Читать книгу A Perfect Match - Deb Kastner - Страница 12

Before the evening was through, he was going to choke to death in this monkey suit with its fancy ruffles and wickedly snug-fitting bow tie, Zeke thought as he pulled his car into the lot at Grace Church and shut down the engine with a groan.

He wouldn’t be caught dead in a tuxedo for anyone, but he couldn’t turn this engagement down. The pregnant, often heartbroken women at HeartBeat, many of whom were facing one of the biggest crises of their lives, were expecting a formal dinner, the service supper Zeke had had a part in planning.

For them, he’d wear a suit. Even a tuxedo with a baby-blue cummerbund and a bow tie.

Naturally, he’d tried to talk Julia out of it, thinking they could do something a little less—constricting—but she just laughed and told him baby blue matched his eyes, and that he better get used to the idea. As if that were going to happen.

Sighing aloud, he got out of the truck and wrapped the fancy black jacket around his thick shoulders, then reached for the white orchid corsage he’d picked up on a whim.

A really stupid whim.

He was always doing goofy things where Julia was concerned. He couldn’t seem to help himself. Thinking of her made him think of flowers and sunshine.

It was his propensity to act on his crazy ideas that disturbed him. Think of flowers, buy flowers. Next thing you know, she’d have him buying her the sun.

Chuckling under his breath, he clutched the corsage box in his hand and whisked it behind his back. He was an idiot, but at least he was a happy idiot.

He had no idea how Julia would react. Hopefully she’d take pity on the Happy Idiot, and let him get out of this getup and back into blue jeans.

“What do you think?” Lakeisha asked loudly, if cheerfully, as Zeke walked in. “I look ridiculous, don’t I?”

“You look great,” Zeke assured her, meeting Julia’s amused gaze with his own, and thinking that if anyone looked out of place here, it was him. The women looked surprisingly feminine in their black coats and soft pink bow ties.

Lakeisha wasn’t finished. She pulled on his jacket arm to get his attention.

“I look like a penguin. Observe.” She demonstrated with the side-to-side rocking motion of the black-and-white bird. “Why do the women have to wear tuxedos?”

“Because,” Julia answered as she demonstrated with a waiter’s suave bow, “we’re offering white glove service tonight. And we’re the white gloves.” She donned the elegant accessories as she spoke.

Despite Lakeisha’s complaint, Zeke thought Julia looked stunning in her outfit. She’d swept her hair up so it surrounded her face like a halo. Her cheeks were attractively flushed, and her eyes were beaming with excitement.

He fingered the corsage in his hand. He’d definitely dived clear off the dock. Maybe he should just leave well enough alone. But when he saw her expectant gaze on him, his hand pulled the corsage out from behind his back on its own accord.

He meant to present the corsage and say something sophisticated and classy, but all that came out of his mouth was, “For you.”

Julia’s color heightened as Lakeisha let out a hoot. “I…Zeke…” she stammered, but when she looked up and met his gaze, she simply said, “Thank you.”

Slowly, carefully, he unwrapped the orchid and placed it on her left wrist. “I, know this dinner is for the pregnant ladies, but I, uh, just wanted tonight’s formal to be special for you, too.”

Julia’s eyes flooded with tears, though she tried to stop them. Zeke couldn’t possibly have known. Looking down at the corsage on her wrist, she almost felt as if she hadn’t missed her senior prom because her father had walked out with all their money all those years ago.

Julia’s heart slammed into her chest, and she was certain everyone could see the way she labored to breathe. Who had taken all the oxygen from the room and not told her about it?

And she didn’t even want to think about the way her face must be flushing as red as a rose.

Her eyes sought Zeke’s, but her mortification only increased as he smiled back at her, his gaze taking in the blush on her cheeks and, she suspected, the thoughts of her heart.

Feelings coursed through her—happiness, wistfulness, and most of all, joy. Because of her upbringing, she wasn’t a hugging kind of person by nature, but she had her arms around Zeke faster than a person could say senior prom.

For a moment, Zeke stood stiff and still in her embrace, and she was concerned she’d overplayed the moment. But before she could step back and apologize, he wrapped her in his arms and squeezed her tight, swinging her gently around in a circle and lifting her completely off her feet. She realized belatedly that he was laughing.

“Thank you,” she said again as he set her down. “You’ve made my night.”

He winked and then spun away, bellowing something about getting the tables set and ready. Julia’s heart was still beating double time in her chest, but she valiantly attempted to school her thoughts, placing an open palm over her heart and breathing deeply.

Lakeisha, coming up behind her, gave a low whistle. “Have you got an admirer, or what?”

“The corsage is lovely,” Julia agreed.

“No, girl, I was talking about the man. Mmm, baby.”

“Lakeisha!” Julia cracked up. “I can’t believe you sometimes.”

“Don’t you go saying you weren’t thinking the same thing, because I won’t believe you.”