Huge Deal - Lauren Layne Page 0,41
‘How was your date?’ And Jack says, ‘It was nice.’”
Kate winced as she saw the point her friend was making.
A nice date was barely a date at all. Not one that mattered. Nice sounded tired. Apathetic. Even worse, it sounded like something Kennedy would say about one of his dates.
Which reminded her . . .
“Kennedy and Claudia broke up,” Kate blurted out as she opened her eyes.
Sabrina’s eyebrows went up. “Interesting.”
“Would you quit with that,” Kate hissed, looking around to make sure nobody could hear. “Quit acting like some sort of cryptic love Obi-Wan, and spit out whatever you’re thinking.”
“All right.” Sabrina leaned closer, lowering her voice as she pointed at the flowers. “Have you at any point ever told Jack that yellow is your favorite color or that yellow roses are your favorite flower?”
“No. I don’t think we’ve ever talked about flowers.”
Sabrina let out the tiniest sigh. “I figured as much. Yellow roses signify friendship, babe. Generally speaking, they are not the romantic choice. Which I wouldn’t even be telling you, because I wouldn’t want to hurt your feelings. But then I asked about the opera, and you told me about stupid arias, not about Jack himself, not about the kiss—”
“How did you know we kissed?”
Sabrina grinned around her green straw. “I didn’t. Now I do. Just like how I know it was blah.”
“Okay, seriously. The know-it-all thing is really annoying.”
“Tell me I’m wrong about any of it,” Sabrina said.
Kate picked up a pad of Post-it Notes and ran her thumb across it, fanning the pages as she looked at the flowers and considered Sabrina’s assessment. “Okay, fine.” She tossed the pad aside. “I do know that yellow roses usually are intended to signify friendship. I’ve practically made a career out of ordering flowers on behalf of the guys. Thank-you flowers, celebration flowers, sympathy flowers, romantic flowers . . . But I hardly think that Jack or any of the guys see yellow roses and are like, ‘Oh look, friendship flowers.’”
Sabrina frowned. “Wait, back up. Who have you sent romantic flowers for? If you say Matt, I want a name. I want this woman’s name, her address—”
“Would you focus?” Kate snapped her fingers in Sabrina’s face. “You’ve got your guy. I’m trying to find mine.”
“I think the problem is you already have.”
“I thought you were just trying to tell me that Jack only sees me as a friend.”
“I wasn’t talking about Jack,” Sabrina said with a meaningful glance toward Kennedy’s office.
Kate stilled. “No.”
“And yet you told me that Kennedy and Claudia broke up before you told me that you and Jack kissed. Interesting which development you seem to care about more.”
Kate sipped her drink. “I hate you.”
“I love you, too,” Sabrina said. Her tone was playful, but Kate knew her friend well enough to see the concern in Sabrina’s blue eyes.
“I’m fine,” Kate said softly. “I’m over him, remember?”
“I remember you said that.”
“Because it’s true. I’m not going to waste my time loving a guy who’ll never love me back, Sabrina. I’m holding out for the guy who doesn’t treat relationships the way he does his stock portfolio, all cautious and analytical. I want the guy who looks at me and knows how great I am. The guy who jumps all in with both feet.”
“Uh-huh. Just like you’re jumping all in?”
“Meaning what?” Kate crossed her arms.
Sabrina gestured at Kate with her Starbucks cup. “Just a couple weeks ago, you were a new woman with the hair and the makeup and the wardrobe. You’re still rocking it, by the way. The new hair is on point, that pink lipstick is amazing, and that blouse is killer.”
“I sense a but.”
“But . . . despite your sassy new look and your all-in talk, to say nothing of the fact that you are the boldest, most confident woman I know, all I see is someone who’s scared to death of facing that.” Sabrina punctuated her challenge by pointing at Kennedy’s door.
“I told you—”
“You’re over him. I heard. But you said it yourself, your loins didn’t get the message.”
Kate’s nose wrinkled. “Can we not use that word?”
“Okay. Genitals?”
“Eeew.”
“My point is, you may not be smitten with the guy anymore, Kate, but you still want him.”
“So?”
Sabrina leaned down. “So do something about it.”
“Like what?”
“Seduce him.”
Kate laughed, horrified by the thought. “Um, no. I wouldn’t even know where to start. And he’d probably laugh.”
“We’re talking about Kennedy. He’s not really a jolly kind of guy.”
“That is so reassuring.”
“Sorry. I just think that maybe if you two