The crush might have been quashed right away had Ainsley been a Grade-A bitch but she hadn’t been! Ainsley was amazing to be around! She was super funny and had a personality that was very approachable and in tune with Rachel’s. What’s more, during the showing, Rachel and Ainsley had discovered that they shared the same favorite color: blue; that they both still secretly loved Michael Jackson’s music; and, of course, that they both loved Greek food.
Rachel was sure her crush would pass quickly. That it was just something similar to what Amy called “The Vanessa Effect”—suddenly finding yourself
in the presence of a woman so unbelievably beautiful that even if you’ve never had a single lesbian thought in your entire life, you start to question just how straight you really are. Amy swore The Vanessa Effect was real and, judging by the way Rachel saw even obviously straight women respond to Vanessa—the owner of La Vida Mocha—whenever she and Amy went there for coffee, Rachel believed in it too.
Personally, she herself had never felt it. Yes, the owner of La Vida Mocha was exceptionally beautiful. And, good lord, did Vanessa have an incredible body! Those breasts of hers…Even fully clothed Rachel could tell Vanessa’s boobs were spectacular. And don’t get her started on Vanessa’s legs…
She shook her head.
OK, fine…maybe she had felt The Vanessa Effect also.
In any case, Rachel was certain that she was just feeling “The Ainsley Effect.”
In a day or two it would pass. No problem.
They were now sitting in Rachel’s favorite Greek restaurant on El Camino Real, near the 78 highway.
“So, if you don’t mind my asking,” Rachel began, once their waiter poured two glasses of water for them, “what made you want to move to Carlsbad?”
“I got a new surgical position at Scripps Memorial,” Ainsley told her.
“Oh, in Encinitas.”
“Right. I am now the Assistant Chief of General Surgery.”
Rachel’s eyebrows shot up. That was impressive! Especially considering Ainsley was her age, a fact Rachel had learned during the showing.
“And I had been ready to leave San Diego anyway,” Ainsley went on.
Rachel thought she saw a bit of a cloud pass over Ainsley’s features but she wasn’t sure.
“You have a condo down there, right?” Rachel asked, remembering what Ainsley had told her earlier. “Are you planning on selling it?”
“I don’t know. Should I? My dad thinks I should keep it and rent it.” She leaned forward a bit. “But I think I trust you more than my dad.”
Rachel laughed. The woman was good at flirting and Rachel had been riding a buzz from it ever since they met back at the house. That someone who looked like Ainsley would flirt with her was an amazing feeling! And when Ainsley said certain things in that soft voice of hers, it was like Rachel’s brain was picking up a subliminal command to take off her clothes.
“Rents are crazy-high in San Diego right now!” she told Ainsley, glad for a chance to get her mind away from the idea of taking off her clothes in front of Ainsley by talking about something she was well-versed in. “You’d definitely get enough in rent to cover whatever your mortgage payment is for the condo and then some. Maybe use the extra to pay it off early.”
“That’s actually a good idea,” Ainsley said.
“And you thought I was just a pretty face,” Rachel said, knowing how flirtatious that sounded. And not caring.
Ainsley bit her lower lip and Rachel’s heartrate increased.
“No, I thought you were a pretty face and an incredible real estate agent,” Ainsley said.
Now Rachel felt flushed. Flushed enough to feel like she was overheating in her boyfriend blazer and so, to make herself more comfortable and to distract herself from the sensations blooming between her legs, she took off the blazer and draped it over one of the empty chairs at their table.
“Whoa! And you have great shoulders!” Ainsley exclaimed.
Rachel smiled. She was proud of her physique and the fact that at the grand old age of twenty-nine she had managed to keep it.
“Are you an athlete?” Ainsley asked. “I’m asking seriously because you really do have nice shoulders and arms.”
Their waiter returned then and took their meal orders. They also asked for a couple of glasses of ouzo.
When the server left, Rachel shrugged.