The way he called her Miss Ashleigh made her slightly more awkward and out of place than she usually did. Him being so completely nice, polite manner of speak made her feel brash—harsh even. It was stupid, and it didn’t make any sense, but, it made her feel out of sorts all the same. It was like, taking candy from strangers. It was a nice gesture, sure, but you always got that sinking sort of feeling in your stomach. Like you knew that they had an ulterior motive, that they had some other reason than simply being nice.
She shook her head biting her bottom lip, “I, uh, don’t have one.” Never really had one either, but that was beside the point. And was this one of those situations that she was supposed to say she did have a boyfriend? Why was she even talking to this man? Sure, he was good looking and had that sort of rustic, western sort of charm… but, she had never really been one to talk to strangers. Never. Even painfully so. It was one of the reasons she didn’t go out much. Sure, she got lonely, but she felt less awkward on her own in her apartment than in a room full of strangers. “And I’m reasonably sure I can take care of myself, even if I did have a beau.” The word sounded funny on her tongue, foreign and didn’t hold the easy sort of grace that game when he said it. Like it belonged there.