The Christmas Tree Guy (7 page)

“What about your date over there?”

“Well, if you must know, I’m doing someone a favor. She’s a sweet girl, but I’m much more interested in a woman I met recently who was buying a Christmas tree.”

“Hmm, okay. I tell you what, why don’t you enjoy the rest of your evening and give me a call when you’re free from doing favors,” she offered, playfully squeezing his arm before turning to walk back to her table. She knew he was watching her walk away and she couldn’t explain it but she felt energized and more alive than she had in a long time. Reaching the table, she sat down with the biggest grin on her face and looked back to see him wink at her before he turned and walked away.

“So?” Sara asked as Sydnee sat down and took a sip of her drink.

“I told him to call me. I can’t believe I did that.”

“Why not?”

“It was the most liberating thing I’ve done in a while. I gave him my card and told him to call me. I’ve never done that in my life.” It almost felt like her face would implode from the giddiness she felt. Honestly, she’d never even asked a man out. Never been the one to give out her number at a club. She was the friend that was usually the designated driver. Never the center of attention. She had to admit, for a change, it felt good.

“Uh, oh, she’s on the prowl,” Sara laughed.

“Whatever. I’m not a cougar.”

“Yes you are and you should be proud of it. He’s gorgeous. Damn, just look at that body,” Sara sighed, putting her straw to her lips and sipping her drink as Sydnee laughed. “Makes me very sad I didn’t go buy my Christmas tree at that lot.”

“Sydnee, you must have done an awesome job on the last ad for Brookdale Florist,” her co-worker chirped, carefully placing a bouquet of flowers on Sydnee’s desk. It wasn’t unusual for clients to send her gifts when they did well from the ads she created, or they just wanted to show their appreciation for her work.

“Oh, that’s sweet, but I haven’t done an ad for them since August. They liked the last one so much they were going to continue running it for a while.”
That’s interesting
. A little puzzled by the gift, she reached for the card.

“Well, whoever sent them sure likes you.” Her co-worker winked before walking away.

Opening the card, Sydnee read the handwritten note.
“It was great seeing you again. I’m not sure what kind of flowers you like, but I’m hoping to find out soon. – Quinn”

“Oh, wow.” Sitting forward, she closed her eyes and inhaled the sweet smell of the various flowers in the bouquet. It looked like he’d gotten one of every flower the florist had, just to make sure he hadn’t left one out. Not really knowing what to do, Sydnee sat and stared at the gorgeous arrangement in silence. Dumbfounded, she was certain she had the goofiest look on her face. “This is crazy.” Just then, her phone rang. “Weston Graphics, this is Sydnee.”

“I hope you like them. I wasn’t quite sure what your favorites were and then I thought, maybe she hates flowers altogether.” She heard Quinn’s velvety voice through the receiver and she sat back in her chair, holding the phone to her ear.

“They are beautiful. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“You’re pretty quick with giving me a call. Didn’t even give me the chance to sweat and see if you were going to make me wait or anything.”

“Sydnee, one thing you need to know about me is I don’t play games. There’s just no need to. Life’s way too short for that.”

“Good to know.” She giggled and could have slapped herself for being so skittish.
Calm down Sydnee. He’s just a guy. A very gorgeous, young guy.

“So, if you aren’t busy, instead of coffee, maybe we could grab lunch?”

“Today?” He caught her a little off guard. He was moving pretty quickly with this getting to know one another thing and she definitely wasn’t accustomed to it.

“No time like the present. So, what do you say?”

Sydnee contemplated his proposition. What could it hurt? She had given him her card and told him to call, so... “Actually, my calendar is somewhat clear, so, sure, why not?” Once they decided on a place to meet and hung up, Sydnee sat for a moment chewing on her bottom lip. She still couldn’t fathom the fact she gave him her number, much less agreed to go to lunch.

Picking up the receiver, Sydnee dialed and waited.

“What’s up Chuck?”
      

“I won’t be meeting you for lunch today.” A broad smile spread across her face as Sydnee drew circles with her pen on the pad of paper on her desk, listening to Sara on the other end of the receiver.

“What? You’re canceling on me? It better be good.”

“I’ll let you know,” she answered cryptically.

“You’ll let me know? Sydnee, what’s going on? Are you sniffing glue or something at that design shop?”

“No, I just have a lunch date.” Sydnee was a little wary and she could only imagine what Sara was going to say.

“Lunch date? With who, a client? I know you—oh wait—did he call you already?” Sara asked, cutting her own thoughts short.

“Yes. I just got off the phone with him.” She turned back to the bouquet of flowers, fingering the petals of a rose before leaning over to smell the sumptuous scent infusing the air.

“You were right. He is a persistent little something.”

“Yes he is. And on top of that, he sent me a bouquet of flowers this morning.”

“You’re kidding. Awww, he’s so cute.”

“Stop it. I can’t believe I let you talk me into this. What have I gotten myself into?” She was sure this was going to be some kind of ‘little boy with a crush’ situation and she was starting to think better of going with him to lunch. What was she thinking? She was a grown woman with two little boys to raise. She didn’t have time to raise another one. She was clearly older than Quinn. Couldn’t he see that? She could only attribute her rash decision to the undeniably sexy way his voice rumbled through her phone and his unmistakable charm. He was downright magnificent. She’d had a hard enough time trying to forget just how rock hard his bicep was under her fingertips when she had squeezed it at the club. “Maybe I should call him back and tell him I can’t go.”

“Sydnee, don’t you dare. He’s sweet okay? And it’s not going to hurt anything for you to go to lunch with him. Once it’s done, then you don’t have to deal with him anymore. You might crush his little ego if you cancel on him now.”

She sat up and it was as if common sense had come knocking on her door and Sydnee realized what she was doing. She was getting ready to go on a date with a man much younger than her and,
oh what am I doing?
“What if it gets weird? Sara, I have children. I don’t need some crazy crush drama going on.” She could feel her palms starting to sweat as her heart rate increased.
What am I doing?

“Look, if it gets too weird, just make an excuse and call me.”

“All right, but we’re going to Deuce-22, so if I text you 911, you’ll know where I am.” Sydnee had to laugh at herself and her paranoia. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t think of one viable excuse not go out with Quinn. Honestly, even as nervous as she was, she didn’t think she wanted one.

“Okay. I don’t really think you have a thing to worry about, but I’ve got your back,” Sara snickered through the receiver.

“Pray for me.”

###

Walking in to the restaurant, Sydnee removed her coat and let the attendant know she was waiting for someone, and she headed to the mahogany bar to wait for Quinn, taking in the cozy atmosphere of the place. The beautiful hardwood floors shone as if they had been buffed that morning and she loved the way natural light filtered through the floor to ceiling windows on the far end of the dining area. The walls were decorated with paintings by local artists and she inhaled the aromas of the freshly baked goods at the counter closest to the door. She hadn’t been to the restaurant since it opened a couple of years ago and she designed an ad for them to run in the local newspapers and magazines. It was fairly busy even though she was meeting Quinn at his request for a late lunch.

Straightening the cowl of her heather gray oversized sweater, she scowled, wishing she had worn something different, prettier, or nicer, but the boys had dawdled getting ready for school, and she’d thrown on the first clean thing she could find. Oh well, it’s too late now, she thought glancing at the black corduroy leggings and boots she wore. Her thick mass of hair was subdued in its usual ponytail
and she was happy she had at least managed to put on some makeup. As she continued to look around, she turned to discover Quinn walking towards her with his same beguiling countenance.

“Hi.” He’d removed his jacket and was holding it in one hand as he extended his other to help her down from her perch on the barstool.

“Hi.”

“I hope you weren’t waiting long.”

“No, just got here a few minutes ago.” She was trying her best to look away from the wide expanse of his shoulders and the way the crisp white button down hung on his body. He wore a simple t-shirt beneath it, and a pair of jeans. It would have been just a regular outfit on any other man, but on him, he looked like he should be sprawled across the centerfold of a magazine. His hair was a little damp as if he’d just stepped out of a shower and she caught a whiff of the clean smell of his cologne when he approached.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, pulling her chair out for her, and she realized she must have been smiling the entire time she was engrossed in appreciating his appearance.

“Oh, nothing, so, you’ve been here before?” She picked up the menu trying to take her eyes off of his beautiful face and change the subject.

“Yes, it’s pretty nice and the food’s great. I know the owner.”

“Oh, that’s nice. I guess they can give you the ins and outs of the place.”

“Yeah, something like
that. So, Sydnee, tell me about yourself. How old are your boys?”

“Five, going on fifty.” Her nervous hands were betraying her and she quickly placed the menu on the table and clasped them together.
What is wrong with me? It’s just lunch.

“Sounds like a handful.”

“They are, but I don’t really think I’d be as sane as I am if I didn’t have them.”

“Again, I’m sorry about your husband.”

“Ex-husband, and it’s okay. You didn’t know. It’s been an adjustment for us, but we’re making it okay.” Sydnee frowned at the mention of Matt. At the moment, she didn’t want to think about Matt or anything else but the man sitting across from her. His gaze had her melting in her skin and she knew by the end of the meal, she would be a worthless pool of goo.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how long were you married?”

“Ten years. We got married right out of college at 22, and then we had the boys about seven years later.”

His eyebrows lifted and he leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table. Just his small movement towards her had her heart leaping into the bottom of her throat and if he leaned any further, she was going to choke on an artery. “It’s funny, I wouldn’t have thought you were even old enough to have five year olds.”

“You’re sweet. And I’m very thankful for you delivering the tree to us. I know that’s not really part of your business, so it was very nice of you.” She blushed furiously and was silently grateful for him going the extra mile the night they’d picked out their tree. She grinned thinking of how ridiculously hard it would have been for her to lug the tree into the house without his help.

“I’m just glad I could help you out. That’s what the holiday season is all about right?”

“Yeah, sure. That, and finding
Wii games
and
Transformers
and
GI Joe
action figures.” Hearing his easy laugh emerge from his perfect mouth, she felt her nerves start to subside and her body relax as they continued their conversation.

“Sounds like you’ve been in the toy store.”

“Yes I have. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to do my shopping, but it’s been kind of hard to get into the Christmas spirit. It’s our second Christmas without the boys’ dad, so it’s a little easier than the first, but still requires a little adjustment.” She stopped abruptly and looked away, before giving him an apologetic smile. “And look at me just rambling on, I doubt you want to hear any of this.”

“Hey, it’s not a problem. Sometimes it’s good to talk about these things so you can deal with it and not bottle it up, you know?” She nodded in agreement at his last comment. He had such a laid back and easy spirit about him that she found herself opening up and telling him more than she’d intended.

They continued to talk, finding out more about one another as the conversation wore on. Sydnee discovered Quinn was eight years her junior, at twenty-six, and he was working in the Christmas tree lot to help out his uncle like he had most of his life. They talked non-stop through lunch and were enjoying each other’s company when her phone buzzed.
Are you okay? lol. No axe wielding?
Sydnee giggled at the series of smiley faces with devil horns on the screen and looked up to see Quinn watching her, completely bewildered. “Is there a joke you aren’t telling me?”