Chapter 3-

Beth has been perusing for the better part of an hour, and is still yet to find the man she will have to spend the next ten days with.
Its not that she's being picky about it, its that the men she's spoken to so far just don't feel right to her. One guy she spent two minutes talking to was perfectly nice, he was the tall, dark, and handsome type that most girls would drop their panties for in a heartbeat, but just as she thought he was the one...he opens his mouth and cackles the most annoying laugh she has ever heard. She cant be expected to listen to that for the next week and a half, so she apologises, tells him she needed to meet her friends and excuses herself.

So yeah...not picky at all.

Then she goes and humiliates herself by hitting on a married man, his wife was non too pleased to see her sitting in what was obviously her seat. If Beth was the observant type she would have seen the wine glass rimmed with red lipstick and a woman's scarf thrown over the chair behind her, she stumbles from the chair and leaves without a word, too embarrassed to speak.

Look for a wedding ring...always look for a ring.

She goes through eight guys in an hour before she decides to take a breather and goes in search of her friends to update them on her progress, or lack of progress in her case.

"I'm done, I cant smile another fake smile at men that are too up their own asses!" Beth exclaims, as she plops herself down in a stool beside Rosita and Tara.

"Why'd you bring me here? Everyone is either married or too busy talking about money and business to even wanna talk to me." She says pointedly at Rosita.

"Yea babe, this place is too classy to be pickin' guys up in. Lets jus' go to that new Irish bar round the corner, Beth will have no problem catchin' a guy there." Tara says excitedly, finishing off her beer and standing from her seat.

"I thought if you had to do this with some man you just met, that you could do it with a nice, respectable one...not some drunkard in an Irish bar." Rosita says to her, shooting Tara a disapproving look.

Beth stands with Tara and gives Rosita her best gracious look.

"I really appreciate that you're trying to snag me a keeper Rosita but...that Irish bar don't sound too bad right now. I need to find someone by tonight, I cant do that here." Beth says, giving Rosita an apologetic look.

Rosita nods her head in understanding, "Alright, but next girls night its my turn to score...I need a rebound hook-up pronto."

Tara and Beth laugh at Rosita's pouty expression, "All your relationships start as a rebound hook-up." Tara laughs playfully.

"Hey! Not fair." Rosita says swatting at Tara, making them all laugh uncontrollably.

Beth is suddenly cut off mid laugh when she makes eye contact with the most beautiful man she's ever seen, or handsome...but still really beautiful, she cant decide how to describe how amazing he looks. He's sitting at a table with the two women she met today and cant help but feel a little jealous that they get to sit with him. The second she caught his eye she noticed he had the most adorable goofy smile on his face, when he notices she's looking at him, his goofy smile turns into a small grin. She feels her own lips turn up into a shy smile as he continues to stare at her so intensely.

"Com'on ladies, time for some sexy drunken Irish men." Rosita says, abruptly making Beth break her stare.

Beth knows that the man who was practically eye fucking her was off limits, he knew the women that were doing business with Carol, they knew what her next article was, knew too much, so she was risking bumping into him again in the future if they associated with the same people. That just couldn't happen, she planned on cutting all ties with whichever man she landed, nothing could come after, she had to shut off all of her emotions and be cold and heartless. Brutal. But the idea of not ever seeing this handsome stranger again made her gut clench, not knowing his name, not hearing what his voice sounded like.

God, she couldn't think about all that. Shouldn't. It didn't matter, she had exactly ten days to find a man which left no time for her to try and explore what could have been with goofy grin guy.

"Yeah...lets go." Beth says, trying to sound enthusiastic and not looking back to see if her mystery man was still looking at her.

Beth grabbed a hold of Tara's hand as Tara was being led out by Rosita, all of them forming a chain link as to not get lost in the crowd on their way out. Just as Beth was about to step out into the cool air, a deep gravely voice sounded in her ear from behind making her jerk her hand out of Tara's to come to a stop.

"Ya ain't leavin' already are ya?"

An involuntary shiver ran down her spine as his deep southern drawl wisped by her ear. She turned around the best she could in what little space she had to come face to face with non other then goofy grin himself. She smiles brightly up at him which makes him smile softly back. She takes a moment to appreciate his appearance, no ring...that's a good start. He definitely fitted into the upper class crowd that watered here. He dresses in a fancy suit with shoes to match, but what really catches her is his eyes. His eyes she can just about see under his shaggy hair that hangs a little over those pools of deep blue that she knows could pull her in deep if she allowed them to, but...

"Well I dunno, depends." She says playfully.

"On what?" He says curiously.

Beth knows its a bad idea, knows it could come back to bite her in the ass. But she had no choice, if the Irish bar turned out to be a bust then she was screwed, she couldn't pass this up. What are the odds that Lori and Andrea will find out about this anyway? She wont mention his name in her piece, they wont know she used someone they know for her article...how could they possibly find out? But that also meant not being able to see him after the ten days, would she be able to let him go after she got to know him?

Of course she could, what was she thinking? She's a professional and this is nothing but business, her job depended on it.

"If you're gonna buy me a drink or not." she says, quirking her brow challengingly.

He grins wider at her, "Imma buy the first round if ya promise to stick around long enough to buy the second."

She smiles brightly at him and nods her head, "I jus' have to tell my friends, ya can go 'head and get those drinks in...I'll meet you at the bar."

He gives her a quick nod and heads to the bar. Beth turns towards the exit and finds Tara and Rosita at the door waiting, a knowing look on their faces.

"Please tell me you're ditchin' us to mingle with that sexy stallion you were just talking to." Rosita says, looking over Beth's shoulder to the man she has yet to put a name to.

Beth smiles coyly making Tara and Rosita squeal and clap in excitement.

"I'm gonna see how this goes, if things go south I'll meet y'all in the other bar." Beth informs her drunk friends, giving them both a hug goodbye.

As Beth was making her way through the crowd she stopped suddenly, a terrible thought entering her mind, how could she be so stupid? She couldn't have drinks with him here, Lori and Andrea will surly see them together and will know what she's up to with their friend. She sees the women are still at their table with another man so she hurries over to the bar where Daryl is waiting with two bottles of beer.

"Hey, I didn't know what to get so I..." He holds the bottle out to her as she cuts him off.

"Actually, I cant hear myself think in here, do you uhm...wanna get outta here?" She asks, nervously looking towards the table Lori and Andrea occupied. To her relief, they're both too busy draping themselves over the man they're with to notice her.

He looks shocked that she would ask such a thing, "Girl, ya don' even know my name and ya wanna leave with me, I could be an axe murderer for all you know."

A small laugh forms on her face, "Fine." she smirks, "Well hello there, my name is Beth Greene, I'm twenty four and I work for a magazine called composure. Oh and by the way... are you an axe murderer by any chance?"

He laughs amusedly at her, and to her relief decides to play along, "Well good evening Beth Greene, 'm Daryl Dixon and its a pleasure to meet you. I am not an axe murderer but if I was I wouldn't be goin' round tellin' pretty girls I jus' met."

She laughs at that, thankful he has a sense of humour to go with his good looks.

"Well alright then, now that we know each other and I'm pretty sure you ain't a murderer...ya wanna..." She feels suddenly embarrassed by her forwardness, but she needed to get the hell outta dodge before her cover was blown. Luckily for her, he saves her from asking again.

"Yea, lets get the hell outta here." He says, placing the untouched beers back down on the bar.

She hasn't thought this through properly, where would they go? She couldn't bring him to the Irish bar when her excuse for leaving here was because of the noise. She hoped he didn't think she meant they would be going back to her place because that would send off the wrong signals, she doesn't wanna come off as easy, but she supposes asking a guy to leave with her without knowing his name first seemed kinda easy.

As they step out into the cool air, he starts to lead her to the parking lot, his large, rough hand on the small of her back sends another shiver up her spine. Her nerves start to take over, is she really going to get into a strangers car? Could she?

"So...where to?" She asks, trying to hide how incredibly nervous she was feeling.

He looks at her curiously, "Yea don' gotta be so nervous, I ain't gonna bite." He says in a soft reassuring tone which eases some of her anxiety.

"Was thinkin' we could go back to my place, get that drink I owe ya..." He says, not showing any signs of nervousness on his part, which makes her think maybe he's done this before.

"Oh uhm..."

"Just a drink...'m not about to try anything on the first date." He says, looking ahead of them when her eyes widen in surprise.

"First date huh? You're pretty sure of yourself Mr. Dixon ain't ya?" She says, smiling playfully at him while bumping his arm with her shoulder.

He still looks ahead when he smiles and shakes his head, "'M jus' up here." He says, avoiding her questions.

He comes to a stop beside a very expensive looking BMW and she's baffled, he doesn't look like a flashy kinda man. She steps up to the car when he chuckles at her and goes to the motorbike that's parked beside it. He swiftly mounts it and looks at her as she stops suddenly.

"Your first time 'm guessin'?" He asks, strapping his helmet on.

Beth nods slowly at him but can do nothing but stare at the bike. How the heck was she suppose to ride that thing with the dress she's wearing?

"There's nuthin' to it, jus' lean with me when I'm turnin', and hold on tight." He informs, nodding his head for her to come closer so he can strap her helmet on.

She cant back out now, there isn't any time to find another man. Now or never.

She steps up to him on shaky legs, he looks into her eyes as he places the helmet on her head and as he's clipping it on, she feels the warmth of his hands under her chin. As he pulls back she can feel him brush against her neck softly, his touch making her feel safe and secure. He breaks eye contact with her when a soft blush creeps down his neck, he clears his throat and grips the handlebars tightly. Looking ahead of him, he waits for her to get on.

She grips his shoulder to steady herself as she mounts the bike behind him, and as she expected, she feels her short dress ride up exposing her panties. She scoots close and locks her thighs tightly around each of his hips to hide her underwear from view. She's suddenly cussing Rosita for her outfit choice and wishes she was wearing her usual skinny jeans and cowboy boots for this.

Daryl starts up the bike, and as it roars to life she can feel the hum of the engine between her legs that sends excitement shooting to her core. She throws her arms around his waist, locking her hands together over his toned stomach and holds on for dear life, trying to ignore the dull ache forming in her lower abdomen.

"You ready to go for a ride Beth?!" He shouts over the loud engine, giving it a few revs which only makes it harder for her to ignore the tingling between her legs.

She smiles mischievously to herself at the double meaning she finds in his question. These next ten days are going to be a journey to say the least, and she was more than ready to get this over with. This guy doesn't know what he's in for.

"Are you ready to go for a ride Daryl?!"

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