by Lori Borrill
“You have to go. We’ve been waiting all week,” Kristin urged.
“What if it’s Jerry from Tax?”
She’d been preparing that speech since this morning, the one that appreciated his efforts but let him down gently, and she knew when it came to actually delivering it, she’d blow it completely. She knew she was too soft to let down anyone who had gone through such considerate efforts to win her over, and she’d end up on a date no matter what happened today.
“What if it’s Brad Buckingham?” Kristin countered.
That lifted Jeannie’s spirits slightly, but didn’t completely calm her jitters. She’d noted that it had been over a year since she’d been on a first date, and even that had been a foursome with mutual friends who had fixed her up with Bryce. This was territory she hadn’t treaded in ages, if not ever.
“I can’t do this.”
“Yes, you can.” Kristin rose from her chair, took Jeannie by the shoulders and led her to the elevators. “Just go down there, see who it is and then go from there. You’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
Sucking in a needy breath, Jeannie waited for the doors to open then stepped inside.
“Then hurry back up and tell us who it is!” Kristin called as the elevator doors closed between them.
Where the four-hour wait to get to this moment had seemed like a million years, now the elevator was zipping her downstairs and depositing her in the lobby in record time. And with hesitant steps she made her way to the coffee shop, pausing outside for one more final gulp of air before she stepped through the doors.
And when she did, she caught her first sight of the man who had been tormenting her with romantic gestures all week long.
Troy.
The breath she’d been holding escaped her and she found herself alternately pleased and disappointed. It wasn’t Jerry from Tax, but it wasn’t Brad or Carlos, either. It was Troy, one of the last people she’d expected. Okay, so he’d made the list once or twice, but she’d kept dismissing him, not just because she hadn’t considered him a romantic, but also because she’d presumed him too painfully shy for such grand gestures.
Walking toward his table, she recalled the first time she’d met him. He’d come to her desk to check out a problem with her computer. From the start, she’d noticed his gentle voice and those hypnotizing blue eyes, but she’d barely been able to talk to him. He’d been so nervous his hands had shaken, and when he talked he’d stumbled over his words. She’d been afraid to do much more than say please and thank you for fear that she’d make him feel worse.
Granted, over time he’d eased up and they’d become quite friendly, but as she neared his table and he stood, she could see the shy, hesitant man had returned.
He held out the red rose, the flower trembling in his hand, and though he looked terrified, the affection in those midnight-blue eyes was unmistakable.
“Are you surprised it’s me?” he asked.
“Yes,” she admitted, accepting the rose and taking a seat.
The nervous smile disappeared from his face. “That’s not a bad thing, is it?”
“No! Of course not. It’s a good thing. All your gifts and gestures have been so sweet, and—” Jeannie started babbling just like she knew she would, and she didn’t doubt that by the end of this visit, she would end up accepting a date with Troy, too soft and kindhearted to turn him down.
But that was okay, because this was Troy, her friend from IT. She could go on a date with Troy and maybe even have some fun. Right?
3
TROY HAD TO ADMIT THAT he’d hoped for a brighter smile when Jeannie walked into the coffee shop and spotted him as the man behind her gifts. In fact, for a minute there he feared she was going to give him a thanks-but-no-thanks speech that he hadn’t prepared for at all. But once she sat down and started talking, he realized she wasn’t intending to bolt, and it eased the fears that had taken him over.
“Really, thank you,” she said for about the fourth time. “Your gifts were so thoughtful and they made my week.”
He watched as she nervously toyed with the rose and it bothered him. He didn’t want Jeannie to feel awkward around him. This was supposed to advance their friendship, not ruin it. But he supposed he had just changed the dynamics of their relationship in the course of one moment. It had taken him most of the year to establish himself as her friendly acquaintance. Now he wanted her to think of him as a potential lover, and he had to accept that it could take some adjustment.
But that was okay. He was a patient man and he had a plan. This week had been about getting her attention and making her think about him in a way other than Troy, that quiet guy from IT. Now he needed to show her what he already knew—that if she gave him a chance, she’d find out how right they could be together.
“I’m glad you liked them,” he said, then watched with concern as she chewed her lip and fumbled.
Reaching across the table, he placed his hand over hers, the simple touch zipping through him with the realization that it was the first time he’d actually had a hand on her.
It felt good. Really good. More would feel even better. But he could already see that wasn’t going to happen if she didn’t stop fretting.
“Jeannie,” he began, “don’t feel pressured. I want to take you on a date. I’ve wanted to for a long time. All I’m asking is that you give it some thought. If the answer ends up being no, I’ll respect that, and we’ll go back to business as usual.”
Okay, so that last part was a lie. Pretty much, if she turned him down, he’d be crushed and humiliated, but she didn’t need to know that. Right now, she only needed to know that he was the same guy she’d gotten to know this last year. Nothing had changed that.
Sliding his hand away, he picked up the menus and handed her one, noting that some of the calm was returning to her face. “In the meantime, will you have lunch with me? I’d love to hear about your plans for the holidays.”
After a long pause an easy smile formed on her face and she nodded. “Okay. That sounds great.”
She accepted the menu and he quickly went to task turning the conversation to the casual chitchat they’d enjoyed a number of times before. “So does your family do anything special for Christmas?”
She huffed. “We used to, but not this year.” As they perused the menus she told him about her family’s tradition that began on Christmas Eve with a casual dinner of homemade pizzas then stretched through Christmas Day, where they gathered with the extended family over a large holiday dinner at her grandmother’s house.
“We’re still doing the big dinner Christmas Day,” she explained. “But my parents are canceling Christmas Eve. My brother and sister are both married, so they’re juggling dual families now, and everyone decided that it would be easier if we skipped Christmas Eve and simply focused on the big dinner.”
“You look disappointed.”
She shrugged. “I understand. With my brother and sister spending Christmas Eve with their in-laws, it would have just been me and my parents. And since they’re invited every year to a big party at my father’s lodge, they decided to do that instead.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Stay home with Arnie, I guess.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m sitting here complaining and I really shouldn’t. It’s just been kind of a disappointing week.” Then she gave him a genuine smile. “Which was why the flowers and notes were so sweet.”
Now it was her turn to reach out and take his hand. “I know I keep saying it, but you picked a wonderful week to cheer me up. I really appreciate it.”
He’d love to cheer her up every day if she’d let him, and he’d nearly opened his mouth and spouted as much. But his better judgment told him not to go too fast.
“I’m glad. You deserve cheering up,” he simply said.
The server came to take their order and he wasn’t surprised when Jeannie addressed the woman by name. It was one of the things he adored about her, that she to
ok an interest in everyone and always made a point to be kind. Jeannie was the type who left a bright spot everywhere she went, warming the office with her sunny smile and cheery sweaters. It was why it pained him to see her so disappointed about Christmas. She brought so much light to everyone around her. This should be the season to get it back. She only needed someone to do that for her.
“So what about you?” she asked. “What do you do for the holidays?”
“My parents’ neighbors are having a party tomorrow night. Then this year, the family’s gathering at my brother’s for Christmas.” He shrugged. “It’s nothing special. To tell you the truth, it’s just good being home for the holidays again.”
She looked puzzled. “Why? Were you gone?”
“I spent eight years in the army, the last two of them in Afghanistan. This is my second Christmas back home, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop appreciating it.”
“I had no idea you were military.” She blinked. “Wow.”
Her charmed expression took on a glimmer of attraction he’d never seen directed his way before. Apparently, his army career scored some serious bonus points. Heck, if he’d known that, he would have mentioned it a long time ago.
“That’s such an honorable thing to do,” she went on. “Especially being in a war like we are.”
“It was more selfish than that,” he confessed, probably to his own disadvantage. A more calculating man would have run with it and gotten the girl by claiming to be a patriotic war hero. Unfortunately, Troy’s unpretentious nature rarely offered anything but raw honesty. “I wanted a career in computers and that seemed the best way for me to go about it.”
She smiled and studied him before finally saying, “It fits. I’ve always seen you as very quiet and shy, but that’s not right.” She nodded as she spoke. “You’re one of those reserved military men. The strong, silent type—it makes so much more sense.”
If it kept the twinkle in her eye, she could believe whatever she wanted. Granted, he had gained a layer of discipline from the army, but he had always been a quiet man, especially in crowds. And as for shy, well, even the army hadn’t helped him get over his terror of pretty women—at least, the ones he was deeply attracted to.
Sure, he’d been around the block and had managed just fine. But every now and then, he’d run in to that special someone who made him stupid and turned his tongue in knots—like, for instance, a sunny blonde with a spine-tingling smile, angelic blue eyes and perky snowflake earrings.
It had always been his curse, and it was an embarrassing curse to have. He could walk down a dark alley in the worst section of Chicago without flinching. But get him near a woman like Jeannie and he became a stumbling bundle of nerves.
“I hope that’s a good thing,” he said.
“It is. I’m enjoying learning about you.” Their lunch arrived, and after she settled and started to eat, she went on. “So tell me more about yourself. How do you spend your weekends?”
“That depends. If it’s hockey season, I spend them cheering. If it’s baseball season, I spend them crying in my beer.”
She laughed. “You’re a Cubbies fan.”
He placed his hand over his heart. “With all its pain and agony.”
She told him she was a Cubs fan, too, but he already knew that. It was one of the many things he’d noticed over the past year that kept convincing him that she was the woman of his dreams. It hadn’t simply been her looks, her bright disposition or her kind heart. They also had a number of things in common, and a love of baseball was one of them.
The conversation moved on to New Year’s and work and what was on their Christmas lists, and by the time they were done with lunch any remnant of tension between them had vanished. It felt like a good thing, but he couldn’t be sure. Regardless, he had come to a point where he could do nothing more in terms of advances. This meeting had been the last item on that Santa’s list and now Troy would find out whether or not the old man’s plan worked. Troy had laid his cards on the table, had handed Jeannie his heart and could only wait to see if she accepted it or graciously handed it back. He prayed it was the former, feared it might be the latter, but mostly, he hated that he’d come to the end of the line.
If she turned him down, he had to accept it, and the finality left him feeling totally exposed—a state he hadn’t anticipated when he’d started down this path. But as they left the restaurant and took the elevator back up to their office, he discovered he wasn’t going to have to stay in limbo for long.
Turning and smiling, Jeannie looked up at him and uttered, “Yes.”
He blinked. “Yes?”
“In answer to your question, I would love to go out with you on a date.”
He almost thought he’d imagined the words, that his desire had been so great he’d fabricated it. But then she pulled out a notepad, jotted down her address and phone number and handed it to him, and when he touched the paper he knew it was real.
“You would?”
“I would.” Then as the elevator doors opened, she grinned brightly and said, “I’m looking forward to it.”
4
IT WAS CHRISTMAS EVE DAY and Jeannie was home alone as she’d expected, but instead of feeling lonely and depressed, her thoughts were consumed by Troy.
Yesterday she’d been so surprised that he was her secret admirer, but the more she reflected over the past year, the more it began to make sense. Troy had always been so quiet, so subtle in his approach that she’d missed the signs that seemed obvious now. At company functions, he’d always somehow ended up at her table. She was the one he’d ask to test new hardware. He got his morning coffee about the same time she did and went to the same deli for lunch. For a year, the man must have gone through painstaking efforts to get close, and all that time, his attempts had gone unnoticed.
Shamefully, Jeannie had to admit that he’d simply never caught her attention. Her eye had always been turned to the talkative types, the extroverts who spoke up in meetings and cracked jokes in crowds. Her fantasy man had been the bold superhero, the swashbuckler or the suave sophisticate. But after this week of steamy surprises, she was beginning to uncover a desire for the strong quiet types, too.
She’d spent half the night awake in bed thinking about Troy. With his short dark hair and sapphire eyes, she hadn’t dismissed him romantically for lacking sex appeal. On the contrary, he had some very fine features bundled up in that serious physique. She recalled the annual picnic last summer when he’d swapped his normal loose-fitting shirts for a snug T-shirt. She’d been impressed with a pair of biceps that appeared to get plenty of work. In fact, she remembered musing that the man definitely didn’t spend his life in front of a computer given his broad muscled chest and tight round butt.
But just then Nick Castle had waltzed up, flashed his million-dollar smile and told her she looked pretty as a spring garden in her flowery skirt and she’d forgotten all about Troy.
And that was how it went. Whenever Troy quietly caught her attention, something louder pulled it away.
But she wasn’t forgetting him now. Lying in the dark last night, she’d mentally gone over every inch of him, from his short cropped hair down his long lean frame and back up to the bashful smile that now seemed pretty sexy. She wondered what his lips would feel like on hers. Would his kisses be gentle or would he surprise her with deep commanding passion? She’d fantasized about it both ways and found she’d like either to be the case. She wondered what those hands would feel like against her skin, how that sultry gaze might look under the dim lights of a romantic restaurant, or how his deep voice might sound between the sheets.
By the wee hours of the morning, she’d fully worked herself into a state of lust and excitement. Then she doused it with fears that she might be mistaking appreciation for genuine interest. Without a doubt, this had been the single most romantic thing that had ever happened to her, and she couldn’t help the fear that she might be more intrigued by the gestures than the man. Several times,
she’d told herself that wasn’t the case, but in truth, it was a question she wouldn’t be able to answer until she spent more time with him. And that wouldn’t start until she went back to work on Monday.
Oh, it was going to be a long weekend.
Sighing, she checked her watch and saw that it was barely noon. She had a long way to go before they were back at the office. It would seem even longer if she spent the day before Christmas sitting on the couch daydreaming and speculating. What she needed to do was put it out of her head for a while and go on with her holiday weekend. She pushed up from the couch and stepped to the window to check the weather—a move that got Arnie’s attention. Quickly, her old dog shuffled off his bed and hobbled to the door. Arnie knew every sign that pointed to a walk, and he was always ready to go. Right now, Jeannie thought that maybe some cool air would do her good.
“Do you want to go out and brave the elements, Arnie?”
The dog barked.
“Well, if you can, I can, too.” She grabbed her boots and jacket then went for Arnie’s leash. “There’s no sense in spending my Christmas agonizing over a man I won’t see for three days.” She snapped the leash on his collar, but just as she was preparing to leave the phone rang. Moving to pick it up, she was both surprised and pleased to discover it was Troy.
“Hi, Troy,” she said, her mood quickly perking.
“Hi, um—” he cleared his throat “—I was wondering if you could use a Christmas tree.”
“A Christmas tree?”
“They were letting them go cheap at the lot this morning so I picked up an extra.”
She blinked. “You bought me a tree?”
“Yep.”
A smile slowly formed on her lips. “That’s crazy.”
And completely adorable.
“Probably. I’m in the neighborhood, though, so if you’d like it I could drop it by.”
She checked what she was wearing, frumpy sweats and wooly socks. She’d showered, but she was hardly presentable. She wondered how much time she had to dot on some makeup and change into jeans.
