A satisfied smile spread on Ruby’s face. Another win for her.
Overstimulated and maybe oversugared, both girls whined that they didn’t want to sit when Rashid tried to belt them into their car seats after dinner.
“No! I don’t want to go home, Rash Uncle!” Noor yelled.
“Great. Now the kids are calling me Rash,” he said under his breath while buckling Noor in. But he didn’t sound annoyed. More like amused.
Of course, because Toronto, they were caught in traffic on the way home. The twins quickly fell asleep, though.
“Go ahead and put on more Christmas music,” Rashid said. “Just not too loud so the girls don’t wake up.”
Ruby couldn’t tell if he was serious about the Christmas music, but his mood seemed pleasant. Despite her mistake with the reservation, dinner ended up being a success, probably because the food was just that good.
“What would you be listening to if you were alone in the car?” she asked.
He shrugged, watching the road in front of him. Rashid was a very steady and patient driver, even in this traffic. “Probably a news or science podcast.”
She chuckled.
“No laughing,” he said, even though he was smiling, too. “I’m not that dull.”
“I never said you were,” Ruby said. She plugged her phone on and put some holiday instrumental music on.
They didn’t talk much on the drive, but the vibe between them was different. Lighter. Maybe it was because their first holiday hangout had been mostly a success. Or maybe that electrically charged moment they had when she fed him a bite of her pancakes had unraveled something in him, the way it did with her.
Probably not. There was no way that he was as affected by her as she was by him. She really shouldn’t think about that moment too much, because the last thing she needed was forher mind to get ahead of itself, imagining what could have happened if they had been alone instead of in a busy restaurant with two five-year-olds. That was an ill-advised daydream—especially since they had three more outings like this, and those would only be harder if Ruby was fantasizing about what his skin would feel like under her fingertips. Or wondering if he really did know a lot about her… anatomy.
When Rashid pulled up in front of a redbrick house about five minutes from the Distillery District, Ruby assumed it must be Jasmine’s home. He picked up his phone after turning off the car. “Jasmine can help get them inside, then I’ll drive you home.”
Ruby shook her head. “Oh no, it’s not necessary. I’ll call an Uber or—”
“Rash Uncle! I have to go to the bathroom!” one of the twins called from the back seat. He quickly got out of the car, then pointed at Ruby. “You stay.”
Jasmine came out in black yoga pants and a floral sweatshirt. She gave Ruby a quick wave, then she and Rashid each unbuckled a twin and led them by the hand into the house.
Ruby waited. Why was he so adamant about taking her home? Maybe he actuallywasinto her, and he was expecting her to invite him up for a drink or something. She didn’t mind inviting him for a drink. It was theor somethingshe was worried about. As much as she was fascinated by andveryattracted to Rashid, the point of this deal was to get a job in his family’s business. Ruby had no intention of jeopardizing that opportunity by mixing business with pleasure, even though she suspected the pleasure would be off-the-charts good, based on theirchemistry so far.
When he returned, he smiled at her before starting the car. “The girls will sleep well tonight,” he said.
Ruby nodded. She would not have imagined their first outing would go so well. “It was such a great day. That molasses dipping sauce… I have to re-create that. So, what’s next for our plan? I’m off next Thursday again, so we can—”
“Maybe we should tone it down next time? The girls were clearly overstimulated.”
Ruby frowned. “But they enjoyed it! They totally felt the magic of the holiday season.” She glanced at him. “And I thinkyoudid, too.”
He snorted at that.
“Don’t guffaw at me, Dr. Rash. I saw your face when you saw that tree,” she said, still smiling.
He shook his head. “I do not guffaw. I don’t even know what a guffaw is.”
She’d never met anyone who guffawed as much as Dr. Rash. He was guffawing now, even though he was laughing.
“Seriously, though, Red,” he said. “Yeah, the girls had fun, but all we showed them was crowds and manufactured cheer designed to get us to spend money,” he said. “Which I did a lot of today.”
“Oh. I mean I know you said you’d pay for all of this, but if it’s too much I can cover my—”
He shook his head. “Icanafford it. It’s not the amount of money. It’s just… The tree and the windows were cool, but you do realize that putting up a tree and decorating those windows in a literal shopping mall is all marketing, right? You say theholiday season is for creating memories with family and joy, but at what cost? Corporations are making record profits, and the difference between the haves and the have-nots is the largest it’s ever been. These companies are enticing everyone to spend even more money by wrapping it all in family traditions and commercialized joy.” They were at Ruby’s building then, so he stopped his car in front. “We don’t even celebrate the holiday. It seems so silly to buy into all this hype. It’s notforus, Ruby.” He was still smiling. His eye wasn’t twitching with annoyance. His tone sounded like he was just chatting with a friend—the Grinch face was nowhere to be seen right now.
