Page 4 of Meeting Mr. Christmas
Weren’t all Jed’s on-off girlfriends cute little brunettes? None of them lasted long, and they were all interchangeable. He hadn’t noticed her, and he didn’t want to. Maybe he was being petty, but Jed had sprung this on him and he didn’t much feel like playing along.
“You go with Cora this year. It’s no big deal.”
Jed’s eyes widened, a mix of shock, hurt, and incredulity. If Jed were acting for his benefit, he was doing a damn good job. “No way. And what’s this crap about it not being a big deal? We’ve done this together since we were kids. I’m not going without you. It wouldn’t be the same.”
“No, it won’t be the same because this year you’ll be going with Cora.”
Jed stared at him, his face white except for two small patches of red on his cheekbones. “I’m sorry. If I could get out of it, I would, but she’s real excited, so I just can’t let her down. But us not being at the ceremony together just doesn’t feel right.” Jed barked out a humorless laugh. “Just trying to keep everybody happy, and screwing it up.”
A spasm of guilt ripped through Noel, even if he didn’t want to feel it. Jed had screwed up, but here he was trying to do right by everybody. “If—if it means that much to you?—”
“You know it does.” Jed leaned in and Noel had to stop himself from breathing in deep, inhaling the mix of sweet floral scents and the fresher, greener tones that always seemed to hang around Jed since he’d started working in the flower store. “And I’m sorry I screwed up. But she kind of caught me, you know?”
“Sure, okay. But I’m not sure about trying the dating app.” A vision of Kevin and Bruce filled his head. Maybe he could call up one of the guys he’d told he didn’t want to see again. Ohhh, that would go down really well…
“You’ll find somebody in a heartbeat. Face it, Noel,” Jed said, a teasing grin on his lips that didn’t quite meet his eyes, “you’re cute as hell. It’ll be so easy for you to get a date for the ceremony.”
Noel’s cheeks warmed at the compliment, but it only served to twist the knot in his gut tighter. He lifted his cup to his lips, only to find it empty.
“It’s just for the tree lighting, you know? It’s not like I’m asking you to get serious with anybody.” Jed’s hand reached across the table, just short of touching Noel’s own.
“Sure,” Noel whispered, his voice barely audible over the clamor of the coffee shop. Serious? There was only one man he wanted serious with, but the hard truth was he had more chance of finding that elusive lunar grilled cheese.
CHAPTER THREE
Conceding defeat, Noel logged off for the day and powered down his work computer. Since coming back from CC’s, he hadn’t been able to settle down to work, his thoughts constantly turning to the tree lighting ceremony… the tree lighting ceremony Jed was for the first time ever bringing a date to… the tree lighting ceremony he’d kind of agreed to find a date for…
“Shit.” Pushing away from his desk, he jumped up — and dislodged Peter from his lap, who squealed in protest as he glared up at him.
“Hey, little fella, I’m so sorry. I’ve had quite a lot on my mind since I got back,” Noel whispered as he scooped Peter up and cuddled him to his chest, but Peter, not interested in Noel’s excuses, nipped at his arm. It was Noel’s turn to squeal as he put the tiny doxie down, who waddled off to his basket, snout in the air. How could such a cutie have such vicious teeth? Noel rubbed his arm. Only a deep red indentation. This time.
A hard gust of wind beat against the window. Noel glanced over, and his eyes widened. The snow, which had been not much more than a flurry earlier when he’d gone to meet Jed, had turned into a solid fall. One of the many benefits of working from home was not needing to venture out each day in the face of aWyoming winter. It was already several inches thick, and would only get deeper. No wonder his mom and dad had flown south, not to join the thousands of other snow birds from the northern states, but to build a permanent nest in Florida’s warmth. He didn’t blame them, but he missed them like hell every single day. Sure, he could have gone with them — there was nothing to stop him as he worked remotely — but the intense heat of the Floridian sun was not for him. Or that’s the lie he told himself. Noel pulled the drapes closed. At least the southern sun was good for his dad’s health, and that was what mattered.
Slumping down onto the couch, Jed’s words reverberated in his head, an insistent drumbeat that urged him toward a step he didn’t want to take. But the thought of breaking tradition, of not being at Jed’s side during the Christmas tree lighting… It was unthinkable.
“Damn it.” He wasn’t going to back out of the ceremony at the last minute, looking like a loser who couldn’t get a date. Grabbing his cell, he found Love Heartz. Refusing to give himself time to think, just minutes later he was a fully paid up subscriber. “Create your Love Heartz profile,” he muttered. His fingers hesitated. Would ‘loser who’s in love with his straight best friend’ be appropriate? He sighed and shook his head. Probably not.
Uploading a photo that didn’t make him look too much like he was suffering from constipation, a ping and a cheery message told him he was the latest citizen of Collier’s Creek looking to find that special person who would fill their heart with love. Noel cringed. Jesus, he could already taste the cheese.
Scrolling through profiles felt like flipping through the pages of a book he had no interest in reading. Faces blurred together, and none sparked a connection. None had the easy smile and a hint of laughter glittering in deep gray eyes that always caught Noel in the center of his chest.
About to log out of the app which was turning out to be a less than stellar idea, he paused on a profile. Kent. Kent Durham. Kent Durham, mid-twenties and good looking. A small smile hovered on Kent’s lips. Light brown eyes stared into the camera, clear and with just the right amount of self-belief and confidence.
Noel scrolled down. Kent liked animals. Even miniature dachshunds with attitude? He scrolled some more.
Kent was also an avid reader with an unabashed liking for romances with sappy happy ever afters. “Ooohhh…” Noel glanced over at his bookcase stacked with book after book of all those sappy happy ever afters, and at his e-reader with more of the same, and all the old DVDs… Another scroll. Kent was a lover of lazy Sunday mornings and had a penchant for sweet hot chocolate topped with a mountain of marshmallows. He was also new to town, and was looking to find friends and, maybe, that special guy…
Noel’s curiosity was piqued, but his fingers hesitated. “This was Jed’s idea,” he muttered under his breath. It almost felt like an apology to the man with the friendly, warm eyes who smiled out from the screen. Noel bit down on his lip. The only date he wanted, had ever wanted for as long as he could remember, was with his best friend. His very straight best friend. Straight, which meant his little fantasy that he and Jed could ever be more would always remain exactly that. A fantasy.
“I’m sorry, Kent, but I need that date.”
Taking a deep breath, getting ready to plunge head first, he touched down on the screen.
CHAPTER FOUR
Making some final adjustments to the floral display, Jed stepped back and smiled. Simple, classical, beautiful. It was the mantra of Lucian, his boss and owner of Floristry by Lucian Blaxston. Not that the display had been simple to put together, and as much as he hadn’t wanted to, he’d had to ask for Lucian’s help.I could say don’t run before you can walk but as you’re already running, then maybe don’t sprint, Lucian had drawled in his upper-class English accent as he’d made some tweaks which had brought the display alive — before untweaking them and having Jed repeat what he’d been shown.
His choice of career wasn’t what he’d ever envisaged, and some of his old friends had made jokes, only stopping when he’d responded with no more than a hard stare. Truth was, the one who’d been the most surprised was himself.
