"Is our bar stocked?" Katherine called again from upstairs. "It's been so long since we've entertained."
Jay stood, closing the cabinet door to the hidden wine rack and opening the bar instead. It was well stocked. As Katherine said, they rarely entertained any longer. Gin, vodka, rum, bourbon and of course, her tequila, along with all the mixers to make nearly any drink. "We have plenty." In fact… why not start now? She was much more likely to make it through the evening with alcohol than without. So, she filled a glass with ice, poured a generous amount of gin, and topped it off with Tom Collins mix.
She took a sip, enjoying the freshness of the drink. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. She'd had Katherine's friends over before. She'd survived.
"Did you forget about the music?"
Jay turned around, finding Katherine at the entertainment center, picking through the CDs. "Sorry." She took another sip.
"Want a drink?"
Katherine nicked her gaze at Jay. "Starting early, aren't you?"
Jay shrugged. "Had a busy, rushed day, getting Connie started at the new house, then shopping for dinner, then back at the new house." She pointed toward the kitchen. "Then back here to cook. It's been a long day already."
Katherine laughed. "Sweetheart, you don't know what a long day is. When you're at the office until midnight and only come home to catch a few hours sleep, then we'll talk."
Jay smiled humorlessly. "Of course. I forgot. You're the queen of long days. I'm actually quite shocked you were able to get away today," she said, unable to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—Katherine didn't seem to notice.
"Well, it's not every day I run into an old friend, Jay. Of course I made it a point to be here."
Jay's eyebrows shot up but she withheld her comment, sipping from her drink instead.
"And I think I will have a drink," Katherine said after glancing at her watch. "They should be here any minute." She put several CDs in and adjusted the volume. Soon, smooth... and loud jazz wafted throughout the house.
And it wasn't that Jay despised jazz. Not really. It's just she liked it in small doses. Quiet doses. But Katherine liked it loud. And for some reason, Jay couldn't wrap her brain around smooth and loud jazz at the same time, even when Katherine insisted it was. "It's a bit loud for conversation," she said, trying to be heard over the music.
"You can't hear all the detail if you keep it low."
"And we won't be able to hear our company talk if you keep it loud."
Katherine only smiled and headed to the bar. "Can I get you another?"
Jay shook her head, ignoring Katherine's stare as she turned the volume down. "I refuse to entertain guests and compete with this noise at the same time."
"Noise?"
"Yes, noise. It was deafening. I'm fairly certain jazz was meant to be listened to in more subtle decibels."
"As if you know jazz," Katherine countered.
The ensuing argument was thankfully halted by the ringing of the doorbell. Katherine's eyes brightened, and she put her glass down and hurried to the door. "Wonderful. She's here."
"Wonderful," Jay mimicked.
But when Katherine opened the door, Jay's breath left her and she very nearly dropped her glass.
"Jenna, welcome," Katherine gushed. "I see you didn't have trouble finding it."
"Not at all. Of course, having a GPS system takes all the fun out of it," she said with a laugh. "And I'd like you to meet my friend, Drew Montgomery. Drew, this is Katherine, an old college friend."
Jay watched, her eyes wide as Drew—decked out in tan slacks and a dark green polo shirt—shook hands with a laughing Katherine. "What do you mean old college friend?" She stood rooted to the spot, her eyes darting between Drew and Katherine. Finally, Drew looked her way, her expression—Jay imagined—mirrored her own. Shock.
"Oh, here, please come in," Katherine offered, standing aside. She glanced at Jay, motioning her closer. "Jay, come meet Jenna and Drew."
Jay tried to be polite and pulled her glance from Drew, smiling quickly at Jenna before locking once again on Drew. What in the hell was she doing here? To her credit, Drew seemed to have recovered quite nicely.
"Nice to meet you, Jay," she said, hand outstretched. "I'm Drew Montgomery."
Her eyes twinkled and her mouth just hinted at a smile, and
Jay took her hand dumbly, acknowledging the hard squeeze Drew gave her with one of her own. "Hi, Drew," she said, pulling her hand away and offering it to Jenna. "Nice to meet you, Jenna. Katherine's told me a little about you. It's so neat that you two met up again."
"Nice to meet you too, Jay. Thanks for having us."
Jay was saved from commenting when Katherine linked arms with Jenna and led her into the house. Whereas Katherine was tall, blond... Jenna was short and dark-headed. And as they headed to the bar, Jay whipped her head around, glaring at Drew.
"What the hell!" she hissed.
Drew grinned. "Imagine my surprise."
"The blind date?"
"The same."
"Oh, good Lord. What are the chances?"
"Drew? Can I get you a drink?" Katherine asked from the bar.
Drew gave Jay a subtle wink. "Beer?"
Katherine looked at Jay. "Oh, my. Do we even have any?"
Jay shook her head. "No beer. Sorry." She glanced at Drew and smiled. "But we have the fixings for just about anything else."
Drew's lips twitched in amusement. "How about something fruity, then?"
Jay met her eyes, smiling in return as she remembered Drew's earlier admission that she had a fondness for fruity drinks. "Daiquiri?"
"Perfect."
"Oh, well I'll let you take care of that one, Jay," Katherine said. "I'm going to show Jenna my office real quick. You two get acquainted."
"No problem," Drew replied.
As soon as the two women walked away, Jay and Drew faced each other, smiles turning to grins, and finally to quiet laughter.
"I cannot believe you're at my house for dinner. How did we not know this?"
"Well, remember, I've been avoiding you."
"Oh, that's right. You were breaking up with me."
"Do you have fresh strawberries?"
"You'll have to settle for frozen." Jay glanced over her shoulder, making sure they were still alone. "So this is your blind date," she stated as she pulled out the blender and filled it with ice. "And this makes what? Your fourth time out? Is it getting serious?"
"Are you asking if we've slept together?"
Jay blushed. "Of course not!" She turned the blender on, crushing the ice, then stopped. "Have you?"
Drew tilted her head, watching Jay. "Other than a few steamy goodnight kisses, no, no sex." Drew raised her eyebrows. "Which is surprising, I'll admit."
"Well, maybe she just doesn't do it for you."
"I was thinking it was the other way around. She doesn't seem to be in any hurry." Drew shrugged. "Besides, we don't really go together. We have nothing in common. And she doesn't really meet many of those qualities I'm looking for," she said with a wink. "Which is why it's surprising we've been out four times. And there's not even any sex going on."
"You never did tell me what all those qualities were, you know," Jay said as she added frozen strawberries to her mixture before turning on the blender again.
Drew waited until the blender finished before answering. She held up a hand, ticking off each finger. "Honest, funny, loyal, talented, beautiful, single,'" she added with emphasis. "And of course be madly in love with me."
"That's all, huh?"
"What? Too ambitious?"
Jay poured Drew's drink and handed it to her. "Try this."
Drew took a sip, nodding. "Excellent."
"Good. And no, not too ambitious. Everyone should have standards." Jay filled her own glass with ice and reached for the gin. "But are you looking for someone with all of those? Or maybe just four or five?"