Jesse took his seat and lifted his untouched beer mug. They were right. He hadn’t amassed a fortune by giving up. If he wanted something badly enough, he went after it with single-minded tenacity. Going after Rachel, the potential mother of his children, should be no different.
5
Rachel sat at her desk the next day, discouraged, but not defeated. She wanted a baby. When she set her mind to a goal, she persisted until she attained the goal. Failure was not an option.
Sitting on the edge of Rachel’s desk, Genie rested her chin on her fist, her brows furrowed. “Why don’t you let me write the ad this time?”
“There’s not going to be another ad. I’m not going through that again. Who knows what I’d wind up with next?” Rachel’s fingers flew across the keyboard as she typed up her notes from her last client meeting into her desktop journal.
Genie shook her head, her lips quirking upward. “How can you hold an intelligent conversation at the same time as you type something completely different?”
“I just do.” Her hands never slowed.
“Must be some right-brain-left brain kind of thing going on there.” Genie grinned. “About last night. I thought the taxidermist was kinda sweet.”
Rachel’s fingers stumbled on the keyboard. She deleted the jumble of letters she’d written, looked up and grimaced. “What you really mean is kinda sick.”
“But he brought you a present made with his own two clammy hands. If he was just trying to impress a date—” Genie’s eyes widened with her grin. “Think what he would do if he was serious about a woman.”
Rachel’s stomach roiled. “Thank God, I will never have to know.” She flipped the lid of the laptop closed and gave Genie her full attention.
“Honestly, I don’t think the singles page is going to work. You never know what you’re going to get. I’m better off sticking with the dating service. At least, they pre-screen their clients.”
Picking up the box sitting on the farthest corner of the desk, Genie opened it and stared inside. She gulped once, grimacing, then smiled craftily as she closed it and set it back down. “I don’t know, Rache. Looks like Lenny made an impression on you. You didn’t trash his gift.”
Rachel shivered. “He was so insistent that I keep it, I took it with me when we left. I forgot all about it until I was driving to work today and smelled something funny. I just brought it in so that I could get rid of it. That thing gives me the willies. Please, just put that piece of roadkill in the garbage, will you?”
“Oh come on,” Genie teased, “it was a gift of love. Picture it! Every time you lift the little squirrel’s head you can tell the time and know that your honey is hard at work making more innovative jewelry just for you.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of. That guy gave me the creeps, and he’s one of the three reasons I don’t want to try another shot in the dark with an advertisement.”
“Have it your way.” Genie shrugged and tossed the box into the wastepaper basket next to Rachel’s desk. “What makes you think the dating agency will provide you any better specimens of manhood?”
“I checked. Date-Your-Mate is certified, and they do pre-screenings which, by the way, include searches for police records.”
“So, Vinnie doesn’t have a rap sheet, at least not one they could find, huh? Are you going to ask for more videos?”
“No, I’ve decided to try dating a few of the men we’ve already seen. I plan on going out on a date with each one of them, starting with Vinnie, since he scored the highest.”
“You’re going for the Italian Noodle?” Genie grinned.
“Stop that. It’s Vinnie Fetachelli,” Rachel said primly, then with her lips twitching added, “of Fetachelli’s Deli.” They both dissolved into giggles.
Rachel took a deep breath before announcing, “Well there’s no time like the present. Hand me my day planner.” Opening the little book, she searched through it to find Vinnie’s phone number. Putting her desk phone on speaker, she punched the numbers and waited for an answer.
“Fetachelli Deli, we slice it the way you like it. What can I get for you, today?”
Genie clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle another giggle.
“Vinnie Fetachelli, please,” Rachel said in her most business-like voice.
“Ya want Vinnie?” The man sounded incredulous.
“I want to speak to Vinnie, please,” Rachel corrected firmly.
“Hey, Vinnie, there’s a chick on the phone for ya,” yelled the voice from the other end of the line. Muffled conversation could be heard. “Well, whatcha know, even guys with a mug like yours can get a babe to call. What did ya have to pay her? Here, take the phone, I gotta get back to slicing salami.”
“Yo! This is Vinnie.”
“Vinnie, this is...uh...Rachel Taylor. You came up as a match for me from the Date-Your-Mate website, and thought I’d give you a call to see if you’d like to...,” suddenly losing her nerve, Rachel stammered, “uh...go out with me.” There, she’d done it.
“Rachel...” Vinnie paused. “Are you the starchy dame in the suit?”
“Yes, I’m the starchy dame... I mean, I was wearing a suit.”
“What the hell. I’d consider it a challenge to go out with yooze. Might even take some of that starch out of that suit, if ya know what I mean.”
“Well...yes...uh...” Her huge vocabulary failing her, Rachel mouthed the words Now what? to Genie.
Pointing at her watch, Genie indicated that Rachel should set a time.
“What time?” she blurted.
“How’s six o’clock on Friday?” Vinnie offered.
“That sounds...”
Genie was motioning again, holding up four fingers.
“Four?” Rachel asked Genie.
Vinnie replied, “Well, if four is better for you, I guess it’s okay wit me.”
Genie shook her head and held both of her hands up with two fingers on each, then put them together.
“Two?” Rachel asked.
“Two?” Vinnie sounded confused. “Make up your mind, and I’ll be there.”
Genie finally leaned down and whispered into Rachel’s ear, “Double date.”
“Double date?”
Suddenly comprehending, Rachel gathered her wits. “I’m sorry, Vinnie. I meant I would like for you to join me on a double date with a couple of friends of mine, and six o’clock on Friday would be just fine.”
“Rachel, I’ll handle the eats. You and your friends just meet me here at Fetachelli Deli, and I’ll take care of dinner, capeesh?”
“Capeesh. I mean, yes, I understand.”
Rachel hung up the phone and collapsed against the back of her chair.
“I think this may be an interesting evening,” Genie chortled.
“I hope I don’t choke on a meatball,” Rachel groaned.
“Genie, what am I going to do? I’ve never been on a blind date. How should I act? And what do I wear to an Italian Deli, for chrissakes?” Rachel threw her hands in the air. “This is why I haven’t dated in…in…”