5. Speed Date
5
SPEED DATE
REX
I was here for Archer, that’s all. Speed dating wasn’t my thing. I’d told him earlier I’d suffer through this night for his sake. Plus, I warned him he’d better make a connection with someone because my time as his wingman was valuable.
All that aside, I really felt for the guy. His ex did a number on him, stringing him along on an engagement that lasted a few years without setting a wedding date. She blamed it on the stress of graduate school, which he helped put her through. Next thing he knew, she was pregnant—but it wasn’t his—and she moved in with her professor.
As much as I complained about having to take part in speed dating as his wingman, I would do anything to help him or any of my buddies. But I wouldn’t have agreed to this had I known Chelsea would be here. I didn’t need five minutes with her, not when I had a building to remodel and no plans for a deli in sight.
It was a damn shame, too, because sitting before her, I knew she was exactly my type. Any other time, any other place, I’d take hours to explore her rare beauty and uncover every mystery within her shining emerald eyes. I’d find a million ways to recreate that blush of pink tainting her ivory complexion, appearing while I sat.
Like all my other dates, I’d have a night of passion, exploring her curvy body, giving her a time she’d never forget. Then I’d be on my merry way the morning after, completely satisfied, and moving on.
The bell rang for our speed date to begin and, for the first time ever with a woman, I had no strategy, no pickup line, nothing. With her pouty lips painted an electric red, matching the glossy sheen of her fingernails clicking away at the stem of her wineglass, they rendered me speechless.
Her hair fell like a curtain framing her face, red as if baptized in fire. The ends of the locks tickled the tops of her breasts, peeking out from her dress. They were probably silky to the touch—but I gripped the armrests of my seat so I wouldn’t dare raise a hand to find out.
Thirty seconds were wasted ogling and assessing her, then finally she spoke, pointing to my name tag.
“Well, Rex, I must be impressing you because your eyes haven’t left my cleavage yet.”
I cleared my throat and straightened. “It’s um...the sequins. They’re glaring in the light.”
“Sure. I suppose anything other than the drab corporate black and navy-blue would be blinding to someone who doesn’t come down from the top of Buchanan tower much. ”
My lips quirked at her snarky attitude—although she delivered it with a sly smile—and I leaned to the right, casually draping my elbow over the back of my chair. “I grace people with my presence now and then.”
“So I should feel honored you entered my deli this morning?”
“Especially since I don’t like delis.” I didn’t mean for that to slip out the way it did. Very few people knew the trauma that particular deli caused me when I was little.
She snorted. “Because they’re beneath you?”
“Well, the lobby is forty stories down from my corner office.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “You are something else. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone so full of himself, which is surprising since my Uncle Doug always talked about Mr. Buchanan like he was a sweet old man, and treated him like family.”
Ouch. She couldn’t have found a bigger knife to stab me with. “Sorry if I haven’t given you a more favorable impression of me.” And it was better this way, anyway. Finding ways to kick a certain beauty out of my building would be so much harder if I knew the tantalizing taste of her lips.
“Doesn’t matter. I really didn’t come to this speed dating event with any expectations. My sister and her friend wanted to try it, and right now, I’m all about experiencing the city when I’m not working,” she replied.
“Oh, that’s right. You left the small town behind to venture here. So, how are you finding New York City?”
A flash of red fingernails raked her locks behind one ear, showing off a small dangling gold hoop from an earlobe made for kissing. Shame I wouldn’t be the man kissing it.
She shrugged. “Pricey. Crowded. Busy. But there’s an energy here I don’t find back home, like a constant hum underlying everything.”
“This city never, ever sleeps, so they say.”
“Now you’re quoting a cheesy line from a famous song about the city?” Her tease amused me.
“I’d bet no one ever wrote a song about Honey Springs.”
“Holly Creek,” she corrected with a smirk. “If they did, it’d be a Christmas tune because the town takes its annual Christmas in July celebration very seriously. Oh, it’s amazing, like right out of a Hallmark movie! Everything you’d want for the holidays. The scent of pumpkin pie, pine trees lit up everywhere, the songs of the season playing from speakers on the street, and a calendar packed with all sorts of festivities. The town is famous for our Christmas spirit,” she finished with a dreamy look in her eyes.
Clearly, she loved Heart Falls, or wherever she was from. All the more reason she needed to go back to where she came from to be happy. Why, I’d be doing her a favor, forcing her out of the deli so she could do just that.
“Is the town famous or has it just found a way to capitalize on a holiday to bring in the tourists?” I countered skeptically.
She rolled her eyes while a corner of her mouth lifted. “You can’t believe a town could simply be a joy to visit for the friendly spirit and cheer the townspeople deliver?”
“Sure they can...while also selling all sorts of Christmas paraphernalia and fattening their wallets. It’s marketing 101, sweetheart.” I finished off my drink.
“I suppose they taught you that in whatever Ivy League school you attended?”
“Damn right. Graduated Columbia with an MBA. How about you?” God, I was sounding rather arrogant.
She crossed her arms. “I graduated from the school of life. I learned everything I need to know from running my mother’s diner for years.”
“And that makes you think you’d be able to run a successful deli in Manhattan?” I raised an eyebrow. Without sounding too patronizing, I knew she’d have her work cut out for her...not that I cared.
“I’ll bet, while you were cramming for tests in some stuffy university library, I was dealing with real-life situations and trying to figure out how to please the public while still being profitable.”
I hated to admit; she impressed me. “You’re pretty confident of your experience, aren’t you?”
Her chin tilted up. “I am. Food has always been a part of my life. Mom made cooking a fun family time, then when she opened the diner, that became a family affair, but so much more. The diner has always been the heart and soul of our community. That’s why I couldn’t leave when?—”
“One minute left,” the DJ announced, and the music faded back in.
She looked down, almost appearing sad, and when she emerged with a slight smile, blinking rapidly, her green eyes glistened brighter, as if wet briefly by tears. I held her gaze and couldn’t look away, suddenly wanting anything to take away this sad moment for her.
“Anyway, Rex, our time’s almost up. I don’t know if I impressed you, but...” She shook her head and finished her wine.
I halfway hated for this to end. “Out of every woman in the room, you did, if it makes you feel better.”
Her chuckle lightened her mood and a coy smile replaced any trace of sadness I thought was there. “So…you’re saying you’d like to talk more during the mingling to follow?”
Oh, yes. Shit, I shouldn’t, and needed a quick excuse. “Sorry. I have to rush out to...another date.” Yep, that’s the excuse guaranteed to put her off for good. Now I wasn’t only arrogant, but a jerk, too.
As the timer buzzed and the volume of the music increased, she smacked her lips. We rose from our seats, like everyone else. Waitstaff brought out trays of hors d’oeuvres and people moved toward the bar for more alcohol to bolster them up for the next phase after speed dating—mingling and dancing.
“Well then,” she stood and straightened her dress, but grinned at me, still killing me with her small town kindness. “See you around, I guess.”
I nodded and watched her sashay away, with a full view of her nice ass and lean legs, out of my life, and toward her friends.
Archer clapped a hand on my shoulder. “I know who I want to talk with. Maisy. And it looked like you and her sister were having an interesting chat. Let’s go over there before anyone else gets to them.”
I caught Chelsea’s gaze across the way and wished more than anything I could follow. “Yeah. Sorry, buddy. Something’s come up. I need to head out.”
“What? The night’s just getting interesting. A wingman doesn’t leave in the middle of?—”
“Hey, guys. Sorry I’m late. Had a meeting I couldn’t get out of.” Just then, Brooks appeared at my side. Thank God. “How’d it go?”
“You’re just in time to escort Archer to that sparkling group of ladies over there where he thinks he has a shot.” I pointed Chelsea’s way. She was hard to miss, as if the dance floor lighting orbited around her beauty. “I hereby relinquish my wingman duties. Good luck.”
They protested, but I walked briskly away from them. Once I made it to the door, I peeked back. Archer and Brooks had joined the circle of sequined ladies. Whatever was said made laughter go up all around.
My jaw clicked at how close Brooks stood to Chelsea and the way he eyed her cleavage, almost like a dog with his tongue hanging out. But I certainly didn’t have a reason to be jealous.
My hand was on the door handle, about to launch out of the room, when Chelsea caught my stare. A protracted gaze with a sly smile I could read so much more into, but I wouldn’t. Business was always first, before pleasure. Dad taught me well.
Kicking the deli out of my building was my game, and I’d win. Later, when she’d no doubt be heartbroken, she could cry on my shoulder. Then I’d take her as my reward before she moved back to Honey Brook…or wherever it was she came from.
She could keep her Christmas spirit, and I’d have my father’s building modernized without that damn deli in sight. We’d both end up happy. Somehow I’d make this happen, and, for once, it might be my best Christmas ever.