Not For Me (2 page)

He really wanted her to change her mind.

* * * *

“Are you sure you don’t want him for yourself?” Allison said. “You spent five minutes gushing about him.”

“I always talk a lot,” Kristy pointed out.

Maya nodded. “And you just got out of a relationship.”

They were at Allison’s condo that Saturday night, sitting around the counter in her open-concept kitchen and drinking white wine.

“What made you think of me?” Maya asked.

“He looks a bit like the guy you had a crush on back in university.”

“Which one?”

“Second year.”

“Oh.” Maya sighed dreamily. “
Him
. So hot.”

“But Grant has a mustache.”

“
What?
” Allison said.

“My thoughts exactly.” Maya snickered. “You know how much I hate Movember.”

Kristy skimmed her fingers along the stem of her wineglass. “It suits him. Like Tom Selleck.” His face would look almost naked without it—but she didn’t say that out loud. “And it’s hardly permanent. He could shave it off.”

“Hmmm.” Maya looked down. “I don’t know. I’m off men at the moment.”

“You’ve been off men for too long.” Kristy had begun to get frustrated with Maya’s bitterness. “You’ll like him. Trust me.”

“I can’t believe you walked up to a stranger in a bookstore and asked if he wanted to date your friend,” Allison said.

“Maya will be thanking me.”

“I feel like I owe you a guy now.” Maya turned to Kristy. “But I won’t approach strangers in bookstores to find one.”

Allison walked to the fridge and came back with a new bottle of wine. “Bookstores are supposed to be great places to meet people.” She set to work with the corkscrew. “It won’t be hard to find someone for Kristy. Just go to a hipster hangout. Bonus points for shaggy hair.”

“Guilty as charged.” Kristy held up a hand. She totally had a type, and her friends delighted in teasing her about it. “But I’m not looking at the moment. Maya doesn’t owe me anything.”

“I think you like Grant even though he’s not a hipster,” Allison said.

“Oh, right. You’re the doctor of chemistry,” Maya said, and Allison, who really
did
have a doctorate in chemistry, rolled her eyes.

Kristy laughed. “We’re not going to stop with that joke. And I like Grant for Maya, not for myself. Big difference.”

“How do you know he won’t have changed his mind when you call him?” Maya poured herself some more wine. “Maybe he only agreed because he wanted to get rid of you.”

“I just have this feeling,” Kristy said.

“You and your feelings.”

“But I’m usually right.”

“Let’s hope you’re right this time, too.” But Maya sounded doubtful.

“You need to get back out there,” Kristy said. “He’s great. Really. I did a double take when I saw him because he was so perfect for you. And I’m sure he won’t back out.”

“Kristy, I think you’re in denial,” Allison said. “You looooove him.”

“Thank you for your opinion, Doctor, but you’re dead wrong.”

Grant was definitely not the guy for Kristy. She was sure of it.

* * * *

The truck was a bigger hit with Caiden than the chameleon book, although he seemed to think the book was good for chewing.

After Caiden was taken upstairs for a nap, Grant walked out to his car with Jon. Grant stood by the driver’s side, keys in hand, and his brother stood by the passenger’s side.

“I was wondering if you could look after Caiden next Saturday afternoon?” Jon asked. “Just two or three hours.”

Grant liked spending time with his nephew, but…

“I’ve got plans, though I could probably move them to the evening.” He paused, unsure of what he wanted to say. “I’ve got a date.” Well, he hoped it would turn into a date.

“Really?” Jon started laughing. “You have a date?”

Grant glared at his brother. “Is that so surprising?”

“You asked a woman out? For real?”

“Not exactly, I—”

“She asked you out?”

Grant shrugged.

“This is too good. I’ve got to tell Sheila.”

“Right. You two had some weird bet about my love life.”

Jon rested his arm on the roof of the car. “That’s right. We did. She bet it would be less than a year before you went on a date again. I bet more than a year. So I won. About three years ago, I won. I think she was just being nice.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Grant muttered. He opened the car door. “There are over a million women in Toronto. It shouldn’t be surprising that one of them would go on a date with me.”

“If she asked you out, she must really like you.” His stupid little brother was still laughing.

“No shame in being asked out by a woman.” Unfortunately, that wasn’t what had happened.

“Didn’t say there was, man. What’s her name?”

“Kristy.” Grant got into the car and slammed the door.

Jon knocked on the passenger’s window, and Grant reluctantly rolled it down.

“If you can’t do next Saturday, that’s okay.”

“I’ll try to move my date to the evening.” That would make it more like a real date.

“Hey.” Jon snapped his fingers. “Hey, man, you zoned out. Thinking about her, eh?”

“Can’t wait to see what kind of bet you and Sheila come up with. Really can’t wait.”

“Try to avoid long silences. Other people find them awkward.”

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” Kristy didn’t seem like the type to allow that to happen. And he didn’t mind because it took the pressure off him.

“Do you become a chatterbox around her? This I need to see.”

Grant rolled up the window and turned the key in the ignition, and Jon ran toward the house. This “date” was very exciting news, apparently.

“SkyView? Is that the one on the top floor of an office building?” Kristy pressed the phone to her ear and lay back on her bed.

“That’s right,” Grant said.

“Isn’t it rather fancy? And I thought we were doing lunch?”

“I’m babysitting my nephew in the afternoon.”

Wasn’t that sweet?

“Dinner is fine,” she said, “but we can go somewhere casual. It’s not like this is a date.”

“Of course. But let me prove I can plan a nice date. And that I’m not broke—I’ll pay.”

“If you’re sure.” He must really be interested in Maya if he was going to all this effort. “I’ll meet you there?”

“Is seven thirty okay? I’ll make reservations.”

* * * *

Kristy took a while getting ready—she finally decided on her favorite black dress, strappy silver heels, and chandelier earrings—but still got to SkyView early.

She saw Grant as soon as she walked in. He sat at a table for two by the window, resting his chin on one hand and looking outside. He wore a dark, collared shirt and looked particularly handsome. Her heart did a little leap. A perfectly normal response to an attractive man, but it did not mean she was interested in him, despite Allison’s insistence otherwise.

She walked toward him. “Hello.”

He whipped his head around. “You’re early.”

“Which makes you very early.” It was seven twenty, and he’d already ordered a glass of red wine.

She slid into the chair across from him.

He frowned slightly. “Would Maya like if I pulled out her chair for her?”

“I think so.”

“Okay.” He nodded and looked upward, as though committing this to memory.

She was a little jealous of Maya. Just a little.

Last weekend he’d had a little stubble, but today he was clean-shaven aside from the ’stache. Both looked good on him. However, clean-shaven was probably better for kissing.

Whoa
. Where had that come from?

“You look very nice.” He smiled.

“Oh. Thanks.” Instinctively, she reached for her hair—it was up today—then dropped her hand and picked up the menu. “So what’s good here?”

“Everything I’ve tried is good. I’ve been here a few times.”

They studied their menus in silence. She looked up at him once, and his brows were knit as though he was concentrating very hard, even though he was just reading a menu. She lowered her eyes and read it over again. Everything did look wonderful, so maybe it required a lot of thought to make a decision.

“What are you getting?” she asked.

“Steak.”

“Are you one of those men who always order steak?”

He shook his head. “No. Just feel like it today.”

That was good. Maya had once broken up with a guy because he only ate steak when they went out for dinner. And because he was a scumbag, though it had taken her six months to realize that.

“I was thinking of the seafood linguine,” Kristy said. “But the duck also sounds good. I wonder what the soup of the day is? I was thinking of getting soup to start. And I can’t decide whether I want a martini or white wine. Do you know much about wine? I drink it on occasion, but I don’t remember the difference between Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling and Chardonnay.”

When she was nervous, she talked too much and forgot to leave pauses for the other person to respond.

“I don’t know much about wine,” he said. “The soup of the day is curried sweet potato. I heard the waiter recite the specials to another table.”

“That sounds good. You know, I worked as a waitress after university for a year. But I hated it. Well, I hated the hours and—I guess I should figure out what I’m getting.”

She decided on the soup and seafood linguine, and the waiter came to take their orders after she’d closed her menu.

“So,” she said to Grant. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get down to business.”

“How do you plan to check me out? What do you want to know?”

“Tell me about yourself.”

“I hate that interview question.” Grant was bouncing his right leg under the table. Presumably, that’s what
he
did when he was nervous. And he looked so serious—no hint of a smile.

“It’s not a job interview.”

“No, it’s worse. A totally unfamiliar social situation.”

She wasn’t sure whether to laugh. “Yeah, for me too. I promise you, it’s not a habit of mine to pick up strangers in bookstores. Either for myself or for my friends.” He wasn’t making a move to answer her open-ended question, so she said, “What about your family? Tell me about your family.”

“I have a younger brother. He’s married and has a two-year-old boy. My nephew, whom I was looking after earlier.”

“Did he like the chameleon book?”

“He liked eating it.”

She laughed. “Your parents?”

“They’re retired. Everyone lives in Toronto.” He shrugged those big shoulders of his. “That’s about it.”

“That’s all you want to say about your family?”

Under the table, he was still bouncing his leg. She tapped her foot against his, and he stopped.

“I’ll tell you about mine,” she said. “I have a brother and a sister, both older. My brother’s in the military. He’s stationed at Base Borden. My sister does research for a pharmaceutical company. I don’t see her very often because she lives in Vancouver. But when we get together, we have a great time. We weren’t close when we were young. I used to borrow her clothes all the time, and she hated it. Especially when I tore her favorite dress. I tagged along when she went out with friends, which she didn’t like either. But we’re cool now. She’s engaged, and I’m going to be a bridesmaid, but they haven’t set a date yet. My parents—”

His phone started dancing across the table—it was on vibrate. Probably good to have her monologue interrupted.

“Go on,” he said. “I don’t need to get it.”

“It’s no problem. Take the call.”

He picked it up and looked at the screen. “It’s my brother. I really don’t—”

“Let me talk to him.” She plucked the phone out of his hand. This would be a great way to learn about his family.

“I prefer you didn’t,” he said quietly.

She’d already pressed Talk. “Grant’s phone.”

There was muffled laughter on the other end. “Is this Kristy?”

Apparently Grant had told his brother about her, which suggested they were close. Something that hadn’t come across when she’d asked about his family.

“Yes, it’s Kristy.”

Grant’s brother yelled something away from the phone. It sounded like, “He wasn’t lying, honey.”

“Sorry, I don’t know your name.”

“Jon.”

“Well, Jon, your brother isn’t telling me much about himself.” Kristy assumed Jon knew the details of this bizarre situation. She sure didn’t feel like explaining it again.

Grant glared at her and shook his head.

But Jon seemed quite happy to talk. “Embarrassing stories? Would those interest you?”

“Oooh, yes. But I can’t imagine he has any embarrassing stories.”

Grant stood up, knocking the table in the process, and nearly upsetting his wine and her martini. He placed a hand on each glass to steady them and continued to glare at her.

Then he stalked off, heading out the doors to Toronto’s highest patio. She thought he might be going to have a smoke—that would be a major strike against him as Maya wouldn’t go for a guy who smoked—but he just looked broodingly over the city, hands shoved in his pockets.

Jon was reciting a long list of stories he could tell.

“I think I pissed him off,” she interjected. “He walked away at the mention of embarrassing stories.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure he still likes you.”

For a split second, she considered that Jon thought this was an actual date. But she quickly put those thoughts aside and focused on learning what she could about the guy she was determined to set up with her friend.

*

Grant looked out at the lake.

This was not going well. He’d gotten to the restaurant early to calm himself, but then she’d shown up early too, looking so beautiful. And still determined to have him date Maya.

Now Kristy was talking to Jon, who’d probably confuse her by mentioning that he thought Grant was on a date. Then there were the stories from his childhood. Likely Jon would tell her about the time Grant had said very loudly at a parade, “Mommy, why isn’t that horse wearing a diaper so he doesn’t shit all over the ground?” It was his family’s favorite story, and it was told far too often for Grant’s liking. Jon hadn’t even been one at the parade, so it was impossible that he remembered it, but that wouldn’t stop him from telling Kristy.