“Yep. Third floor, 6C.”
“See you then.” He walked toward an exit on the far side of the coffee bar that opened onto the ground-floor lobby of the Sherman Building. From there he would take an elevator to his offices on the sixty-fifth floor. Technically he’d be far away from Jamie, but he knew he’d be thinking about her all day long.
JAMIE WATCHED until he was out of sight. Then she turned to Faith. “Okay, is there something fishy going on?”
“No.” But mischief danced in Faith’s blue eyes. “At least not yet.”
“Faith Sherman, if you’re trying to get Dev married off on my watch, so help me—”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
Jamie sighed with relief. “Good.”
“What I would do is use this perfectly legitimate excuse to get you two alone together.”
Jamie stared at her, and all the blood left her brain. “What…what do you mean?”
Faith leaned closer. “We’ve been friends for almost twelve years. I would have to be beyond dense not to know you have a thing for my brother.”
Jamie could see there was no sense in denying it. She buried her face in her hands and groaned. “Does he know?”
“Of course not. Guys don’t pick up on that stuff.”
Jamie lifted her head. “You’re sure?”
“Absolutely. Furthermore, he’s intrigued by you, too.”
“He is not.”
“He’s my brother, and I say he is. I’ve seen the looks he gives you, and I don’t think he comes for coffee every morning for Dixie’s and my company.”
“Well, duh! He comes for the coffee. You’ve heard him rave about the cherry-bark blend.”
“Okay, he likes the cherry-bark blend, but he also likes you. You scare him a little bit because you’re so bright, but that’s good for him. He thinks he wants somebody who won’t challenge him intellectually, but I think that’s why he’s bounced from woman to woman. He gets bored.”
“Faith! You sound like you’re trying to set us up!”
“Why not?” Faith smiled at her. “Why wouldn’t I want my best friend to date my brother?”
“Oh, I dunno. Because I’m not remotely, by any stretch of the imagination, your brother’s type?”
“I don’t think he knows his type. But his answers to the questions might give you some ideas.”
“I’m supposed to be creating a program for The Red Doors!”
“So, multitask!”
Still unable to believe they were having this conversation, Jamie gazed at her friend in astonishment. “Okay, let’s try this discussion from a different angle. I don’t seem to be getting through. Here’s the deal. I don’t fit into Dev’s world.”
Faith stared at her. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“You know perfectly well.” Jamie sighed impatiently. “I’m not glamorous. I’m not…”
“Rich?”
“There is that. The dot.com windfall was the first serious money I’ve ever seen in my life, and it’s all sunk into the business.”
“You and I are friends.” There was an edge to Faith’s voice. “Has that been a problem for you?”
“No, but—”
“I don’t know what you’ve been telling yourself about Dev, but he’s no snob. If he dates women from a certain level of society, that’s probably because those are the ones he comes in contact with. But he values people, not social position. You’ve created something in that fertile brain of yours that isn’t even a problem.”
Jamie couldn’t very well continue the argument without risk of insulting both Faith and her brother. “All that aside, I’ll guarantee he likes a woman who wears silk instead of cotton and who knows her way around the cosmetics counter.”
“And that is exactly what you’re going to find out tonight.” Faith glanced at her watch. “Come on, partner. It’s time to get to work.”
DURING A VERY LONG DAY at the office, Jamie’s lack of enthusiasm about seeing him tonight kept flashing into Dev’s mind like a brake light, warning him not to get too excited about the appointment. He wasn’t used to women shying away, and that’s what Jamie had done from the beginning.
He’d kidded himself that she wasn’t skilled at the man-woman thing, but now he had to face the possibility that she didn’t like him much. So tonight would be complicated. He’d been attracted to Jamie ever since that Valentine’s dinner at the Pump Room.
He still remembered how she’d looked that night. Her white knit dress had shown off subtle curves he hadn’t noticed before. He’d loved watching her enjoy herself and become adorably snockered. But when her green eyes had started glowing with excitement over her new idea, she’d gone from cute to beautiful. He was attracted, all right.
If only she weren’t so damned smart. Although he had an instinct for the stock market that had made him a decent living, he’d slid through Northwestern’s business college without distinction. Jamie’s grades had earned her an academic scholarship four years in a row. Her computer skills had saved Faith from flunking a class, which was when they’d become friends. Jamie had graduated magna cum something-or-other.
Dev figured she saw him as a frat guy and a party animal, which he’d been, no doubt about it. In those days he hadn’t expected that he’d ever want to impress a smart cookie like Jamie. And he couldn’t hide a single flaw from her, because she was best friends with his sister, who had probably cataloged every one of Dev’s failings for Jamie over the years.
By the time Dev left his Lakeshore Drive apartment in a taxi bound for Jamie’s place, he’d convinced himself that he’d be a fool to let her know he was attracted to her. She’d shoot him down, and then where would he be? The morning coffee sessions he’d come to relish would be ruined. He’d have to avoid her, which would be next to impossible considering her personal and business connection to Faith.
To add to the complications, he wasn’t completely convinced that tonight wasn’t a scheme to get vital info out of him. Faith could be in league with his mother, no matter what she claimed to the contrary. Jamie might be in on it or she might only be the messenger.
Therefore he’d not only play it cool with Jamie, he’d fake his answers to her questions. Then if some woman came onto him while wearing some overwhelming perfume, he’d know she’d been primed by his answers to the questionnaire.
The cab heater blasted him from the moment he’d climbed inside, so he unzipped his black leather jacket. He’d spent way too much time deciding what to wear tonight and had finally chosen his favorite ivory sweater and black cords. From listening to Jamie over the last several months, he’d figured out that looks didn’t count for nearly as much with her as character and smarts.
That was another thing he liked about her. He’d grown tired of the parade of designer dresses on the women he dated. Even sex couldn’t be spontaneous when a woman was zipped into something worth thousands that could not, under any circumstances, end up on the floor. He’d broken up with his last girlfriend over that very issue. He’d accidentally spilled something on her Vera Wang, and she’d screeched and hollered as if he’d murdered a close relative.
After paying the cab fare, Dev climbed out onto the icy sidewalk and headed toward the four-story brick apartment complex where Jamie lived. His loafers crunched against the hard-packed snow accumulated during the Chicago winter and he quickly got chilled again. He wondered if Jamie would have some hot coffee made. Maybe he should have brought something, such as cookies from the deli.
Oh, to hell with it. This wasn’t a date. It wasn’t even something Jamie particularly wanted to do. He’d answer the questions just to get Faith off his back and to test the conspiracy theory. Then he was outta here.
He’d been to Jamie’s apartment once, when Faith had asked him to come over to help them haul a gigantic bookcase up the stairs. The place had looked functional, like Jamie, without a lot of extraneous stuff lying around. Also, it had smelled great, like pies baking, although she’d said nothing was in the oven.
He hoped she had coffee. It would give him something to do with his hands. And his mouth.
Inside the vestibule with its row of mailboxes and doorbells, he buzzed her apartment.
“Yes?” Her voice on the intercom sounded as though she’d been running.
“It’s me.”
“Right.”
Another buzz and he was admitted inside the building, but her curt little “Right” hadn’t made him feel exactly welcome. It wouldn’t have killed her to say a friendly hi or glad-you-made-it. With a sigh, he started up the carpeted stairs. If only Faith hadn’t made this sound like the critical ingredient to saving The Red Doors.
He had to agree that the business needed a kick in the pants if it was going to survive this first year, and Dixie’s idea to get the women into the computer kiosks had merit. But he felt like a damned guinea pig. That was probably exactly how Jamie saw him, too.
Shoving a thumb against her doorbell, he stood back, hands in the pockets of his jacket, and waited for her to open the door. Maybe she hated giving up her evening. For all he knew, she was missing a favorite TV show. He pictured her glued to a documentary on the life of Einstein.