“And what does it look like?” Jamie asked softly.
She took a deep breath and set her shoulders. “It looks like I’m going to be a successful businesswoman.”
He answered her smile. She looked for relief in his eyes, but found none. “What about you? I never asked. Do you have any kids?”
“Me?” That one loud word echoed incredulity through the restaurant. “No. No kids. I suppose I’ll have some one day, but I haven’t thought much about it. I feel like I’m still raising my little sister, though she’d strongly disagree.”
“Because she’s twenty-seven?”
“Whatever.”
“I think you’d make a great dad.”
“Hell, who knows. I’ve never even been in a long-term relationship.”
Another shocking revelation. Olivia wasn?
??t sure why she felt a sharp stab of pain at that. Had she begun to fantasize that he’d be her boyfriend and they’d fall in love and go steady forever? Pitiful. “Not one?” she managed to ask lightly.
“Yeah, I know. I’ve just…” He shrugged, his eyes sliding away again. He offered a distracted smile to the waiter when he brought the credit card slip.
“Well, at least you weren’t living a lie,” she said. “Most men want to have their cake and eat it, too.”
“I watch those guys at the brewery. It looks exhausting to me. Who has the energy to lie to so many people at once?”
That was the biggest difference between Jamie’s charm and Victor’s. Jamie promised nothing but pleasure and a smile. If a girl fell for him, it was her own damn fault. Olivia would do well to remember that.
Victor, on the other hand… “I bet that’s why he’s been so…”
“So what?” Jamie asked.
“He’s been in touch. Bothering me.”
His open face snapped to a frown. “How so?”
“Nothing scary. He came by to yell at me after the party. And I think he might have told my department chair that I was sleeping with a student.”
“Me? Oh, shit. I’m sorry. Are you in trouble?”
“No, you’re not under my purview. You don’t get a grade, so there can’t be favoritism or manipulation. It was just embarrassing.”
“I’m sorry,” he said again.
“Come on. I was the one who asked you out, remember?”
“The last time, yes. I’ll give you that. So, what does her possible pregnancy have to do with all this?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. If she’s pregnant, I’m sure he wants out.”
“What a dick,” Jamie murmured. Then, “Sorry.”
Olivia laughed at his apology. “Well, it doesn’t matter what the hell he’s doing. It’s none of my business anymore. So, back to what is my business. Can I stop by and pick up your notes on my way home?”
“Stop by?” The briefest frown flashed over his face. Did he not want her dropping in on his place? What did that mean? But then he smiled. “Yeah, of course.”
“Great. I’ve got to grab a few things from my office, and then I’ll drive over. Unless you had other plans?”
Another brief twist of displeasure took his mouth, but he vanquished it with a smile. “Great,” he said again.