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“What would you do if you could?”
Rachel took a few sips of her drink and winced. “This is stronger than I thought it would be. Ummm, I think I would’ve liked to be a teacher.”
“I don’t think I would’ve been able to focus if I had a teacher like you.”
Color crept up her neck and stained her cheeks. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Rachel lifted her gaze to meet mine, and she swallowed. “So, how come you stay in a hotel when you’re here?”
“I don’t have any family nearby except for my dad, and he’s rarely home.”
On the rare occasions when he was, he didn’t like it when I stayed at his apartment. It had taken years of cold shoulders and indifference to pick up on how much the man liked his privacy and his schedule.
Even more than he liked having his son visit.
And I had no room in my life for someone who wanted me to stay in his shadow.
“That must be hard.”
I gave a slight shake of my head and pushed away all thoughts of him. “I got over it, and I learned how to deal with it. How about you?”
Rachel cleared her throat, and her expression turned pained. “I don’t know who or where my family is. I was left at an orphanage when I was nine.”
Blood roared in my ears. “I’m sorry.”
Rachel gave me a small smile. “Thanks.”
I signaled to the waitress, and she brought two more cocktails over. Rachel downed all of hers in one gulp and changed the subject. With each cocktail, she drifted closer and closer to me until we were sitting side by side, our knees touching.
It took every ounce of self-control I had not to kiss her.
Especially when she kept sneaking glances at me, her face flushed, and the smile on her lips doing strange things to my insides.
“What about you? What would you do if you could?”
“A detective.”
“Detective Shaw,” Rachel teased, dragging the last syllable out. She twisted to face me and squeezed her eyes shut. “I have definitely had too much to drink.”
“Do you want to go upstairs and get some rest?”
Rachel forced one eye open and stared at me. “Upstairs to your room?”
I nodded and held both hands up. “I won’t try anything, I promise.”
Not unless she wanted me to.
A short while later, Rachel was leaning against me, and I had my jacket draped over her shoulders. The elevator doors pinged open, and she stumbled forward, righting herself at the last second.
“Oops. How did the floor get there?”
“It’s always been there,” I teased, shaking my head. “Come on, easy does it.”
“Did you know heels were invented for men?”
I twisted my head to look at her. “I did not know that.”
