Rae set down her glass. “Absolutely. But even beyond that, he should’ve known you would’ve never gone with him.”

Rylann hedged, not sure she liked the sound of that. “Well, I wouldn’t say never.”

Rae gave her a get-real look. “Please. You go to Italy? You have your plans, remember?” She held up her hands innocently. “Why are you looking at me like that? Come on—you know this about yourself.”

“True. But when you say it, it makes me sound so…lame.” Suddenly concerned, she leaned in, lowering her voice. “I’m not lame, am I?”

“Sweetie, you’re not lame.”

Rylann grabbed her drink. “Look at this, I drink martinis on workdays—that can’t be lame, right? And this wasn’t even planned.”

Rae smiled. “You know I love you, right?”

Rylann eyed her warily. “That’s typically a lead-in people say to give themselves permission to tell you something you don’t want to hear.”

“Okay, then let’s start with the part you do want to hear: you are a brilliant trial lawyer, Ry. And part of that comes from your ability to plan ahead—you’re always three steps ahead of the other guy, and have figured out the solution to the problem before he even realizes there is one.”

Rylann sniffed, partially mollified. “Go on.”

“But let’s be honest: did any part of you, even for one second, think about chucking it all and getting on that plane with Jon?”

“No,” Rylann said matter-of-factly. “Because that would’ve been crazy. And I don’t do crazy. Crazy is for women in their twenties.”

“You didn’t do it then, either.”

“So I’m ahead of the curve.” Rylann took a sip of her drink, mulling something over and turning serious for a moment. Rae had been her best friend for years, even when they’d lived two thousand miles apart. She trusted her opinion more than anyone’s. “If it had been you, would you have gone to Rome?”

Rae thought this over. “Probably not. I don’t do crazy, either.”

Rylann threw her hands up in exasperation. “Then why are you riding me about this?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because we’re both thirty-two and single. It used to be bridal showers and bachelorette parties. Now a week doesn’t go by without the mailman bringing me some sort of announcement or invitation with a baby booty on it.” She shrugged. “So maybe not doing crazy isn’t working so great for either of us.”

The words hung in the air between them.

“Well, thanks, Mendoza—now I’m just depressed. Actually, no. The hell with that.” Rylann reached across the table and squeezed Rae’s hand. “Just because we haven’t met Mr. Right doesn’t mean we’re doing anything wrong. And by the way, you’re brilliant and awesome, too. If I were a lesbian, I’d totally settle down with you and make lots of in vitro babies.”

Rae smiled, just as Rylann had hoped. She hated to see her friend—normally so upbeat about the dating scene—get down about this. Plus, it unsettled her. Rae was a smart, attractive, successful woman. If she didn’t have her pick of the litter, Rylann had no clue what men were looking for.

“Have I told you how glad I am that you moved here?” Rae asked.

“Me, too.” And as she said the words, Rylann realized just how true they were. Sure, she missed San Francisco at times, but even in the couple short weeks Chicago had begun to feel like home again. “So there’s something else I wanted to tell you. Not related to Jon.”

Rae took a sip of her martini. “It’s something good, isn’t it? I can tell by the look on your face. Let me guess: work hottie.”

“No.” Rylann thought about that. “Actually, there is a work hottie. A couple of them, in fact. But that’s not it.” She lowered her voice. “I can’t tell you any details because the matter is still in the investigatory stage, but Kyle Rhodes is a witness in one of my cases. We met for coffee earlier today.”

“Get out of here.” Rae’s expression changed from one of surprise to curiosity. “What kind of case is it? Computer hacking or something?”

“It’s an investigation related to the prison,” Rylann said vaguely. “He overheard something while he was there.”

“Did you two manage to exchange more than three words this time?” Rae asked teasingly.

“We did.”

Rae waited expectantly. “And…?”

“Andwe talked and had coffee.” Rylann looked at her pointedly. “Obviously, that’s as far as that story can go. He’s my witness now.”

Rae considered that. “Technically, it’s not an ethics violation to be involved with a witness, you know.” She held out her hands at the look Rylann gave her. “I’m just saying.”

“I think we’re way ahead of the game here. And regardless, technical violation or not, it would be a really bad idea.”

“Yes, it would,” Rae said, without hesitation.

“Can you imagine what would happen if this case went to trial and it came out that Kyle and I were involved?”

“Sure I can, I’m a defense attorney. I’ll tell you exactly what would happen if that came out at trial—I would light his ass up on the witness stand.” Rae set down her martini glass and went into mock cross-examination mode. ” ‘Mr. Rhodes, is your testimony here today at all impacted by the fact that you’re having sex with the assistant U.S. attorney handling this case?’ “