AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Blinking a few times at his abrupt question, I cleared my throat. “Um…no.”
“Do you like wine?”
I let out a small laugh. “Honestly, if it was up to me, I’d just have a beer.”
“A beer? Mmm.”
Nodding, it was my turn to move around in my seat. I suddenly felt like I had done something very wrong. I hated to admit it, but Wes was right, Alex was not the type of guy I wanted to date. We had nothing in common. Nothing.
“What else do you do in your spare time when you’re not listening to jazz?”
He lit up like a Christmas tree. “Puzzles.”
I leaned forward. “What kind of puzzles?”
Frowning, he replied, “Jigsaw, what other kind are there?”
Shrugging, I said, “I don’t know. There are logic puzzles, Sudoku, math puzzles because you know you’re into math. Brain teasers.”
He stared at me like I had lost my mind.
“Just jigsaw puzzles.”
What had we talked about yesterday that had me so enthralled with this guy?
“Flowers, we both love flowers.” I wasn’t sure why I had said that out loud.
Alex smiled. “My father has a beautiful garden at his house. My mom is more into vegetables, Dad does flowers and trees. I think it’s interesting that you said your favorite flower was magnolia.”
“Really?” I asked as I rested my chin on fist. “Why is that?”
“Their symbolism is nobility, dignity, and love of nature. You mentioned earlier you loved to hike and run. Did you know that the magnolia tree was named after a French botanist, Pierre Magnolia, in the 1600s.”
I pressed my lips together in a tight line and shook my head. I had a feeling I was about to get a history lesson on the magnolia tree.
“Yes, the tree has more than eighty varieties.”
“Interesting. So you do know a lot about flowers.”
He laughed. “No, I looked it up after you said it was your favorite flower. I couldn’t find any when I went to the florist.”
“That’s very sweet of you.”
We fell into another lapse of silence until the soup and oysters came out.
By the time we had finished our dinner, neither of us could think of a single thing to say to each other. Clearly, we had used up all our conversation yesterday. We simply smiled when either of us looked at the other.
The check came and I offered to split it, which Alex declined. When we walked outside of the restaurant, it was clear that there wasn’t going to be another date. He knew it and I knew it.
The short ride back to my place was silent as well. So quiet that I was positive I could hear both of our hearts beating.
The driver pulled up to my building and Alex got out of the car. This time he reached his hand in and helped me out.A little too late, buddy.
“Thank you, Alex for the wonderful dinner. I had a nice time.”
He grinned then shook my hand. He actually shook my damn hand.
“Had a lovely time, Clare. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime.”
