“Tell me about your job,” Lovey invited once their orders had been taken. “How’s the beer company?”

Jillian grinned and fingered the stem of her wineglass. “It’s good! I love working there. I’m an associate brand manager right now, but I’m working on moving up to senior brand manager.”

They’d had some courses together in college, although they got different degrees, Jillian’s in Marketing, Lovey’s in Visual Communications, but Lovey’d ended up working in marketing too after she graduated. Jillian had landed a primo job with Moens Breweries in Chicago only a year after finishing school. Lovey had also done a Social Media certificate and had started working on some social media things for her former employer, Kleinheinz Cheese. Yes, she tweeted about cheese.

“So I thought you liked your cheese job,” Jillian said.

“I did like it.” Lovey looked down at the plate of food that had just been set in front of her. “I mean, it was okay. I just…the whole nine-to-five thing, having to do what other people tell me…it bugged me.”

“That’s what working for a living is.”

“I know.” Lovey gave her a crooked smile. “I didn’t quit just because of that. I broke up with Richard.”

“What happened?” Jillian’s eyes softened as she picked up her fork.

“He wanted to get married and have babies. Like, tomorrow.”

“Oh.” Jillian’s eyes widened.

“He’s thirty-six,” Lovey continued. “I guess I should have known an older guy would be ready to settle down. It was fun at first…he’s a vice president at Kleinheinz, he’s financially stable, has a nice house…I felt all grown up dating him.”

Jillian smiled.

“But wow, he got serious really fast. It scared the crap out of me. I’m not ready to settle down and have babies!”

“No?”

“No.” Lovey tipped her head. “Are you?”

Jillian shrugged. “Maybe if I met the right guy.”

“Are you seeing anyone?”

“No.” She made a face. “I was seeing a guy, not serious, we just went out a few times, but it fizzled.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Eh. It’s okay. I’m busy. I work long hours some days, and I have great friends. I’ll introduce you to them…we’ll have a welcome to Chicago girls’ night.”

“That would be awesome. Anyway, I didn’t feel I could stay working at Kleinheinz after we broke up. It was awkward.”

“So what are you going to do here? Are you looking for a job?”

“Actually, I’m looking for clients.” Lovey met her friend’s eyes. “I’m trying to start my own business.”

“Really? Cool!”

It was Lovey’s turn to make a face. “Yeah. I’m not making much money yet. So it’s kind of scary. But it’s what I really want to do.”

“Marketing?”

“Yeah, sort of. It’s social media consulting. I was doing some of that for Kleinheinz and I really enjoyed it, but that wasn’t a full-time job for them. When I left, I offered them my consulting services and they agreed.”

“I guess you can do that kind of work from anywhere.”

“Yes, that’s right. Although one of my biggest prospective clients is here in Chicago. And I have a couple of other small companies that wanted to have a social media presence but didn’t have the resources to do it.”

“That’s great!”

Lovey nodded, a small swell of pleasure expanding inside her. “I hope I can make it work. I know I didn’t like the nine-to-five desk job, but the trade-off is less security, obviously. No steady paycheck every two weeks. I have some savings to keep me going for a while, but…well, living in Chicago is expensive.”

“You’re staying with your brother, right?”

“Yeah, thankfully. But he keeps saying I can’t stay there long.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m interfering with their wild bachelor lifestyle, apparently. However, he has agreed to let me move some of my things into his spare room, so he’s kind of accepted that I’m not moving into my own place next week.”

“Hmmm. If I hear of anyone looking for a roommate, I’ll let you know. Leigh and I have no room in our little apartment, unfortunately.”

“Ah, that’s okay, and thanks. A roommate would be a good idea. Unless I can convince Duncan to let me stay permanently.” She grinned. Living in that gorgeous condo would be nice, but even she had to admit that staying with her brother long-term was not going to work.

They chatted more through dinner and then walked to the arena in time to watch the pre-game skate.

“I’ve come to a couple of games here and watched from our suite,” Jillian said once they were in their seats right behind the Aces bench, with drinks in hand. “That’s pretty cool.”

“Oooh, a suite, yes.”

“Moens Breweries owns seventy percent of the team,” Jillian continued. “I have this idea for an ad campaign that would feature some of the players.”

“Hey, there’s Duncan.” Lovey pointed to her brother on the ice, then scanned the surface looking for Marc. She spotted him near the boards on the other side of the ice, no helmet, talking to another player. Guns N’ Roses blasted through the arena as fans began to fill the seats.

Jillian was interested in Lovey’s business. “What’s the name of your company?”

“Big Cheese Media.”

Jillian’s head whipped around and then she burst out laughing. “I love it!”

Lovey raised a shoulder, pleased by Jillian’s reaction. “Thanks. I made it myself.”

Jillian giggled. They chatted more about both their jobs and caught up on other news as the game got under way, then Lovey got wrapped up in the excitement. Jillian enjoyed hockey, but Lovey found herself explaining things to her, like why the Bruins got a delay of game penalty when one of their players shot the puck over the glass, and why Jared Rupp didn’t get to come out of the penalty box when the Bruins scored a minute and a half into a double minor for high sticking, and why it had been a four-minute penalty instead of two (because he’d drawn blood on the Bruin player’s face). This resulted in a second goal for the Bruins, and as the second period ended, the Aces were down three-one.

The vibrant atmosphere in the arena had been subdued by the two goals and Lovey pouted a little watching the players leave the ice. “Hopefully they’ll regroup,” she said. “There’s still time.”

“They haven’t been doing well lately,” Jillian noted. “Don’t get your hopes up.”

They were close to the exit and Lovey watched until she saw Marc leave the ice, and when he looked up as if he felt her gaze on him she lifted her hand in a little wave and smiled. She got no reaction. Her smile went crooked.

“Who’s that?” Jillian asked.

“Duncan’s roommate. Marc Dupuis.”

Jillian nodded.

“Their power play has sucked lately,” Lovey said with a sigh. “It really killed them.” Jared was probably beating himself up over that careless high stick. “Let’s get another beer.”

They were just leaving their seats when an announcement of Marc’s name made Lovey pause. She looked up at the score clock, where the picture was a bunch of kids waving and smiling, and listened.

“Every home game, Chicago Aces Captain Marc Dupuis invites kids from local hospitals to attend a game in Marc’s Magic Suite. Today joining us are eight youngsters from the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital.” The kids waved more wildly. “The kids are treated to dinner in the suite and given goody bags, and after the game they’ll meet with Marc Dupuis for autographs and pictures. Please join us in welcoming these special guests.”

Lovey sucked in a breath, impressed. “Wow,” she said to Jillian. “I didn’t know he did that.”

“That’s pretty awesome.”

They made their way to the concourse, found drinks, and stood amid the crowd sipping them and talking. Lovey caught the eye of a guy nearby who was watching them. He smiled. She gave him a small smile back, then broke eye contact, although in her peripheral vision she saw him say something to the other two dudes he was with and then they were all looking at her and Jillian.