Blind Dating the Alpha Prince

4 - First Impression

~~Quinn's PoV~~

I didn't think he'd be wearing the mask to dinner. Naya had shown me the photo from Mate-Match that everyone was going crazy over, which didn't show much at all, and now I'm looking at the real-life version of the exact same thing. It's an ivory mask that covers most of his face, contoured with eyebrows and cheekbones to make it look more like a real person. There are holes for his eyes, holes beneath the space for his nose so he could breathe, and then the bottom tapers away on either side of his mouth like an elaborate mustache. His mouth and chin are fully visible, the only part of his face that are.

It could literally be anybody behind that mask. It might not even be the same guy from the app. Panic starts to fill me as I realize how completely crazy this all is.

What am I doing here? I have a daughter to think about, I can't go off meeting complete strangers! What if he's crazy? He must be crazy, why else would he be sitting here in that mask like it's a normal thing to do.

Just as I'm about to turn around and walk out, he speaks. “Hi. You must be Quinn.”

Something in his voice stops me in my tracks. It's warm and deep and somehow familiar. It doesn't sound scary. Without even really meaning to, I take another step forward.

“What do I call you?”

He smiles. “I'm sorry for this. It's weird, isn't it?” He gestures to the mask on his face and I nod in agreement. At least he recognizes that it's bizarre. “I have to keep it on so that word doesn't get out about who I am. I know it's strange at first, but hopefully after a little while you'll forget it's even there.”

That doesn't sound very likely, but I take another step anyway. “Are you someone famous then?”

His smile gets bigger. “No, sorry. I just like my privacy. If you were hoping for a movie star, you're out of luck.”

My mouth twitches too. He doesn't sound like he takes himself too seriously, and that's a good thing. I appreciate a sense of humor.

“You still didn't tell me your name.”

“Where are my manners?” He shakes his head at himself before getting to his feet and closing the remaining distance between us. Still smiling, he reaches out and takes my hand in his. “I'm Jeff. It's nice to meet you, Quinn.”

Jeff. It's not a bad name, and I have to say the rest of him isn't bad either. He's got a strong masculine scent, leather and cologne, that floods my nose as he gets close. Like most wolves our age, he's in excellent shape and his clothes show it off well. The dark grey pants and slate blue shirt he's wearing look expensive. His eyes are almost the same shade of blue as his shirt, and I'm sure that's not a coincidence. His hand is warm and strong around mine and though there are no sparks when he touches me, of course, it feels nice anyway.

I'd almost forgotten what it feels like to be touched by a man, even in a completely innocent way.

He gently takes my arm and leads me to the table, pulling out my chair and the whole nine yards. Despite the weird beginning, this is starting to feel like a real date.

“So what's a beautiful woman like you doing on Mate-Match?” he asks as he sits back down, his eyes watching me curiously from behind the mask.

I'm not ready to tell him about Naya setting me up just yet, so I deflect the question back to him.

“You say it like it's something to be ashamed of, but you're on it yourself,” I point out, and he laughs. “What are you doing on it?”

“Honestly? My mother insisted. She thinks I need to settle down.”

I wasn't expecting that and this time it's me that laughs. “But you don't want to settle down?”

“I didn't think I did,” he says, his eyes flicking over me. “But maybe I was wrong.”

It's such an obvious line that I can't help rolling my eyes, which makes him laugh again.

“You didn't buy that, huh?”

“Not for a second,” I tell him, but I'm smiling too. He doesn't seem to mind me calling him on his bullshit, and that's an attractive quality for me. I always told Ethan when he was full of it, and he loved me for it.

The thought of my mate makes my smile disappear, and Jeff notices my change of mood straight away, but misinterprets the reason for it. “I'll be honest with you, I really wasn't expecting much out of this whole experience, but that's no reason we can't have a nice dinner at least. Let's just start with that, okay?”

That sounds reasonable to me. “Okay. That sounds like a good plan.”

He leans back in his chair and picks up the menu next to him on the table. “So, what would you like to drink? I can get us a bottle of wine if you like? Red or white?”

“Oh, no thanks. I'm still breastfeeding so I can't drink.”

I didn't mean to blurt that out quite so bluntly and obviously he didn't expect me to either. His eyes go wide as they move straight to my breasts.

Not exactly subtle, I think.

“You're... what?” he stutters.

“Breastfeeding,” I repeat, a bit quieter this time. “My daughter.”

“Your... daughter?”

He's looking completely stunned and my heart sinks. Naya said she told him about Rosemary. Why is he acting like this is news?

Maybe this was all a mistake after all.