The drink order reminded him of the quiz. She’d loved it. When she enjoyed something, it was impossible not to enjoy it as well. She vibrated with energy. The waitress smiled and walked away, and Noah leaned both forearms on the huge round table, looked straight at Wes. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. I just don’t want Hailey thinking I’m tailing her on a date or something weird. I mean, it’s weird that I’m here on the first date she’s had in who knows how long, right? If she sees me, that’ll be hard to explain.”
Noah’s brows rose. “What’s weirder is how many words just came out of your mouth all at once and that they were about a woman, not a computer.”
“Fuck you.”
Noah laughed, which made Wes grin.
“Seriously, man. I thought you were friends.”
“Friends.” The word had once seemed like the easiest term in the world. Now, it filled him with knots of uncertainty, a mixed-up tangle of emotions he didn’t want to dive into. “We are. She’s fantastic.”
“Then it’s just a coincidence. Even if you had the hots for her, you didn’t know I was coming here.”
Wes glared. “I do not have the hots for her.”
Noah held up his hands. “I said ‘even if.’ Why are you so touchy about this? Maybe someone’s gone a little too long without some … uh, touching?”
Wes shook his head, closed his eyes to take a deep breath. When he opened them, he was facing Noah’s unrepentant grin. “You’re an ass.”
“That’s fair. So, who’s her date? Is he good enough for our girl?” Noah looked around like he’d spot her in the dining area. He looked back at Wes. “Who is this guy?”
The waitress returned, dropping off their drinks. They waited until she walked away to continue.
“I don’t know. A colleague of her cousin’s husband. An investment banker.”
“Suit.”
Wes laughed. “Yeah. Can’t trust a suit.”
Noah raised his glass. Wes clinked his against it, took a long swallow.
“I’m just saying,” Noah said, even though he hadn’t been saying anything. “If Hailey is going to get all dressed up in a killer blue dress, is the guy worth it? I mean, don’t you want to know?”
Wes’s mouth dropped open before he looked to where Noah was staring. Hailey was weaving through the crowd dressed in a beautiful pale blue dress that looked so much better on her in real life than the picture had shown. Her hair was up off her neck with little tendrils falling free. She was gorgeous.
“Close your mouth, bro,” Noah said.
Her head started to swivel their way as she walked and Wes panicked. Like a freaking grade school kid. His heart jackhammered in his chest. He ducked his head, lowered his body in the booth in case she looked in their direction. Which she likely would since Noah was laughing his ass off way too loud.
“What are you doing?” he said, not lowering his voice.
Wes spoke from beneath the table. “Shut up.”
His brother shifted. What was he doing? Shit. Shit. Shit. Just sit up. What the hell is wrong with you?
“Hi, Hailey. How nice to see you,” Noah said.
Wes winced. Fuck.
“Hi, Noah. What are you doing—oh.”
Yup. She saw him. He could almost feel the heat of her chocolatey gaze. He started to raise his body up, going slow so maybe he could convince himself this was a bad dream. You dropped something. That’s your story.
“Hi, Wes,” she said when their gazes finally met.
She had on more makeup than he’d seen her wear. Her eyes had this smoky thing going on that made them seem darker, sexier. Her lips were painted a luscious shade of red and Wes’s mouth went dry.
“Hi.” His voice sounded like he’d taken a trip back to prepubescence.
“What are you doing?” Her lips were twitching as she looked back and forth between him and Noah.
“Just, uh. Dropped something. Noah and I stopped in to get a drink. Unplanned. I didn’t know we were coming here.”
He wasn’t sure if his voice or her brows rose higher. “Oh.”
“How’s your dinner, Hailey?” Noah asked far too smoothly.
“Excellent. The meal, I mean,” she said, her gaze zipping to Wes. “The company is good, too. Oh. I’d love for you to meet Piper and Nick.” She reached out and put a hand on Wes’s shoulder. She’d wanted to introduce him sooner but all three of her cousin’s kids had gotten sick during Thanksgiving so they’d had to postpone.
“We’d love to do that,” Noah said.
The bastard picked up his drink, stood, and told Hailey to lead the way. Wes tried to get his attention but Noah ignored him.
Then they were standing next to a table with three people laughing. The beautiful redhead had enough features in common with Hailey to identify as part of her family. A dark-haired man in a suit much like the ones Wes favored had his arm around the woman. Piper and Nick. Across from them was one empty seat and a blond guy who looked like a surfer dressed for Wall Street.
“Oh. Hailey. Honey, you aren’t supposed to leave your date and just pick up two new ones. Though, nice job, if I may say so,” Piper said.
Nick arched his brows, pulling Piper closer. “You may not,” he said with an easy laugh.
The other guy, the blond who had to be Hailey’s date, looked at her questioningly.
“Ha ha, Pipes. Funny woman you married, Nick,” Hailey said, turning to the side.
“You introduced me to her,” Nick said.
“I ran into friends. Nick, Piper, this is Wesley and his brother Noah. Seth, Wes and Noah.”
There were handshakes all around. Wes felt like the back of his shirt was damp with sweat. Why did he suggest a drink tonight?
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Wes. Hailey’s told us lots about you,” Piper said.
“Same,” Wes said, his throat suddenly scratchy.
“You two are investors, right?” Nick asked.
Wes did not want to talk business.
“We do a number of things,” he said, cutting Noah off with a look. Noah was always happy to make new connections. Now wasn’t the time. Wes wanted to leave. Needed to. He didn’t want to see the way Hailey’s date was looking at her, the way he leaned in when she sat down and asked if everything was all right. The way his hand hovered close to her arm. Her bare arm because the pretty dress she wore was short sleeved.
“Wes?” Noah looked at him.
“Hmm? What?”
“Nick was just saying he’d love to sit down sometime and go over our investments with us.”
Wes nodded. “We should leave them to their dinner.”
He looked at Hailey, saw she was watching him carefully. She mouthed “you okay?” He nodded. Tried to smile but he probably looked like he’d come from the dentist—he wasn’t even sure his lips moved.
“Nice to meet you,” Seth said almost dismissively.
When they left, Noah didn’t say a word until they were in his SUV driving away.
“Dude. Why didn’t you say you were into her?”
Wes felt like his head spun all the way around. He stared at Noah’s profile. “What? I’m not.”
Noah chuckled. “Oh. Okay. That’s your story? Got it. Let me know when you stop lying to yourself.”
Wes didn’t know what to say. He had absolutely no idea what his story was. Hailey was supposed to be just his friend. Until recently, that’s all she’d been. A friend who’d been hurt horribly but somehow still believed in love. Someone who made him laugh and think and look forward to things. Would she fall for this guy and get all of the things she deserved and dreamed about? The thought made his stomach feel like he’d chowed down on concrete.
He wasn’t into her. She was Hailey. Just his Hailey. Shit. His friend Hailey. That’s all. Yeah. That was his story.
26
Sometimes, a person worked their ass off, put in the blood, sweat, and tears, and slowly reaped the rewards. Other times, a fun and flirty quiz maker with thousands of followers on Twitter and Instagram mentioned a certain local business and the world went freaking crazy for salad.
FionaHale
@flirtyfunwriter
If you have not tried the salads from @BytheCup your life is not complete. Once you’ve corrected this, @ me with your favorite. #gonow #notyourusualsalad #santasaladismyfavorite
Hailey was lying on her bed in her apartment, feeling like she’d run a marathon after climbing a mountain. She stared up at her phone not sure what was harder to believe—that Fiona’s tweet had given her a record-breaking day or that she was this damn tired from making salads. She’d had to call in Bryce and Leo. There was a line out the door. She’d stayed open an hour past closing.
Dropping her phone, she stared up at her popcorn ceiling and summoned the energy to bicycle kick her legs while simultaneously air punching and let out some of the giddy, overwhelmed laughter she’d been holding back.
Then she lay flat, closed her eyes, and focused on breathing. Record. Breaking. Day. She’d done more in sales today than she had the whole month so far. Her phone rang. Moving as little of her body as possible, she pressed accept.
“Hello.”
“Hi, dear.” Her mom’s voice came through the phone.