8. Chapter Eight
Chapter Eight
Gigi stared at her phone. She opened the group text with her friends, not sure how to explain her evening with Harris. Yesterday, she was determined to sabotage his involvement in the Gals’ Gift Guide. But then he’d saved a kitten. And she’d had fun building a gingerbread house with him. What parallel universe was she living in? And how did she get here?
Gigi: Hey, ladies! Survived last night’s gift guide event.
Paige: Spill the tea, G! Did the robe and fuzzy slippers put him over the edge? Send him running into the abyss?
Alice: Details! Did Mr. Grumpy Pants actually build a gingerbread house with you? Was he scowling the whole time?
Gigi: The robe and slippers didn’t scare him. We made a gingerbread spa. With a gumdrop hot tub and candy cane lounge chairs.
Paige: Excuse me, what?!
Gigi: I know, right? He was actually . . . pleasant?
Alice: Did you make Mr. Grinch’s heart grow three sizes?!
Paige: Wow . . . we really need to up our game with our sabotage tactics.
Gigi: LOL. Also, he let me name his kitten.
Paige: What in the heck happened last night?! Do we need an emergency Yappy Hour?!
Alice: OMG! He’s going to pick you up in his helicopter and take you to dinner on a private island. I just know it!
Gigi: That’s not happening. But we might need an emergency Yappy Hour. I need a plan for tomorrow’s event. Wine and apps at The Glass Cork? 5:30?
Paige: I’ll be there! What’s tomorrow’s event? I want to brainstorm.
Alice: I might be a little late! Got to finish inventory at the bookstore, but will be there as soon as I can. Order me that Pinot Gris we got last time. Yum yum!
Gigi: Yay! See you guys later! BTW, tomorrow’s event is a horse-drawn carriage ride.
Paige: You’re going on a horse-drawn carriage ride with Mr. Grumpy Sea-glass Eyes?! We DEFINITELY need an emergency Yappy Hour!
Alice: Ohhhhhhh, that’s better than a helicopter ride!
Gigi: You two are crazy and I love every second of it!
Paige: See you at 5:30! Alice, you better not be late, cause I can only stay for an hour—got a hot date with a match from GambleOnLove. Well, I guess I won’t know if he’s hot or not until I meet him.
Gigi: PAIGE! No!
Alice: What if it’s the senator??
Gigi: At least tell us his username . . .
Paige: hoosier_daddy
Gigi: OMG, you are definitely getting kidnapped.
“You are the handsomest boy I’ve ever seen,” Gigi cooed to the big black horse, petting his soft coat and distracting herself from the prickle of nerves in her belly. She, Paige, and Alice had surgically deconstructed what to do and say during a horse-drawn carriage ride with Mr. Sea-glass Eyes but their discussion had not prepared her for the real thing—because the sight of Harris standing in front of a pearly white carriage had her organs bouncing around like espresso-guzzling gymnasts. He looked like a real-life prince.
“Can I help you into the carriage?” Harris asked, holding out a gloved hand. His gray wool coat hung open, perfectly complementing a chunky cardigan. A plaid scarf draped around his neck, and his coal-black hair was pushed back from his face, tousled in a way that made Gigi’s fingers itch to run through it.
“Um, sure.” She swallowed and set her mittened hand in his, trying her best to look graceful and casual as she stepped up into the carriage. Hopefully, she managed at least one. “This is so neat.” Once aboard, she stood tall, assessing the row of harnessed horses and glittering carriages behind her, all lined up against the snowy curb. When Harris joined her, she turned to face him, but her heart jerked at the sudden close quarters. “Oh, hi,” she said, like he’d suddenly appeared from out of nowhere.
“Hey.” He returned her awkward greeting with a slightly confused grin.
They were close enough that Gigi could’ve leaned in and nuzzled her face in his wool scarf. As it was, she got a lungful of whatever his tempting cologne was—dark, woodsy tones mixed with . . . orange peel? Black licorice? It wasn’t a familiar scent. Not something that Ryan & Ryan used, but Gigi wondered why they hadn’t bottled Harris up. They’d sell out of any product that captured his essence.
Realizing she’d been analyzing his scent for too long, Gigi turned and took a seat on the velvet bench. “I’ve never done this before,” she said, redirecting her thoughts before she asked Harris why he smelled so good.
“I haven’t either.” Harris eased onto the bench next to her, confirming the carriage was made for two people in love, not two people who worked together. His shoulder and thigh brushed against hers. “Are you okay? Comfortable?” He scooted, trying to give her a little more space.
“Yes, totally fine.” Gigi nodded and clasped her hands in her lap, willing her stomach to quit fluttering. Harris wasn’t here to give her flutters. They were working, and he was being respectful, putting a few inches between them. Had his scent hypnotized her senseless?
The driver turned, breaking Gigi from her thoughts. “Good evening, Ms. Ricci and Mr. Ryan. I’m Bernard, your driver.” He addressed them over his shoulder, the brim of his top hat shadowing his eyes. “Pleasure to have you both aboard this evening. There’s a blanket tucked in the leather pocket behind me as well as two thermoses of peppermint hot chocolate. Are you ready to start your tour?”
“Just one minute, please,” Gigi replied, digging a few necessities from her coat pockets. “I just need to get my phone set up.” Quickly removing her mittens, Gigi attached a flexible phone stand to the carriage and clipped her phone into it. Then she adjusted the setup so her camera would capture her, Harris, and the view of the city street.
Tonight’s event was to promote Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, a bustling street full of high-end shopping, restaurants, and posh hotels. Each of them was hosting a special one-day Christmas sale, and the sponsoring companies for the Gals’ Gift Guide were to promote the sale on social. Gigi had already posted quite a few pictures and reels on the company’s social channels, as well as the information on where to purchase SheTime’s products during the sale. However, she wanted to finish the evening by live streaming a carriage ride down the picturesque street, highlighting the shopping extravaganza.
“Okay, we’re ready, Bernard,” Gigi said, starting the live streaming on her phone. Sitting back against the tufted leather, she turned to Harris with a smile. “We’re streaming to Christmas music so no one can hear what we say. Just look like you’re having a good time.” She gave him a big smile, pointing to the edges of her lips for emphasis.
He huffed a puff of steam and returned her smile with one of his own. It looked genuine. “I think I can do that.”
As Bernard eased the horse and carriage onto the street, Harris pulled the blanket from the front pocket. “Are you cold?”
Gigi had dressed warm—in wool socks, boots, jeans, a cable-knit sweater, her peacoat, scarf, and beanie—but sitting in thirty-degree weather required an extra layer. “Yes. A little.”
He unrolled the plaid blanket and shook it out. “Here.” Harris leaned forward, laying it across their legs, letting it bundle against their waists. “Better?”
“Better. Thanks.” She grinned, tucking the edge under her rump, appreciating his thoughtful gesture. “But we’ll be even warmer with the peppermint hot chocolate.” Tipping forward, Gigi grabbed both thermoses and offered one to Harris. He took it and they screwed opened the lids. “Cheers.”
“Cheers,” Harris replied. They clinked the metal canisters and took slurps of the rich chocolate drink. Gigi sighed and licked her lips as the cocoa warmed her throat, chest, and stomach.
“What a beautiful evening for a carriage ride,” Gigi said, taking in their surroundings. Dusk had settled on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, transforming the bustling street into a peaceful winter wonderland. The soft glow of wreath-covered streetlamps cast a golden hue over snow-lined sidewalks. Elegant storefronts illuminated holiday window displays and twinkling lights. Towering skyscrapers reached toward the darkening sky, enclosing them in an unexpectedly quiet cocoon.
“Have you lived in Chicago your whole life?” Harris asked, surprising her with a personal question. Until now, he’d stuck to the topic of business.
Gigi shook her head. “Moved here when I was eighteen. Actually, this is one of the first areas I visited when I got here.” Gigi scanned the glittering storefronts, remembering how she’d bopped through stores, mesmerized and blinded, looking through the hopeful, na?ve eyes of a girl who’d previously never left the small town she’d grown up in. “Came to Chicago to go to college. Got a full-ride scholarship to Loyola University.”
“Impressive. That’s a great school.” Harris nodded, balancing the thermos on his thigh. “Where’d you grow up?”
“Kansas.” Gigi immediately pictured the trailer she, her sister, and mom had called home. Her childhood held both good and tough memories, but as an adult, she recognized how hard her mom had tried. As a single mom, she’d worked long shifts at the diner, doing everything she could to provide for her girls. “Honestly, I didn’t really grow up until I moved to Chicago. This city taught me to be independent, even if the lessons were sometimes a little rougher than I would’ve liked.” She gave him a lopsided grin. He returned it.
“The city isn’t just a place. It’s a process.” The words rolled off his tongue, like paint onto a canvas, creating an image Gigi immediately resonated with.
“It is, isn’t it?” She marveled at his flippant yet introspective comment. Trial, error, and the city had shaped her into the woman she was today.
“Your family still in Kansas?”
“My mom is. My sister and her husband live in a small town in northern Minnesota—Maple Bay. It’s absolutely adorable and I love visiting, but I’m not sure if I could live there.”
Harris finished a sip of cocoa. “Why is that?”
She looked ahead, down the lively street. “Chicago has an energy.” She pressed her lips together in thought. “Being here fills me up and keeps me going, like the city is a bottomless cup of opportunity, and I just want to drink it up all the time.”
“Interesting way to describe it.” His expression softened.
She shrugged a shoulder. “Some people need wide-open spaces. I guess I thrive in endless chaos.”
He chuckled, like he understood.
“What about you?” she prodded, wondering if Harris would open up. So far, he’d kept his personal life close to his chest—buttoned up like one of his suits. “You must enjoy chaos, too, since you’ve moved between Chicago and New York City.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “Do a little research on me?”
“Isn’t it normal to google every new person you meet? I feel like it would be weird if I didn’t.”
He smirked, seeming to accept her answer. Maybe he’d even done a little research on her? “I guess I’ve never known any different. Grew up in Chicago and moved to New York City for business, but I think I like the city for a different reason than you do. I appreciate getting lost in the city.”
Gigi leaned back against the tufted leather, pondering his response, seeing a crack of light in his wall. “Care to elaborate?”
Harris took another sip from his thermos, staring out over the front of the carriage. He licked his lips before adding, “In a city, there’re people everywhere. You’re never really alone. Yet, everyone keeps to themselves and lets you be whoever you want to be.”
She stared at him, instantly understanding his perspective. “You’re surrounded by millions of strangers, but there’s also a certain freedom in that.”
He glanced at her, as though she’d hit directly on his point. “Exactly.”
Gigi smiled softly. “I get that. Being surrounded by a few million people makes me feel like I don’t need to fit into a mold. I know there’s a place for me here and people who get me. That wasn’t always the case where I grew up.” He tilted his head, and she continued. “My mom raised my sister and me by herself. She did the best she could, but we were always scraping by, and that somehow separated us from the other kids and families in town. When I graduated high school, I wanted to move somewhere and start fresh. Make my own way.”
“You wanted to reinvent yourself? Without the weight of judgements or expectations?” There was a hint of admiration in his tone. It caught her off guard.
“Yeah.” Intrigued by his insight, she wondered if he’d done the same. “Is that why you moved to New York City? To reinvent yourself?” This confused her, since Harris had plenty of opportunity laid out for him here in Chicago. Why would he need to start fresh?
“I moved for a business opportunity.” He straightened in his seat, not fully answering her question, and Gigi got the feeling she’d hit on something Harris didn’t want to talk about. Treading lightly, she moved to a topic he seemed more open on—work.
“You moved there for GambleOnLove?”
He quirked a brow.
“Remember, I googled you,” she clarified, instigating a crooked grin from Harris.
“Yes, that’s why I moved. I went into business with my best friend, Adam,” he replied, and Gigi scrunch her brow. When she’d googled Harris, the articles she’d read noted he was the sole owner of GambleOnLove. Why had he parted from doing business with his best friend? “Our largest investors were in New York City. Ultimately, that’s where we opened our office and built a team.”
“You’re still running that business while working at Ryan & Ryan?” She was pressing for more information, but he simply nodded.
“I like to work.”
“Hmm,” she replied, clicking her nails on the metal thermos, thinking about his answer, what she knew of Harris, and what she knew of the dating app. She had a million questions, but his last name was on her paycheck. How transparent could she be?
“You look like you have something to say.” Harris angled himself toward her.
She huffed, scolding her face. “I’ve never been good at hiding my thoughts.”
“Say it,” he replied, plainly, and with a shrug. “I want to hear what your face is saying.”
This made her laugh, easing her hesitation, and she went to the first question swirling at the top of the list. “How’d you come up with the idea for the dating app?”
He looked surprised by her question. “The app? It was Adam’s idea. He’d always been a ‘big picture’ thinker. He came up with the idea after a string of bad dates and asked me to partner with him to handle the financials.” For a moment, he looked lost in thought. Stuck in a memory? With his next breath, he focused back on her. “That’d never been Adam’s forte, and he wanted someone he could trust.”
“Hmm,” she replied, tapping her lips. “But you obviously believed in the concept of the dating app, in order to commit to it?”
“Yes, of course. I’d never get involved with a business I didn’t believe in.”
Gigi pursed her lips, trying to keep her inner thoughts from tweaking her face. It didn’t work.
“What?” he asked, looking slightly amused. “Do you have something against GambleOnLove?”
“I mean, it is kind of weird, isn’t it? To go on a date with someone you don’t know and have never seen?”
“It’s not really that weird.”
“Have you ever done it yourself?”
“Well . . . no,” he replied. “That would be a conflict of interest. I’m not going to use an app I helped to create to get a date.”
That comment sounded chivalrous, but she still squinted an eye at him. “It just seems like most people use the app for short-term dating, not long-term.” This was the nicest way she could think of to avoid calling his app a hookup facilitator.
He shrugged a shoulder, looking like he’d heard this a million times. “There’s always going to be a portion of the dating pool that’s looking for short-term commitments. That’s not specific to a dating app. But GambleOnLove has a sixty-seven percent success rate on matches. Did you know that?”
“Really?” Her eyes widened at this stat. “What do you consider successful?”
“Me? Or the app?” He prodded, throwing her off guard, but not waiting for an answer. “When a couple matches and then starts dating, they put a freeze on their profiles. Our data analysts follow up with our clients every six months, asking for a status of their relationship. Sixty-seven percent of our matches are still dating a year later. Thirty-three percent are married.”
“What?” she squeaked, astonished. “A third result in marriage? Really? Are you joking?”
“I wouldn’t jest about data,” he replied straight-faced, making her grin.
“I just . . .” she started, trying to pinpoint and articulate her issue with the app. “I guess I’ve always been a little old-fashioned when it comes to dating.”
“Old-fashioned? How so?” His focus was fully on her, making her feel like the most interesting thing on the Miracle Mile. Her stomach fluttered again.
“I’ve always believed in the idea of fate, you know? Like, turning the corner and dumping a full cup of piping hot coffee on the man you were meant to spend the rest of your life with. Or striking up a conversation at a bookstore with a stranger after you both reach for the last copy of the hottest new release. Or—” She pressed her lips together before she mentioned something about tripping out of an elevator and ending up tangled in each other’s arms. “There’s something romantic about those chance encounters. Plus, I kind of think it’s creepy to meet up with some random guy you don’t know.”
He huffed a laugh, looking entertained. “Who’s to say the guy you spill a cup of coffee on is your long-lost love? Maybe fate put him in your path to ruin his shirt because he’s been looking for an excuse to buy a new one?”
She frowned, refusing this explanation. “I feel like fate has bigger things to tackle than fashion choices.”
Harris cocked his arm, resting it on the side of the carriage. “The thing about dating apps is that they’re not about replacing fate or chance. They’re about expanding your opportunities to meet new people. It’s like casting a wider net into a sea of potential connections. What if you never ran into the potential love of your life simply because he lived on the other side of the city and went to a bookstore close to his apartment to get that hot new release?”
Gigi pursed her lips and countered, “But isn’t there something artificial about it?”
Harris nodded, acknowledging her point. “I can understand why you’d think that. But with GambleOnLove, the technology was created to go beyond surface-level judgements. Our algorithm considers a wide range of factors, from personality traits to shared interests and life goals. It’s about finding someone who aligns with your values and creating a genuine connection that will go beyond physical appearance. I mean, what if there was a man that could be your best match and you walked by him every day on the way to work but never gave him a second glance because you didn’t immediately connect with his physical appearance?”
Gigi’s curiosity piqued. After all, she’d definitely picked a few duds simply because her heart had fluttered at a handsome face and a few smooth pickup lines. “I guess that makes sense, but how does the app know if a couple will have chemistry? You know, that spark when you meet someone in person.”
“That goes beyond an algorithm. But if a couple doesn’t feel the chemistry, they just get back on the app and spin the wheel again, going onto the next match. Technology facilitates the match, but anything beyond that is up to the couple.” Harris stretched out his legs, crossing an ankle over the other. “You’ve never tried a dating app?”
She shook her head. “I don’t date much.”
“Really?” He looked confused by her response.
“I mean, I’m pretty busy with work and all.” Harris’s gaze lingered on her, his eyes soft with a hint of something she couldn’t quite decipher. A flush rose to her cheeks.
“Interesting,” he said, analyzing her. Before she could respond, the carriage came to a halt, jolting Gigi from her thoughts.
“I hope you both enjoyed your time with Windy City Carriage,” Bernard said over his shoulder. “Wishing you both a beautiful evening.”
Gigi cleared her throat. “Thanks so much, Bernard. It was lovely.” She waved and smiled at her phone before ending the live streaming video. As she gathered her phone, Harris tipped Bernard and climbed down from the carriage. Then he took Gigi’s hand and helped her down as well. But as she put one boot on the snowy street, she wobbled, slipping on a patch of ice.
Gigi’s breath caught in her throat. Before she could brace herself for impact, strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her close—into solid, comforting warmth. Startled, she looked up, finding Harris’s steady gaze fixed on her, concern etched on his features.
“Are you alright?” he asked, his voice strung with worry.
Gigi nodded. Her cheeks flushed hot. “I think so,” she murmured, grateful he’d caught her. But instead of letting her go, Harris’s grip tightened, and before she could protest, he’d scooped her up into his arms, cradling her as though she weighed nothing at all.
“Oh,” she breathed, her heart bounding as her boots suddenly dangled far from the ground. Pressed against Harris, she went weak. She molded into his incredibly soft scarf and intoxicating scent. Time stood still as he carried her across the street, like a firefighter saving her from a burning building. She couldn’t take her eyes off him.
When Harris finally set her down on the safe, dry sidewalk, Gigi fought the crazy mix of exhilaration and uncertainty which swirled inside her. Her breath hitched as their gazes locked with a silent exchange that spoke volumes.
“Thank you,” she managed, her voice barely a whisper.
“Can’t have you falling on my watch,” he replied easily, but Gigi wondered if she was actually falling . . . for a man she couldn’t have.