“Those must have been a couple of awesome dates,” Sabrina said. “Are you thinking third date is sexy time?”
“No,” Kate admitted. “The apartment thing was hypothetical.”
“So no third date?”
“Well, he asked . . .”
Lara reached over and excitedly patted the table beside Sabrina. “Our girl’s snagged a billionaire!”
Sabrina put her hand over Lara’s to still it, watching Kate. “Have you snagged him?”
Kate sighed. “It’s only been a week, but he does seem weirdly interested.”
“Why weirdly?”
“Because . . .” Kate gestured down at herself. “Look at what I’m working with.”
“Kate,” Sabrina said in a warning tone.
“No, I mean it. I realize I’m not like, garbage disposal goo to look at, but this guy can literally have anyone. Anyone! Did you know his last girlfriend was an actress? A big one.”
“Who?” Lara demanded.
“I said I wouldn’t tell. Apparently they had this super-hot fling. But the point is, how can I compete with that? I’m too plain.”
“You’re down-to-earth, and maybe that’s exactly what attracts him to you, aside from your great hair, big Bambi eyes, and how adorably tiny you are.”
“Purse size,” Sabrina chimed in.
Kate rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m sure that’s what every hot rich guy wants. A purse-size girlfriend.”
“Look, babe, forget all of that. The real question is, do you like him?”
Kate inhaled, held her breath, and let it out slowly. It was something she’d given a good amount of thought to lately, because while there was no doubt in her mind that she liked Jack Dawson, she was also acutely aware that something was missing. They’d had that first flirtatious moment, with some sort of chemistry there, and yet . . . she didn’t know. She didn’t know why she wasn’t head over heels for him, and it was driving her crazy.
“I do like him . . .”
“But?” Sabrina nudged when Kate trailed off.
When Kate didn’t reply, Lara asked softly, “But . . . Kennedy?”
“What’s Kennedy have to do with this?” Kate said automatically.
Lara turned away and looked at Sabrina. “Flip for it?”
“Nope, I’ve got this. You get more champagne. We’re going to need it.”
“For what?” Kate demanded as Lara went to the fridge and came back with another bottle.
But Sabrina didn’t answer. Instead, she waited until all of their glasses were full of another mimosa before turning to Kate. “Okay, babe, we’re way past due for this. Are you in love with him?”
The question hit Kate like a punch in the gut. Had it been anyone else besides Lara and Sabrina, she would have played dumb. She’d have pretended to assume Sabrina was asking if she was in love with Jack. But she knew she wasn’t, and Kate wouldn’t lie to her closest friends. What’s more, she realized Sabrina was right. This conversation was past due.
And she needed to talk about it.
“Not anymore,” Kate answered simply. “But yes, once I was one hundred percent crazy, all-the-way in love with him.”
“Oh,” Lara said on a breath, sounding a little bit awed and a little bit sad. “When was this?”
Kate gave a small smile and sipped her drink. “My very first day at Wolfe. It was the Tuesday after Memorial Day. I remember it felt like the first day of school. The office manager at the time gave me a hurried tour of the building and showed me to my desk, which was in the middle of the bull pen.”
“Wait, how’d we get to baseball?” Sabrina asked.
“Not that kind of bull pen . . . It’s like a clump of desks where the all of the junior brokers sit. The Sams think it breeds healthy competition to put them all in the same area instead of separate offices, to see who wants it most. The bull pen is arranged into clusters of desks of four—one assistant to three brokers.”
Lara nodded to indicate she understood, and Kate continued with her pathetic story. Because in hindsight, it was really pathetic.
“Ian and Matt introduced themselves immediately,” Kate said. “They were like cute little puppy versions of the guys we know now. Smart and charming. Not quite desperate for people to like them, just sort of determined that everyone would.”
Sabrina laughed. “A puppy is the best comparison for those two back then. They humped just about anything in front of them, like boy dogs who haven’t figured out what to do with their nuts.”
“Where was Kennedy in all of this?” Lara pressed.
Kate tried to ignore the way her heart still did a weird little flip, just at the memory of that day. “He was on the phone when I got to my desk. I saw his profile, could hear his voice, and yet I was totally unprepared for it.”
“It?”
She bit her lip and tried to think of how to explain what had happened next. “You know that moment in cheesy movies, where the nerdy girl first lays eyes on the hot guy, and the whole thing switches to slow motion, and the music changes? It was humiliatingly exactly like that. He stood, extended his hand to introduce himself, and the second our eyes locked, I just . . . knew.”
“Knew what?” Sabrina asked with a frown.
Lara flicked her arm in reproach. “Oh, come on. Love at first sight, literally. It’s romantic as heck.”
“It’s really not,” Kate said. “It was so silly. Even back then, I knew it. I was twenty-two years old, fresh out of college, and my shirt had an honest-to-God bow on it. A big one. And then there was Kennedy. He was twenty-nine, broad-shouldered, serious, and just so manly compared to the college boyfriend I’d broken up with.”
Sabrina fanned herself. “Damn. I am so getting it now.”
“So what happened?” Lara asked, resting her chin on her hand and looking like a preteen at a slumber party, wanting to hear more about the popular boy.
Kate shrugged. “Nothing, really. I poured all of my energy into trying not to get flustered and breathless every time he spoke to me. He didn’t make it easy. Did you know he took his grandmother to church every Sunday until she passed away last year? Or that he’ll wait forever to hold a door for a woman. Or that he used to fake not getting along with his brothers so Ian would agree to come home with him at the holidays to act as a buffer.”
“Because he knew Ian’s only option was a foster father who thinks Top Ramen counts as Christmas dinner,” Lara said softly.
Kate nodded. “And once, he overheard me on the phone with my dad, who was super bummed because the fishing lodge in North Carolina he and his childhood friends went to every year had been shut down. The next morning, Kennedy sent me an email with the confirmation code for a vacation rental on Lake Norman. He’d rented a six-bedroom house right on the lake for my dad and four men he’d never even met. He barely accepted my gratitude and wouldn’t take any of the money I tried to pay him back with.” Kate threw her hands up in the air. “How was I not supposed to be in love with him?”
Lara nodded thoughtfully. “You know, if Kennedy did that for your dad, maybe he—”
“Felt the same way?” Kate made an elimination buzzer noise. “Wrong.”
“You don’t know that,” Sabrina chimed in. “Maybe he was too afraid to say anything, just like you were.”
Kate withheld the flinch, hating that she’d let herself hold on to that same foolish dream for as long as she had, and instead took a deep breath to tell her friends the rest of the story—the part that really hurt.
“So you know how the guys have that pact? The one where they can’t date me?” Kate said.
Lara stared at her. “Wait. You know about the pact?”
“Yup,” she muttered. “I was there when they made it. I mean, they don’t know I was there,” she rushed to explain. “They thought I’d left for the day, but I’d forgotten my umbrella, so I came back, and they were in Kennedy’s office.”
“You heard the whole thing?” Sabrina asked with a wince.
“No,” Kate said softly. “Just enough.”
“Oh, sweetie.” Lara touched her hand. “What’d those morons say?”
“Just the one moron,” Kate replied. “They were sort of arguing, and Kennedy said, ‘The little thing’s hardly irresistible, but better safe than sorry in case any of us gets drunk and stupid.’”
Her friends were silent for a moment, and then Sabrina shook her head. “He is so lucky he’s not here right now.”
“Seriously,” Lara said in heated agreement.
“Yeah, well.” Kate shrugged. “It’s actually a good thing, because my childish infatuation with Kennedy needed to die, and that little nugget delivered a swift and fatal blow. Which is a good thing,” she repeated, in case they’d missed it the first time. “Outwardly, nothing changed. He was still all broody and hot; I was still the capable, businesslike assistant. Only, from then on, I wasn’t harboring any romantic delusions about him one day professing his love for me.”
“Don’t kill me for asking,” Sabrina said, “but are you positive you’re really, truly over him? Because sometimes you seem a little . . . aware.”
Kate took a gulp of her mimosa. “I may not be in love with him anymore, but my body hasn’t quite gotten the message that we no longer want him.”
“Ah,” Lara said. “So the physical thing is still there.”
Kate scrunched down in her chair. “Unfortunately. But it’s getting better.”
“Because of Jack?”
“Maybe? I’m not going to lie. It wasn’t like it was that first meeting with Kennedy, where I felt it tip to toe. But Jack’s the opposite of Kennedy. Kennedy’s never seemed to notice that I’m a woman, while Jack . . .”
“Is very aware that you’re a woman?” Sabrina wiggled her eyebrows.
Kate exhaled, too embarrassed to tell her friends that she and Jack hadn’t exactly gotten to the physical part of dating. She sensed that Jack was more than interested but was waiting for her to give the green light, and she just . . . wasn’t there yet.
“We’re happy for you,” Lara said, seeming to sense Kate’s discomfort and giving her an out. “We just hope . . .” She trailed off and looked to Sabrina.
“What?” Kate asked warily, glancing between the two of them.
Sabrina picked up where Lara left off. “We just hope that eventually, whether it be Jack or someone you haven’t met yet, the person you end up with gives you butterflies. That it’s something more than ‘nice.’ You deserve that.”
“I do deserve that,” Kate agreed emphatically, feeling a rush of gratitude that she’d found friends like these women. She raised her glass in a toast. “Here’s to hoping that the next time it happens, it’s for someone who feels them back. Because this unrequited-love thing is absolute garbage.”
11
Thursday, April 11
“Our first double date!” Claudia said, wrapping both her arms around Kennedy’s and squeezing. “This will be so fun. Though I have to say, I totally thought it would be with Ian and Lara or Matt and Sabrina. Still, I guess Jack and Kate make a cute couple, right?”
Kennedy grunted as the taxi crawled through traffic toward the West Village Italian restaurant where they were having dinner with his brother and his assistant. Two people he never imagined being in the same orbit, much less together as a couple.
A couple he’d have to sit across the table from for the next two hours or so.
“This is us,” Claudia said, glancing out the window and leaning forward to get the cabbie’s attention. “Right side, please, at the light.”
A moment later, Kennedy opened the front door of the restaurant for her, then followed her in to a wall of noise, trying not to wince. He hated places that were packed to the gills even at six thirty on a Thursday. There was a reason he avoided the night scene in the city. He liked to be able to hear himself speak without shouting. He liked to be able to hear himself think.
“There they are!” Claudia said, lifting her hand and waving.
Kennedy followed her to the table, wondering for the hundredth time how the hell he’d gotten himself into this. Why, when Claudia had insisted that the four of them get together, he hadn’t come up with an excuse. Any excuse.
Kennedy had opted for a normal suit, since it made up about 80 percent of his wardrobe, though he regretted it when he saw Jack, who managed to look both polished and relaxed in a light-gray sweater and dark-gray slacks. Of course he did. That was Jack’s thing, managing to look both perfectly at ease and perfectly in control, no matter where he was or what he was wearing.
Kate was wearing a dress. Not as fancy as the one she’d worn to his birthday party, but this one was also pink, with a gray belt around her small waist that perfectly coordinated with Jack’s attire.
Great. They were matching outfits now.
Claudia hugged Jack, then did the same with Kate. “You’re so little,” Claudia said, bending down to the smaller woman. “I could just scoop you up and put you in my purse!”
“Do it. I think I could be quite happy in Chanel,” Kate replied with a smile.
Claudia laughed and moved to sit down. Kennedy pulled out the chair for her, nodding a greeting at his brother. He glanced at Kate, but she was ignoring him, instead complimenting Claudia on the restaurant choice.
“I’ve definitely got my eye on the mushroom ravioli with truffle cream sauce,” Kate was saying.
“Oh gosh, I would be, too, if I did carbs,” Claudia said.
“I love carbs,” Kate said with a contented sigh. “I could never give them up.”
“The other night I watched her put a potato on top of a piece of bread,” Jack said, smiling down at Kate, who gave him a mock glare beneath the hair that had fallen across her forehead.
Kennedy picked up the menu to keep from asking if the sexy Jessica Rabbit hair was annoying her yet. Where were the headbands she used to wear? The ones that signaled practical Kate not date Jack Dawson Kate.
“They were very good potatoes and good bread. It was a time-saving measure,” Kate said, shrugging.
“Oooh, cauliflower risotto,” Claudia said, her attention on the menu. “When I was with Dior, the girls ate that constantly. You’d be surprised how much it tastes like real rice.”
“Call me crazy, but if I wanted rice, I’d eat rice,” Jack said. “And if I wanted cauliflower . . . I’d die.”
“You don’t like cauliflower?” Kate asked, turning toward him.
“He doesn’t like vegetables,” Kennedy said without looking up from the wine list.
“I didn’t like vegetables when I was twelve,” Jack clarified. “Mom hasn’t caught me sneaking broccoli into the potted plants in at least a year and a half now.”
The women laughed, and Kennedy rolled his eyes. He was thankful when the server came by to take orders for some much-needed alcohol.
They started with a round of cocktails, and when the server left, Claudia put her menu aside and leaned forward with a smile. “I’m so glad we did this. I’ve been telling Kennedy forever that we need some couple friends.”
“They’re not a couple,” Kennedy said automatically. “It’s only been a week.”
Kate tilted her head in a gesture that was meant to look innocent and confused, but he knew it was a warning. Knock it off.
He ignored it.
Jack glanced down at Kate. “Did you not tell him, sweetheart? About the engagement?”
“Nope,” she said in a loud whisper. “Not about the baby, either.”
“Hilarious,” Kennedy muttered.
Claudia swatted his arm. “Be nice.”
“Oh, he can’t help it,” Jack said. “It’s written into his older-brother DNA to be Highly Disapproving.”
“Just like it’s written into yours to be Highly Annoying?”
“When’s your birthday, Jack?” Claudia asked, clearly trying to steer the conversation to friendlier territory.
“November twenty-sixth. You can imagine my hardship over the
years, having to share so much with Thanksgiving.” He put a thumb between his eyebrows, as though trying to ward off bad memories.
Kate played along, rubbing his arm. “Poor baby.”
Kennedy ground his teeth.
“What about you, Kate? Wait, no, don’t tell me. You’re a . . . Virgo?”
“Her birthday’s in July,” Kennedy said before Kate could reply. He had no idea whether that made her a Virgo or Ram, a Waffle, or whatever. He didn’t give a crap about astrology. He didn’t even know why he’d answered for her, except it seemed important, somehow, to remind everyone that of the three of them at the table, he was the one who’d known Kate the longest.
Though, that wasn’t particularly fair. Truth be told, until the night of his birthday party, he hadn’t realized how unnerving it was that she seemed to know the smallest details about him, and yet he hadn’t known she liked museums. The ballet. Chess.
Hadn’t known that she believed in love at first sight.
Kennedy didn’t like surprises and had made it a point ever since to gather whatever details he could about her. It was just smart to stay on a level playing field.
To stay one step ahead of his brother in all things Kate Henley.
“July twentieth,” Kate was telling Claudia. “A Cancer, I think?”
“Yeah, Cancer,” Claudia said thoughtfully as their waiter placed cocktails in front of them. “Surprising.”
“How’s that?” Jack asked. “I don’t know anything about the signs.”
Because it’s all crap, Kennedy thought, taking a sip of his drink. It had some froufrou name, but it was basically a slightly bitter Manhattan. He didn’t really care. It had whiskey.
“Well, Kate’s got Virgo written all over her,” Claudia explained. “Virgos are extremely capable with amazing attention to detail. Which is what makes Kate such a great assistant.”
Kennedy inwardly flinched. Claudia didn’t mean it as a slight. Kennedy knew enough about his girlfriend to know that she was never unkind. Just oblivious.
“Kate actually went to business school,” Kennedy said.
Huge Deal Page 8
