The Best Man's Holiday Romance Page 7

  Without waiting for him to respond, she continued on her way to the checkout, so he simply followed. Just as they got to the front of the store, a clerk who was about to open her cash register spotted them. Seeing the full cart, she motioned them toward her as she unhooked the chain. Jeff unloaded the cart while Tasha dug through her purse for her wallet, then paid for everything.

  Before he knew it, they were both loaded up with bags and making their way through the mall and back to his car. Even though they’d bought for far more children than their first excursion, their new purchases took less room, and they were soon on their way to his house.

  The closer they got, the more and more he didn’t want to just unload the car and watch Tasha leave. He didn’t want to be alone, but he didn’t know how to ask her to stay without looking as needy as he felt.

  Beside him, she sighed. “I’m so tired after all that shopping. I really don’t feel like cooking, and I’m too wiped to go out. How would you like to pick up Chinese food before we get to your place?”

  “That sounds like a great idea.” He reached into his pocket, and handed her his cell phone. “It’s on my speed dial under Chinese.”

  “Why does this not surprise me?” Despite her slight sarcasm, he noticed her grinning as she hit the button and waited for them to answer.

  As he drove, he watched her out of the corner of his eye. With the phone to her ear, her eyes suddenly widened. “They know you,” she whispered to him “They said your name when they answered.”

  He smiled. “Yeah.”

  She cleared her throat and spoke into the phone. “This isn’t Jeff, but whatever he usually orders, make it two, and he’ll be there in about twenty minutes to pick it up.”

  For the first time all day, he actually felt like laughing. Maybe the shopping trip was exactly what he needed, after all.

  When he ran into the restaurant to pay, the first aromas of Chinese food hit him. His stomach grumbled, sparking a smile. Knowing he had a double portion of all his favorites in his hand may have been shallow, but it was the start to a good end of a potentially rotten day.

  Yet, as they pulled into the driveway and hurried to unload the car before their food got cold, he realized the day really hadn’t been that rotten. In fact, he’d actually enjoyed himself, and Tasha put up with his moodiness quite graciously.

  Before they ate he gave a very heartfelt thank-you for how the day turned out, and dug into the food.

  He couldn’t believe how much the two of them ate.

  All he could guess was that a single hot dog at lunch hadn’t filled her up, either. Although he would never know where she put all the food she ate. While she wasn’t pencil-thin like the models, she wasn’t carrying around anything extra. She was well proportioned like a woman should be, with everything in all the right places.

  During the past four weeks they’d shared a lot of meals together, and he saw what she ate. When she was hungry, Tasha wasn’t shy. Heather, on the other hand, ate like a bird in front of him. When they went out, she probably had only half of what was served, which actually annoyed him after spending so much money on restaurant food. They were always upscale places, so it wasn’t cheap. Tasha, on the other hand, ate everything on her plate, although she did pick the peppers off her pizza. Then she always ate half of his dessert until he started making sure whenever he ordered dessert, he got the same for her. Heather, on the other hand, never ordered dessert, then made him feel like a pig when he did.

  Mentally, Jeff shook his head. It was almost the end of the day that would have been his wedding. Once today was over, he was going to close that door.

  Never again was he going to compare Tasha to Heather, and he was going to stop thinking of what Heather would have done or not done.

  It was over, and he had no regrets. In fact, he’d had more fun with Tasha in the past month than he’d had with Heather in the past year.

  Until today, he hadn’t exactly been fair to Tasha. She wasn’t a shadow of her sister. In fact, she was the better of the two.

  He had no idea why he hadn’t seen that before.

  “Jeff? Why are you looking at me like that?” Tasha raised her fingers to cover her mouth. “Do I have broccoli stuck in my teeth?”

  He grinned. “No. You don’t. You have lovely teeth. Nice and straight. You have a cute nose, too. And the nicest shade of brown eyes I’ve ever seen. And your hair is so pretty. It’s fluffy and natural.”

  Tasha choked, coughed, then straightened in her chair. “Excuse me? Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. I’m fine.” In fact, he was finer than he’d been for a long time. “Are you done? Would you like to put your feet up and watch a little television?”

  She checked her wristwatch. “I was planning on wrapping the things we bought, but I suppose we could take a break. Sure.”

  On the way to the living room, she kept looking at him out of the corner of her eye. He knew she was checking him out, and he didn’t care. His own eyes had been opened, and he was starting to like what he saw. A lot.

  She parked herself on one side of the love seat, picked up the remote and aimed it at the television. Suddenly he was glad he left it there, instead of on the arm of the big, wide couch. They could sit on the love seat together.

  “I think NCIS is on. Want to watch it?” She hit the button to select the channel before he replied.

  “Sure.” Tonight, he would watch anything she wanted, although she’d never picked any shows he hated. They seemed to like the same shows, and she also hated all the soapy dramas as bad as he did.

  Before she moved to the couch, he sat beside her. “This is good. Let’s just stay here.”

  “Okay...”

  At first she was a little stiff, but she soon settled in to watch the show. He could tell she was tired because when NCIS was over, she didn’t get up. Instead, it looked as if she was going to lean to the side and curl up with her head on the arm, which he thought was a great opportunity to see if she was going to be receptive to the direction of his new revelation.

  “Come here,” he said as he put his arm around her shoulders, and nudged her toward him. “You look tired. You can lean on me.”

  As her head rested on his shoulder she let out a big sigh. He couldn’t see her face, but he would bet her eyes were closed.

  In a matter of minutes, her breathing changed. She was sleeping.

  Jeff couldn’t help but close his eyes and enjoy it. He wasn’t going to fall asleep, so he just sat there and let himself feel relaxed and content.

  But it didn’t last long. The sound of a blast from the television startled her awake. She jerked up, stiffened, then rubbed her eyes with both hands.

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize I was so tired. I think I should go home.”

  He stood, then reached out one hand to help her up. Her eyebrows arched, but she accepted his offer and slipped her hand in his.

  After he pulled her up he didn’t let go as they walked to the door. However, he did have to let go as they slipped their jackets on. Tasha bent down to pick up her purse, which she’d left beside the mat. “I feel bad that you have to drive me home.”

  He smiled. “I don’t mind.” It was actually good because that meant he’d be with her longer. “How about if, this time, I pick you up for church in the morning? Going to your friend’s small church is really different than what I’m used to, but I think the small group atmosphere is growing on me.”

  Her eyes widened. “I guess. I mean, yes. That would be nice.”

  She looked like a deer frozen in the headlights, knowing what was going to happen, but unable to move to get out of the way of contact.

  But the contact he wanted wasn’t to run her over. He wanted to kiss her.

  Not tonight, though. On the day that was to have been his wedding to another wom
an, it just seemed wrong.

  Tomorrow, that would change.

  Chapter 7

  Frantically, Natasha scrubbed her face of the remnants of yesterday’s makeup that hadn’t washed off in the shower.

  He was early. She’d already hit the button to open the front door for him, and if the elevator wasn’t busy, which it never was on Sunday morning, that meant she had two minutes, and he would be at her door. He’d been early before, but today he was really early. Usually she was prepared, but she wasn’t now. She never needed her alarm on Sundays, but this morning, she should have set it. For the first time that she could remember, she’d slept in Sunday morning. She hadn’t been up twenty minutes, and Jeff had buzzed from the ground level. Her hair was still wet from the shower, and she wasn’t even close to being ready to go to church.

  With Heather gone she should have slept great, but instead she’d tossed and turned all night.

  It was Jeff’s fault.

  She’d expected yesterday would be a hard day for him, and she’d been right. All day long he’d waffled between being distracted and a bit sullen. But when he started playing with the kids’ bricks at the mall, something changed. Not that he usually talked a lot, but he’d been pretty silent until they started eating supper.

  When he told her she had nice teeth she’d felt like a horse under consideration for the glue factory. Then he’d acted so strangely for the rest of the night she wasn’t sure what to say. Going home and straight to bed hadn’t helped. She’d spent most of the night staring up at the ceiling, and when she did sleep, her dreams featured Jeff as the main attraction.

  She’d barely unscrewed the wand off the tube for her mascara when Jeff’s knock echoed at her door. She quickly made a swipe on each eye, didn’t check to make sure it was even, then jogged to the door.

  “Hi,” she muttered as she opened the door. “You’re earl...” Her voice trailed off and her chin nearly hit the ground as she stared at him. Instead of his usual jeans, he wore neat black dress pants...with a belt. And leather shoes, not his alleged “dress” sneakers. Today he didn’t wear a T-shirt, but a button-down shirt, neatly pressed. His hair was perfectly gelled into place, and he wore one small diamond earring in his left ear, daring enough to look quite dashing. Yet still, there was something else different about him that she couldn’t put her finger on, aside from looking as though he could have been a modern-day and very well-groomed pirate. Except he was going to church, not out to pillage and plunder.

  She cleared her throat. “You look really nice.” Which was the epitome of understatement.

  “Thank you.” He grinned, making him look even more dashing. “You look really nice yourself.”

  She doubted that. Her hair was still partially wet and she’d grabbed the first clothes she touched without much thought to coordination. She wasn’t even sure if she had on two socks that matched, but she was too embarrassed to look down.

  “Are you ready? I know I’m a bit early. If you haven’t had breakfast, would you like to go grab some coffee and a muffin or something across the street?”

  Natasha pressed her hand to her stomach. She wasn’t sure if the flutters in her stomach were hunger, or panic, or maybe a bit of both. “I guess so,” she said as she grabbed her purse and slipped her feet into her shoes, which gave her the opportunity to make sure that her socks did indeed match.

  He waited beside her while she barely managed to control her shaking fingers as she locked up, then they made their way to the elevator.

  “Why are you all dressed up today?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I just felt like it.”

  She waited for him to elaborate on why he felt that way, but he didn’t.

  “Do you have other plans?”

  “No. Not really. I kinda thought we’d spend the afternoon wrapping what you bought yesterday.”

  She wanted to comment on him being way too overdressed to wrap gifts, but she was pretty sure she would get the same kind of noncommittal answer.

  As they crossed the street she noticed other women staring, not at them as a couple, but at Jeff as an individual. She wanted to scream out for them to turn away, that he was hers, but he wasn’t. He would never be. The way he felt about her, they would always be friends, and nothing more. After all, if there were more, he would have come up with a better compliment than saying she had nice teeth.

  All hints of hunger deserted her when she realized what he was doing. Yesterday closed the chapter on his life with Heather. All ties were gone. All dates that would have been “theirs” were over and done. Today he was starting a new chapter, which meant opening himself to new relationships. He was dressed to attract women, and he was doing exactly that.

  Newly single, he was out on the prowl. Maybe he would ask what she thought of potential date prospects. After all, that’s what friends did. When that happened she needed to be honest without being judgmental. She’d have to pray really hard on that.

  She didn’t understand why he’d specifically requested they go to Dave and Ashley’s small church instead of back to the big one where he’d been going most of his life. Unless it was indeed that reason—he already knew everyone, and wanted to broaden his horizons.

  Jeff held the door open for her as she entered the coffee shop. “Want to get a table, and I’ll get our usual?”

  She wasn’t sure she wanted to leave him alone, even for a few minutes, but this was what friends did.

  Being the one to sit first, she chose the spot against the wall, forcing Jeff to sit with his back to everyone entering when he returned with their breakfast. He wouldn’t see who came in, and people who came in wouldn’t see him, at least not his handsome face. Maybe that was petty, but more, she wasn’t ready to let him go. For a while, she wanted—no, needed—to be friends without complications and without the ghost of her sister between them.

  “Here you go. A cranberry muffin for you, blueberry for me. Double cream, no sugar in your coffee.”

  Her favorite muffin and coffee just the way she liked it. The morning suddenly got a little better.

  Before they began to eat he said a short prayer of thanks. She liked that he would do that in a public place, even for something that was hardly a real meal, even though he’d barely said, “Amen,” before taking the first sip of his coffee.

  “So, Tasha, tell me more about this gift-giving party. How and when are the gifts handed out?”

  She couldn’t believe that’s what he wanted to talk about, but it was a relief not to be asked for tips to attract other women. “It’s a very informal thing. Bill, that’s my boss, wants to keep it that way, so everyone comes. Instead of making it a formal banquet we do everything at the office so it’s less intimidating. Gloria, his wife, hires a caterer, and they set up all the food in the lunchroom, but everyone is free to walk around the office. That way people can move around and talk, versus sitting at a table and being stuck with whoever is close to you for the whole event.”

  Jeff nodded. “That sounds like a great idea. More like a house party, but at work.”

  “Exactly.” Natasha paused to pull her tablet out of her purse. “Now that I’m thinking about it, it’s probably my boss’s wife who does the decorating and gets the tree. I’ll have to ask about that.” She made a note for herself, then looked back to Jeff. “After everyone’s finished eating, the gifts are given out, the kids run around and play, the teens go huddle in little circles, the adults socialize and after a while everyone goes home.”

  He smiled. “That’s pretty succinct.”

  “That’s the way it is. Everyone has a good time. Then Monday, back to work as usual.” She snickered. “Although for a few days we always find remnants of the party in the strangest places. One year, we don’t know who did it, but a couple of people gathered a bunch of the wrapping paper and wrappe
d Bill’s desk. It was pretty funny.”

  “The celebration sounds like quite a worthwhile endeavor. I’m glad to help you.”

  While they ate she told him about Gloria’s antics as she decorated the office as well as the Christmas tree every year. She couldn’t help but smile. “The more I tell you, the more excited I’m getting about decorating my own tree. Sorry. I love the whole Christmas season. It’s my favorite time of year.”

  He grinned back. “I’m finding that out, I think.” He took the last sip of his coffee and checked his watch. “I think it’s time to go. I’ll drive.”

  It was a pretty obvious hint that today he wanted to take his car, which was fine with her. She needed the time to finish putting on her makeup, which she could do from the passenger’s side.

  With every red light they caught, she asked him not to look as she applied another touch to her makeup. Of course, he did look.

  “Stop that!” she said with her mouth wide open as she applied mascara to one eye.

  “But I have to. This is a fascinating procedure. I’ve never seen what it takes to get that final look.”

  “It’s not a big deal.” Although Natasha couldn’t imagine that Heather would ever have let Jeff see her face without all her makeup, much less watch her apply it, especially since Heather never went anywhere without a full application of everything. Natasha usually only wore a bit of shadow, some liner, the mascara, and she only owned four shades of lipstick.

  “Don’t watch me. This is your fault that I didn’t get this done at home.”

  “Fine. But I don’t know why you do that. You look fine without it.”

  She didn’t want to be the only female at church over the age of twelve without makeup. “You’re still looking.”

  “I’m not.” He turned his head forward, but she caught him trying to sneak glances out of the corner of his eye every time he stopped, because every time she turned toward him, his head moved a little straighter to face forward.