"Jamie." He set back and smiled comfortably. "What did you want to be when you were a girl? When money and advancement were of interest? What was your dream job?"
His question caught her off guard, but she found her footing quickly. She laughed, the double shot of a drink with Gina giving her that slightly giggly, liquid courage she needed. "I wanted to be a dancer, but I gained a bit of weight as a teenager and dance was a thing of the past." She shrugged, not quite sure why she shared the truth with him. She could have pulled from the hundreds of lies she'd used in the past to save herself the humiliation of reliving her childhood.
"I can’t picture you heavy. I’m sure you were very cute.” He tilted his head and smiled warmly. “What caused you to gain weight? A bad breakup? Some teenage boy break your heart?"
"Donuts and Cheetos. They are the devil. I'm convinced." She gave him a cheeky grin and turned to the waitress ordering a glass of red wine.
He ordered and turned his attention back toward her. "And I assume you lost your weight during college?"
"Lost my weight? No." She let out a short chuckle. "I'm still trying to lose the weight, which is another topic you and I are not going to traverse together tonight."
"Well, let me just say this... you don't need to change at all. You're beautiful and intensely feminine. Where young women got off track on thinking that they should have bones protruding from their collarbones and ribs is beyond me. Girls might be incredibly thin, but women are not. At least the type of woman that make most men's blood run hot."
Heat rushed up her chest and bled up to cover her throat and cheeks. "Thank you."
"Of course. Now... tell me when you're going to start taking dance lessons again."
She smirked and picked up her wine, taking a small sip before shaking her head. "No dance lessons for me. I have enough to keep my plate full, and none of the items are donuts or chips nowadays."
It was his turn to chuckle. The deep timbre of his laugher was enjoyable, and she found herself relaxing even more in his presence. Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy. The mixed vibes that she'd gotten from him were frustrating. Alex couldn't stand him, but it would seem that her illustrious boss wasn't too fond of too many people.
"Well, I wanted to be a fireman when I was a boy. My parents weren't too thrilled by my decision and pulled the rug out from under me when I was five years. They made sure I went to college, which I’ve told you about and what I forgot to mention was that if I wanted to inherit their wealth, then I needed to put my dreams on the shelves and start focusing on investments and business."
The information was a bit of a shock. Nicholas a fireman? No wonder he appeared to be in such great shape.
"And you gave it all up?" Jamie asked. “Those five-year-old fireman dreams?”
He chuckled. "Kind of. I volunteer at a firehouse, but I'm the only child, and my parents needed to know that I supported the continuation of their investment firm. I get the best of both worlds now, but it’s rather time-consuming, which leaves me where I am now."
"Which is?"
"Alone." He gave her a sad smile. "It's a choice I made by putting my career in front of the possibility of family, but now that I'm wishing I would have chosen differently."
The server arrived with perfect timing to take their order. Jamie had no clue what she was going to say to him. He should have been married and been a father by then, or so society would say, but he wasn't. Dating sucked royally and she wasn't sure if she even knew of anyone that she could set him up with. Was that what he really wanted? Her help in finding someone? Surely not.
"Anyways," he started again, “I’m going to shift my focus completely now. It's time to find someone to share all of this stuff with."
"I'm not sure it's your stuff that a woman would be interested in." Jamie offered.
"No? What would a woman be interested in? If you were the center of my attention, and I was hell-bent on getting you to say yes to a life with me. What would you want?"
Her shoulders tightened at the turn in the conversation. "Hypothetically?"
"Of course. I know you're with Alex."
Was she? Not really.
"I would want someone to love me, to accept me, hold me accountable, and support me in the different areas of life that we would walk through together." She pursed her lips and glanced down at her hands. "I think having a partner in all things is at the top of my list. And sex. I would like a fucking lot of it."
"I couldn't have said it better myself. You sure Alex is the one for you?" He winked as they shared a laugh.