as she kept going until they were in the museum and she was saying, "I must go find Lou."

Wednesday Afternoon

"Excuse me…"

Kate felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see a redheaded woman with a big smile.

"Do you work here hun?"

"Yes, how can I help you?"

"Actually I'm looking for Daryl…" she held up a paper bag with what smelt like a meatball sandwich. "I brought him lunch."

"Okay…" Kate stretched out the word while she stared at the woman. Was this his girlfriend? Sister? Friend? She was pretty. He didn't mention a girlfriend.

"Charlene, what ya doin' 'ere?" the sound of Daryl's gravelly voice filled the gap where Kate was supposed to be saying something to the redhead.

Kate watched Charlene embrace Daryl, "I was in town looking at wedding dresses, thought I might as well stop by for lunch… it's so nice out, we could sit on the grass."

Daryl checked his watch before saying, "sure, just give me a minute okay?"

"You're getting married?" Kate confirmed.

"Yeah… it only took five years of hinting…" Char held her hand out to show off the ring.

"Congratulations, please… excuse me," Kate walked to her office and shut the door before leaning her back on it.

Daryl was getting married. It shouldn't have bothered her but it did. Fucking hell, she was annoyed at herself. Why did it bother her? She began to over analyse before deciding that she was more annoyed at herself for thinking that she was being asked on a date when it had all been in her head.

I'm an an out of touch lunatic, Kate decided. She didn't even want to go on a date anyway. She was being absurd.

She smoothed down the front of her dress out and tucked her hair behind her ears. She wasn't jealous. This was a good thing. Now she didn't have to avoid him. If he invited her to do something, it would be as friends and there would be no awkwardness. Just like she wanted if she thought about it.

Thursday Morning

Daryl brought a big box of fresh donuts into the breakroom and opened the lid to offer one to Kate who luckily for him was the only person in there.

"You're being so nice to Lou, he might want to keep you," she smiled as she perused her options before picking a jam filled one and shaking off the excess sugar.

He set the box on the table and took a seat on the edge with his chocolate donut. He preferred the idea of Kate keeping him. He wondered what he'd have to do to make her think that for herself.

Kate bit into the donut and a huge dollop of jam dropped down unceremoniously the front of her crisp white shirt, "bugger!" she exclaimed before her eyes caught his and her cheeks flushed bright red.

She ran to the sink and grabbed a handful of paper towels before running them under the faucet and frantically wiping down her front.

"I have a school group coming in ten minutes, bloody hell…" she turned to face him and her haphazard efforts had made the stain even worse. The sticky red splodge was now smeared and surrounded by a huge watermark that left the fabric almost see through. See through enough for him to see the pattern of her white lacy bra. He felt a stir in his trousers and tried not to stare at her breasts.

Daryl cleared his throat and remembered Rick telling him on his first day that he should always keep a spare shirt at work which was a good suggestion because on his second day he managed to spill a mug of coffee all over his sleeve.

"I have a spare shirt in my locker…" he said and the relief on Kate's face was immediate. He felt like a superhero. "'Specially for donut emergencies," he winked, revelling in his helpfulness as he stood up to retrieve the shirt. Now he felt less guilty for the situation in his pants.

He knocked on the door of her office and Kate stuck her hand out for the shirt as she said, "thank you Daryl."

He kind of liked it when she called him Mr Dixon.

Daryl waited outside of the office for no other reason than he wanted to see the woman in his shirt. The same one that was his size, had covered his body and had been in his bedroom, his truck, his locker picking up his scent. This was probably the closest he was going to get to Kate's lacy bra and what lay beneath.

She stepped out of the office with his shirt tucked into her black skirt, the sleeves rolled above her elbows and the top buttons undone to where he could enjoy a hint of cleavage. It was oversized but still sexy. Daryl was sure he'd probably find her attractive in anything.

"I should know better than to wear white…" she rolled her eyes with a wry smile before checking her watch. It was show time. Daryl walked her or to put in another way, followed her, to the front of the building where Kate greeted a handsome high school history teacher with a handshake and her pretty smile.

Daryl ran his hand over his face and sank back down the hallway. Spending time with her was its own form of torture. He remembered being eleven and getting a crush on the teenage girl that worked at the convenience store, he couldn't remember her name but he could still remember the time she gave him a stick of her chewing gum and the can of soup that his Daddy had put back in favour of a pouch of tobacco. That was his first and only crush, until now.

Friday Afternoon

Irma had made Daryl promise to invite Kate and Lou over to the farm again and by that she meant this weekend. It was almost time to go home and he'd already missed out on asking Lou who had gone early. He didn't want to mess the invitation up this time. She seemed to have a cunning way of not saying yes or no to any of his requests.

Daryl fixed himself a coffee and watched Kate wash her dinosaur mug before she placed it back in its spot in the cupboard. "Ya ever ride a horse?"

She shut the cabinet door and turned her big brown eyes to him, "no… I'm not sure I really like horses."

"Ya can't say that… I love horses."

Kate bit her lip and leaned against the kitchen counter. Right there and then he decided not to take no for an answer. It was already almost the end of her third week and he was running out of time. His gaze fell from her eyes to her lips then back again. He wanted to know what it was like to kiss those lips. He almost wanted to reach out and run his fingers through her hair and see if it was as soft as if looked. He'd never felt this way about a woman before and he couldn't tell if it was because she was so pretty or something else. Even women he'd slept with and women he'd known for years had never affected him as much as this woman that he hardly knew.

"Well Irma say's I gotta bring ya'll back this weekend… she's gonna make pot pie and her award winning cookies," no one in their right mind could resist those cookies.

/

The idea of horseback riding conjured feelings of mild terror in the pit of Kate's stomach. She'd been bitten by a horse when she was a little girl and from that moment she had decided that she didn't like the giant bullies. But she couldn't deny that she hadn't enjoyed last weekend at Dale and Irma's farm. The promise of someone cooking for her was almost enough to push her over the edge. "Is Charlene busy?" she found it sort of odd that he never mentioned her.

"I think she's lookin' at wedding stuff with 'er Mama, don't think she wants to mess 'round after waitin' for so long. She's already pickin' out colours for the spare room…" Daryl groaned before he said, "baby duck yellow."

"You don't like little ducks?"

"I don't mind ducks… but I do like havin' my own room… anyway… I can pick ya up if ya like, it can be kinda difficult to find the farm," he set his mug on the counter and edged closer to her.

Kate ran her fingers through her hair and took a step back from him and the intense way he was looking at her. She reminded herself that he was just being friendly and she had no real reason to say 'no'. Quite frankly she liked the idea of having plans for the weekend that didn't rely on a 74 year old man so she said "what time do you want to pick me up?"

A/N- Thanks for reading. I'd love to hear some feedback to know if you're enjoying this story :)