“I said we would.” He smiled at her, trying not to get distracted by her soap-clean scent. “Rachel, this is Didier and Erik, my friends.”
Transferring her clipboard to one hand, she held out the other. “Nice to meet you.”
Didier gave him a look before taking Rachel’s hand and kissing it too. “Maintenant je comprends tout,” he murmured.
“Excuse me?” Rachel asked.
Jamie took Rachel’s hand from Didier’s grasp. “He said that he’s looking forward to talking with your blond friend.”
“Why do I get the impression that I’m missing something?” she said almost to herself. Withdrawing her hand, she turned to the crowd. “If I could have everyone’s attention!”
Didier elbowed him. “Elle t’intéresse.”
No, she didn’tinteresthim—shebeguiledhim. He shook his head as he watched her step into the middle of the room.
The bar took a moment to quiet down.
Rachel smiled at everyone. “Thanks for coming to Clancy’s first speed dating event. If you haven’t gotten a drink yet or you want another, you’ll have time in a second. I’ll just go over how this works.” She gestured to the tables. “Ladies, you’ll take a seat at a table. Gentlemen, you’ll pick a table to start. I have questions here”—she raised a packet of papers—“that you’ll ask during the three minutes you’re with each person. When the time’s up, the men will rotate to the next table, and we start again until everyone’s met. There are pens on each table if you want to take notes. Got it?”
Frowning, Jamie sipped his drink. He hadn’t even taken notes in school. Why would anyone need to take notes on something as natural as being attracted to someone?
But maybe it’d be good for Erik. He’d excelled in school, so this might help him break through whatever barrier was holding him back. Even if none of the women piqued his interest, at least he’d get practice speaking with them and assessing who they were.
It was less excellent for him—he had no interest in talking to anyone but Rachel.
He wasn’t even going to project what could happen with Didier.
“Okay, ladies, take a seat,” Rachel called out, setting pages with questions on each table as she made her way to the table at the far end of the bar.
Lottie smiled up at Erik. “Will you sit at my table first?”
The kid nodded, taking her hand as Didier offered it to him.
Jamie leaned to kiss her cheek. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“I’m watching you too.” She patted his hand and let Erik lead her away.
Watching him?He frowned at Lottie’s retreating back. What did that mean?
Didier put his arm around his shoulders. “That was kind of Lottie. We’ll keep an eye on him?”
Setting what Lottie said aside—as much as he could—he nodded. “Definitely.”
“Bonne chance. Ou c’est bonne chasse?” Didier asked with a knowing grin as he made his way to Rachel’s blond friend’s table.
Sometimes Didier thought he was much more clever than he really was. Ignoring his friend’s repartee, Jamie followed Rachel. He wasn’t going to take a chance that someone would take his place at her table. When she signaled the men to take a seat, he slipped into the chair across from her.
She arched her brow at him, obviously annoyed. He had too many girl cousins not to recognize the signs.
Instead of saying anything to him, she addressed the room. “Three minutes starts now.” She set her mobile’s alarm and put it back down. Then she handed him a piece of paper. “Take a moment to read through the questions and then we’ll get started.”
He looked down at the neatly typed list. Because it was obviously important to her, he took his time reading through them.
Where are you from originally?
What makes you sad? Angry? Happy?
How would your best friend describe you?