Page 53 of Wilder

“As they were leaving, the woman said to me that he looked like a nice guy and that I should give him a chance. I have no idea what that means.”

Wilder fought the urge to facepalm himself. “Oh, well, I can probably shed some light on that.”

“You can?” Alexandra asked, her eyes wide.

“Yep. When I got here earlier, I was standing at the rink watching your lesson. I guess the mom got a little concerned that a guy was standing there watching her girls. She demanded to speak to my manager.”

“Oh dear.”

“It was fine. I gave her Kayleigh’s number, so she was able to talk her down,” Wilder said. “However, she wanted to make sure she didn’t try to bring it up again in the future, so Kayleigh made it seem like I was hanging around the rink because I have a crush on you.”

Alexandra choked on the sip of tea she’d just taken, covering her mouth in time to keep it from spraying everywhere. “What?”

“Kayleigh made it seem like I had a crush on you so the woman would understand I wasn’t there to watch her young daughters.”

“So… it’s not for real?”

“Only in Kayleigh’s imagination.”

No emotion crossed Alexandra's face, so Wilder had no way of knowing if she was relieved or disappointed. However, given their conversations of late, he was going to go with relieved. Which, in turn, made him feel rather disappointed.

“I’m glad she’s protective of her children,” Alexandra said. “But there’s no need to go after every single guy she thinks is watching them.”

“Hopefully, Kayleigh put her mind at ease, and she’ll leave me alone.” He thought back to the incident he’d had where he’d been accused of sexually harassing a woman. Was there something about him that made people think he was a good candidate to accuse of stuff like that?

“Anyway, I did have a valid reason for stopping by,” Wilder said. “And it had nothing to do with a crush.”

Or at least he didn’t think it did.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Lexi wrapped her hands around her cup of tea, appreciating the warmth that seeped into her fingers after her session on the ice. She’d spotted Wilder when he’d walked in and had been conscious of his gaze on her as she’d worked with the children. But then he’d left to go sit at the table, and she’d been disappointed.

Why? She had no idea.

But she had to admit that she’d enjoyed sitting there with Wilder. It had been relaxing until he’d said that Kayleigh had told that woman that he had a crush on her.

Lexi didn’t know how to respond to that. Did shewanthim to have a crush on her?

It was weird to acknowledge that part of her actually did. At least it would explain why he was spending time with her.

“So, why did you come by?”

“I was planning to come see you regardless,” he said. “But I had lunch with Kayleigh and Hudson first.”

“I saw you there.”

Wilder’s brown eyes widened. “You did?”

“Yes. I usually go for lunch at one of the restaurants before I start work.”

“Why didn’t you say hi?”

“I didn’t want to interrupt.”

She still wasn’t sure about where she stood with them, especially Kayleigh and Hudson. They were her bosses, and Wilder was… well, he was her co-worker. But the three of themwere bonded by blood and marriage. Which was more than any connection she had with them.

“You could have,” he said. “We were actually talking about the Christmas program.”

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