Was that what Jamie meant by being in entertainment? She frowned, not sure how she felt about that.
And supermodels… If Didier dated them, then Jamie certainly did. Didier and Jamie were close—you could tell by the way they moved, as if they’d known each other a long time. That was so far out of her realm that she couldn’t even process it.
Alice faced her. “Did that help you at all?”
Rachel blinked. “What do you mean?”
Her friend rolled her eyes. “It was so clear that you were asking about you and Jamie.”
She sputtered for a second, and then she deflated. “I was that obvious?”
“Hello.” Alice grinned. “If you want my opinion, I think you should go for it. When are you ever going to meet someone that interesting? Especially here. It’s like having an exotic dessert. You may not want to eat it forever, but for a couple weeks it’d be just delicious.”
She laughed. “I can’t believe you just said that.”
“I have eyes. I can imagine.” Alice leaned in. “If you do, you know,do it, will you tell me what it’s like?”
“You aren’t going to go out with Didier?” She crunched her lunch bag up and set it next to her purse. “Don’t you want your own dessert?”
“I’m more of a salty rather than sweet girl,” Alice said, almost wistfully. “Besides, Didier and I don’t have the chemistry you and Jamie do. You two spark when you’re around each other. It’s a wonder that you haven’t combusted yet.”
Last night in bed, even alone, it’d definitely felt like a possibility.
“Isn’t your birthday coming up?” her friend asked. “Look on him as a birthday present to you. Treat yourself.”
“What if it’s not as good as we think it will be?”
“Then you’ll find out and move on.” Alice looked at her askance. “Do you think it’s going to be a dud?”
“Not really.” Not at all.
“I don’t think so either.” She bent her head close and whispered, “I bet he wears sexy boxer briefs.In black.”
“Maybe.” Or else he went commando. She could see Jamie going either way. Rachel blushed, keeping that to herself.
Scrunching her brown bag into a ball, Alice brushed crumbs off her skirt. “Has he asked you out yet?”
“We’ve been texting.”
“He’ll ask you out, sooner rather than later,” she said as she stood up. “I saw the way he was looking at you.”
Rachel stood up too, picking up her garbage and her handbag. “How was that?”
“Like he could look at you for the rest of your life and never get bored.”
* * *
The rest of the day dragged. The only bright spot was a message from Jamie asking her when she was going to be home tonight. Maybe he was going to suggest going out? A girl could hope.
And plan.
She glanced at the clock, thinking it’d be okay for her to leave in ten minutes. She ducked her head and kept to herself—the better to remain inconspicuous.
While biding her time, she pulled up the research she was doing on the cost of flat screens. Sports were huge in Chicago, and if Chris could put a couple in his bar, more people would come in on game days.
“Rachel.”
She stiffened, recognizing Hailey’s voice. Darn it. She couldn’t muster up a smile as she lifted her head. “Yes?”