Author notes:
Thank you kindly to Todger65 for editing my story and offering advice. I think I lost my way on the overall plot line for the story I first intended, but it still reads as a nice story just the same. I hope you like it.
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Julie brushed the long, honey blonde hair away from her eyes and reached for the wine glass as it was being refilled.
"Thank you very much."
She knew she shouldn't have, but she had never mastered saying no to another drink of alcohol, and she was still very nervous. Smiling with glittering, grey eyes she raised the glass to a silent toast as he sat back down opposite her in the small restaurant. He returned her salute with a huge grin.
"That was a lovely meal, thank you, Sinclair."
"Oh please, call me Sinc. And we haven't ordered dessert yet, I'm sure something on the menu will tempt you."
He smiled again and she smiled back. Was he was talking about the menu or something else altogether? Everyone at the office called him Sinc, but a few of the older men called him Sin at the most odd occasions. He was a little mischievous and maybe that was it.
"It is getting a little late and my dress isn't made for a chilly evening."
He stood up and rolled his dark, formal jacket off his shoulders and wrapped it around hers before she could protest. "It's a shame to cover your beautiful blue dress, but I won't let you get cold."
His ploy worked, and she picked up the menu to scan the desserts as the waiter appeared magically from nowhere. "There is so much variety, I don't know what to choose," she mused.
"We'll both have a chocolate buttermilk bundt cake," he said to the waiter, "and add a little port wine sauce as well please."
And with that dessert was settled. Julie didn't know what it was, but it sounded delicious and high in all the things that were bad for her figure.
"Well, what shall we talk about while we wait?" she said, inviting some conversation.
"Nothing about work," he said, and then they looked at each other deciding what else they had in common.
Julie realised she didn't really know much about Sinc at all, not personally. Professionally he was well respected across the country for his experience, having spoken at many international conferences and nationwide rallies. He had been supervising her department for a couple years now, and before that she had heard of him. While they didn't work directly together, she was familiar enough to chat with him about work, but personally she was drawing a blank.
His silvery hair and moustache put him maybe in his mid fifties and well outside her perceived dating range. At twenty seven her options were severely limited due to her work hours and her sometimes difficult nature. It had been a long time since she'd been asked out, and even longer since she had gotten far with a man. They didn't seem to stick with her too long as her personality was challenging, and required more effort to get used to than most of them had the patience for.
Why had she said yes to him, the right question at the right moment? He had asked, she said yes, and then they were out the office door and he was driving her here.
She found herself still studying his face intently when he broke the ice and they settled into small talk about travel until the dessert arrived. He topped her wine up again but didn't pour any more for himself as he was driving later.
The dessert was delicious, and the port wine sauce divine and heady. It complemented the wine she had already drunk and added a little mellow haziness to her world that made her feel warm inside his jacket despite the cool air. The waiter appeared instantly when Sinc pulled his wallet out of his pocket, and before a check even appeared he had handed over two notes and told the waiter to keep the change.
"Well, let's go for a drive," he said and stood up. They walked out together, he held the door for her, and then he comfortably rested an arm around her waist as they walked to his car. She didn't know what to say and let it ride; she was warm and happy and felt safe enough with him.
He held open the door to the big, dual cab, cherry red pick up and she climbed in. He jumped in the other side and started it up with a rumble and slid the heating up a little.
"You can throw the jacket on the back seat, it'll be warm enough in a second. Now let's drive."
She shrugged the jacket off and threw it across the empty back seat and settled in putting her belt on.
"It's a beautiful blue dress," he said as they got under way, "I'm glad it's not hidden under that jacket anymore."
Julie laughed. "This old thing?"
But it wasn't old. A nice velvet blue with embroidery across the chest. Almost too good for work, but some days you dress to impress, even if only yourself.
"I like it. You're so beautiful, I don't know why you're not married."
