"We're such complex creatures, aren't we?" She walked backward down the hall as she teased him.
"More than you know." He turned and walked the other way as she moved to Kristen's desk.
"You ready? I need a whole bottle of vodka to burn some of those interviews from my mind." Jamie tugged her shoulder strap to her purse up higher. "Did you see some of those chicks?"
"I did. I honestly would have killed to be a fly on the wall. Who wears four-inch pink pumps to an interview?" Kristen got up and grabbed her purse. "Or a top that shows almost all your breasts? That was so inappropriate."
"They were hoping the interview was with ‘Mr. Reid’." Jamie wagged her eyebrows and moved to the elevator. "I was quite the disappointment today."
Kristen laughed and pressed the button on the panel for the bottom floor. "I bet you were. Shame really. People have no class nowadays."
"Agreed. At least some don't." Jamie glanced up at the small screen above the floor panels on the elevator wall and watched the advertisements on the small screen. One came up for a bridal show and she groaned.
"What?" Kristen glanced over at her. "Getting tired of wedding planning?"
"More like tired of wondering when we're going to do it. We haven't set a date yet, but I know Alex is chomping at the bit to get it over with. I am too." She shrugged. "I thought we would have something huge because of who he is, but every time we talk about it he keeps referring to it as a small wedding, or intimate gathering."
"And you want something big?" Kristen walked out into the lobby as Jamie pointed to the restaurant just across the street.
"No, I'm good with small. Let's go over there. The martinis are delicious, and it's half off appetizers right now." She pushed the door open for Kristen.
"Sounds great. Small and intimate sounds like Alex. He's never been the showy kind of guy I think everyone expects him to be. He's just a good man with a lot of ambition. You're a lucky woman." There was no jealously that Jamie could find in Kristen's face. She seemed to be incredibly genuine, which was rare.
"I agree. I'm insanely lucky." She turned and waved as someone from the office called out her name.
"How many bridesmaids do you have?"
Her question hit Jamie square in the chest. "Um... none."
"What? That seems crazy." They walked across the street together as the wind picked up.
"Yeah, but I don't have many friends. Stephen and I had some friends together, but when he dumped me for my sister, that all changed."
"For your sister? That's sick." Kristen held the door to the restaurant. "Well, I could fill in if you needed me to. I don't know if you need—"
"I would love that." Jamie smiled. "That would be incredible, but Mark's going to be the best man, or so I imagine. Is that okay?"
"Oh yeah. Mark and I worked everything out the other day. He's a lot like Alex. Just a good man, trying to make his way and figure things out." She smiled and turned to the hostess. "Two please."
"Then it's settled. You'll be my maid of honor. We need to get you a dress." Jamie slid into the booth across from Kristen and ordered a drink the minute the server showed up.
"Do you have your dress?" Kristen leaned forward, pressing her forearms to the table. "There's a huge sale online right now at the Bridal Extravaganza."
"Really? No, I don't have it. Maybe I'll get online and find one tonight."
"Let's do it now." Kristen pulled out her phone and moved to the other side of the table to sit beside Jamie.
A warmth swept across Jamie that she hadn't felt in a long time. She missed Gina, but maybe a new friendship was the answer to that. That Kristen would be willing to be in the wedding without too much notice said a lot about the girl's character.
Alex and Mark weren't the only good people trying to find their way through the wicked world around them.
It would seem Kristen was too.
Chapter 13
"Finally," Jaime muttered under her breath as she parked outside the hospital the next day. Alex was released to come home, and she'd turned over the office to Dillon, one of Alex's senior advisors who played well with everyone and worked almost as hard as Alex himself.
She smoothed down her blue button-down shirt and wiped at her teeth, suddenly a little nervous about how she looked. It was silly, but wanting to be picture perfect for the man would be something that was sure to plague her for the entirety of their lives together, though he would never demand such a thing.