“So are you ever going to tell me how Gordon, puts such a smile on your face, Brownie?” Harley asked her as they were driving back to their suite.

 “I’d rather not. Well, not till there something more concrete to tell you.” She paused smiling, remembering how he looked with the whipped cream in his moustache. She knew the fluffy blonde would not give up so easily. “Well, what I can say is he is really sweet.”

Harley just shook her head. “I knew he would be sweet, you go after the good guys. I go after the bad boy types.”

Bad boy types, Rachel’s interest was peeked, since when was Jack a bad boy type. Sure he had given her the creeps when she saw him in the hallway but nothing Harley had said over the last few days seemed to give that kind of indication. “Harley,” She looked at the girl. “What do you mean you go after bad boy types? Is Jack a bad boy type.”

Harley’s cupid bow mouth formed an O, she quickly replaced it with a smile. “Umm he’s,” She paused. “not. I meant just usually.” She added quickly.

“Ah, ok.” She wasn’t convinced. “So how are things with Jack?”

“Oh he’s wonderful. Every time we get together he brings me a long stemmed rose. Isn’t that the sweetest thing? So romantic.” She announced once they pulled into the parking a lot.

“Yes, that is incredibly so.”

She sighed contently. “Guess what, besides having a passion for cracking jokes, he has a side that is crazy for science and things one can do with chemicals. He never ceases to amaze me.”

“That must make for an interesting person to be around.”

Rachel’s mind began to drift especially when she noticed that in a mere two hours she was going to be back with James. It filled her with joy. Once in the suite, she brought her clothes from the other day to the hamper, after doing so she collapsed onto their sofa. Stretching she watched as her roommate flittered about the place.

“So will you be out all night with Jack?” She asked.

“Actually, yes.” She exclaimed. “He’s picking me up after my late class, he says he has plans for tonight.”

“I hope you two have a wonderful night.”

“I’m sure we will. You have a great one as well.” She watched as the girls blue eyes scanned the room.

“I will.”

“Ok, I have everything I need. See you, later Brownie.” She waved before going out the door.

What am I going to do now, she asked herself. She sat there and nervously strummed her fingers. She picked up the magazine that sat on the coffee table. She flipped through it, trying to find and article that caught her interest. She felt antsy and reading wasn’t doing the trick. She tossed her clock a look, still an hour and a half before he was going to arrive.

Going over to her CD player, putting in her favorite CD and turning it up she danced about. Then the thought hit her, I better freshen up a bit. She headed to the bathroom; she grabbed a towel on the way. She took a fast shower afterward she perfumed herself. Feeling refreshed and wrapped in her towel, restarting the CD, she walked over to her closet and was torn over what she could possibly wear. Then she eyed, her black spaghetti strapped dress, much too dressy. Then her straight-line black skirt and black turtleneck, caught her eye. When she wore that outfit, it made her feel like some super spy, especially when she wore her knee high boots with it. It was causal and it made her look good, she couldn’t resist snickering at that thought. With about an hour till he arrived, she got ready. She made her hair was fell in soft waves and didn’t look like a mess. She touched up her eye lashes with a touch of massacre and decided on some lip gloss that gave her lips a touch of color. Going over to her dresser she chose her favorite pair of scarlet and black unmentionables. Then she chose a pair of sheer hosiery, then slipped into the skirt and turtle neck. She’d wait with the boots till he was at the door. She still had a good thirty minutes before he was due to arrive. Turning off her music, she paced back and forth before she realized what she was doing. Feeling foolish she went over to her desk and sat down. She grabbed the elephant sculpture he had won her the other night. She smiled.

Then a thought hit her, everything was fantastic now couldn’t be any better. How long were James and her going to be together? What would happen if Barbara ever wanted him back? Well, that was easy she thought, she wasn’t going to stand in the way. She had James first, and if he wanted to work things out with her, it was not her place to stand in the way of him being truly happy, he deserved the best. James had taught her in these last few days more than she had learned from the one or two boyfriends she had before. If she could call Bruce a boyfriend, they had been close when they were teenagers. She shook her head, she couldn’t think about Bruce right now. All she knew was he was out there somewhere and no one could convince her he wasn’t.

James had taught her about passion, tenderness, she had never had any of that before. Well, maybe some passion but none like the two of them shared, she had only read about that, when out of curiosity she read on one those cheap dime romance novels.  She had never felt like she could playfully tease much less seduce anyone like she had been doing with him, she had never known she had it in her. She wrung her hands and tapped her foot, she couldn’t think about it. She was going to take this one day at a time, and if it ended, it ended. Sure another side of her said she should fight what the two of them have been sharing, she shrugged it off when it came to him, she did not want to cause him any pain. He would be her hero for as long as she lived. The memory of the mugging hovered like a gray storm cloud.

A knock at the door, interrupted her thoughts causing her to jump. Looking at the clock she saw that it was seven, butterflies flapped furiously in her stomach. Walking over to the door, looking in the peephole she saw that it was him.

“One minute.” She hollered. Rachel grabbed her boots, putting one foot in she zipped it to the knee. Then she did it with the boot.

Taking a deep breath, she swung the door open, she leaned in the doorway, she rested one hand on her hip. “Well, good evening sergeant.”