Ruby grinned widely. “Yay! It’s a date! But not really a date. And I’m even better at not planning than I am at planning. I’m off Thursdays. Does that work for you?”
He checked something on the iPad on the desk. “I should be free after one. I don’t think Jasmine will mind pulling the kids out of kindergarten a couple of times.”
“Shall we shake on it?”
Dr. Rash smiled small, then put his hand out to shake. And wow, the feeling of that skin against hers could be downright addicting.
“Quick question,” she asked after letting go of his hand.
“Yes?”
“Any ketchup in that bag?”
RUBY PUT MORE THOUGHTthan normal into her outfit on Thursday for her first outing with Rashid and the twins. She wanted to dress festive without coming across as tooextra. She finally decided on dark jeans and a red oversized sweater with a wide neckline that tended to fall off her shoulder. She wore a wide-strapped camisole under it so he wouldn’t think she was trying to be seductive or anything. Because she wasn’t. And she wore simple red hoops instead of any of her holiday earrings.
Rashid had insisted that he would drive since the girls tended to get overstimulated on the subway, so Ruby texted him her address. To which he responded, I know where you live, Red.
Ominous. She again wondered if she’d made a mistake with this plan.
He pulled up in front of her building at exactly one fifteen, which wasn’t a surprise. She’d assumed he was the punctual type. What was a surprise, however, was his car. When she’d met him, she’d assumed Rashid worked in construction orwas a contractor. So, she figured he’d drive a pickup. But then she saw him dressed in his doctor clothes in his sleek office. So maybe a Lexus?
But it was neither. The man rolled up in a green Volvo station wagon with Alberta license plates. It was a newer one, but still. This car was not Rashid. But maybe she didn’t know enough about him to know what kind of car was him. She peeked into the back seat and saw the twins buckled into booster seats. Ruby opened the passenger side door and slid in. She immediately twisted to see the girls better. They were in their purple coats and pink boots. The one with curly hair had her hair in a ponytail, and the other had her hair down.
“Hi, Tara and Noor,” Ruby said. She looked at Rashid. “I made a playlist for them. Can I plug my phone into the stereo?”
Rashid gave her a confused look. “I know they’re shy and probably don’t want to talk,” she explained. “You know I can talk enough for all three of us, but I thought we could get into the holiday spirit with some Christmas music!” When Rashid still didn’t say anything, Ruby added, “My kid-friendly favorites.”
He shrugged, but she could see the irritation on his face. He did not want to listen to holiday music in his car. “Sure.” He unplugged his phone and handed the cable to Ruby.
Ruby watched Rashid’s eye twitch the moment the Wiggles’ rendition of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” filled his car. Maybe she shouldn’t have done this—the last thing she needed to do was to annoy Rashid even more.
But when they heard the sound of two quiet voices singing along from the back seat, Rashid smiled.
“See?” Ruby said. “Isn’t this better than the awkward silence monster?”
The twins giggled at that, which made Rashid chuckle, too.
“Yes, this was very thoughtful of you, Red.”
Ruby beamed, loving the expression of appreciation on his face. Rashid still looked distractedly hot. Ruby decided it was the lack of hat. Rashid had sexy hair. The kind Ruby imagined running her hand through… and she had to stop doing that. They decided to be friends, nothing more.
“This your car?” she asked. “I wouldn’t have clocked you as a Volvo guy.”
“Why not? It’s spacious. Practical. What kind of car would you think I’d drive?”
She thought about it. He was a cautious driver, but he lived in Calgary. She thought of that blue beanie. “Subaru. But a smaller one. A bit sporty.”
He chuckled. “My last car was an Impreza. I needed more room for my hockey gear, though.”
Ruby smiled, satisfied with herself. Her interest in cars, despite not having one, was one of the only things she had in common with her father.
The drive to the downtown mall thankfully wasn’t long, so Rashid had to endure only three Christmas songs. After he parked in the underground lot, the four of them stepped into the elevator. The girls’ eyes opened wide and they clutched each other’s hands as the glass elevator ascended into the large center court of the mall.
“Have they been here before?” Ruby asked. The Eaton Centre wasn’t Ruby’s favorite mall in Toronto, but it was kind ofhard to ignore it since it was huge and smack-dab in the center of the busiest part of the city.
Rashid shrugged. “I assume. They’ve lived in Toronto their whole life.” When they got off the elevator, Ruby pointed out the tree. It was enormous and richly decorated with red lights and gold accents.
“The tree is over one hundred and fourteen feet tall!” Ruby explained to the girls. Would kids know how big a foot was? “That’s like… five of your Rashid Uncles.”
