“That’s incredible!What are the odds?”
“It was an amazing opportunity.The Sapphire family was very generous to me, but I missed living on the edge, creatively speaking.I needed something more than airplanes.That’s what Avi offered me, so here I am.And it’s not just shoes.The UK market is moving into athleisure.It’s long, hard hours—but I’m having a ball.I work with some really cool people.”
“It sounds trite, but you truly can't put a price on happiness,” he said.“How great that you’re here in London, living your dream?”
“Well, not exactly.”Claire grinned.“The dream was to be an astronaut.”
“An astronaut?”Jay echoed.
“What could be better than floating in space?As a kid I was obsessed with the idea of being weightless.Then when I was nine, I got up the courage to ride my first serious rollercoaster.”
“What happened?”he asked.
“I puked about ten seconds into the ride.”
Jay answered with a sexy smirk, then leaned forward and dipped his spoon into her gelato.Heat rushed back through Claire, the same warmth she’d felt on the dance floor earlier, and she suddenly remembered something Molly once told her.
They’reeating off your plate one minute, then eating out of your hand the next.When he dips his fry in your ketchup, that’s code for ‘let’s get naked.’
“So, with your weak stomach and your struggles with science classes…” Jay teased.
“It was never gonna happen.”Claire finished his thought with a hearty laugh.
The gelato line now stretched out the door.Claire suggested they give up their table and move on.Outside, the night air had cooled, and she shivered.Without hesitation, Jay slipped his jacket over her shoulders.
“Cabs are back and forth past here all night,” he said.“Should be just a minute or two.”
“I don’t remember it being this cool when we left the party.”
“That’s because we worked up a sweat on the dance floor.”
“We did,” Claire agreed.“And I’ll have the blisters tomorrow to prove it.What I wouldn’t give for a nice pair of bunny slippers right now.”
“Think you’re up for a nightcap somewhere?”he asked.
Claire glanced at her watch.“I should probably get back to the hotel.Molly hasn’t responded to any of my texts yet, which means she’s probably royally pissed for ditching her.”
“Hopefully not so pissed that you can’t salvage the rest of your girls’ weekend,” he said.
“We’re like sisters,” Claire told him.“Fighting like cats and dogs one minute, fiercely loving and loyal the next.”
The lights of a cab bounced in their direction and Jay waved it down.The driver blasted the radio, leaving them little chance for conversation.When the cab pulled up in front of her hotel, Jay asked the driver to wait.Claire stood facing him, savoring the delicious awkwardness that defined the end of such evenings.
“Did you really fail biology twice?”Jay asked, tilting his head suspiciously.
“I really did.”Claire laughed softly.“Is that a gamechanger?”
“No, it’s just…” He smiled.“After spending time with you in Jamaica, I was convinced you were some Mensa-level genius.You have an amazing recall of facts and figures and trivia.”
“You mean I’m a compendium of worthless information?”
“No, really, I even told Rob that you?—”
“Wait.”She blinked in surprise.“You told your friend about me?”
“Of course,” Jay said.“I couldn’t stop smiling the next morning at breakfast.He had a pretty good idea why.And then I told him about the dream.”
“What dream?”she asked.
