“You could give us a couple business cards. Then the winner can pick them up here and use them to verify that they won when they visit the store,” Wes said.
All eyes turned to him. He hadn’t even realized he spoke aloud. His brain liked navigating problems and unfortunately, he had a bad habit of not keeping it to himself.
“I don’t have any business cards yet,” Hailey said. He wasn’t sure if she looked embarrassed or worried. Maybe some combination of the two.
“That seems like something you should have,” Wes said, then realized how rude he sounded. Shit.
Noah was eyeing him quizzically. Wes’s hairline felt damp. He hated this feeling—being the center of attention was bad enough but being wrong and in the spotlight was horrible.
“Never mind me,” he mumbled, looking at his laptop screen. His skin felt too tight for his body.
“My pleasure,” she said sweetly.
He didn’t look up until she left, which was after a bit more chatting Wes listened to painfully. He pulled up his dating app on the screen, looked for Hayden.
Admittedly, it was a really bad picture. A full-body shot. It was hard to see any clear details besides the reddish-brown hair. The pixelated image hadn’t been enough to go on but from a distance there were similarities. Hayden was a buyer for a small clothing company, traveled for work. What she wasn’t was a salad shop owner with a death glare, a great laugh, and a very, very good reason to dislike Wes.
It was getting harder to ignore his brothers and their girlfriends as they surrounded him, clearly waiting.
“What?” he snapped, shutting his laptop so they didn’t see the evidence of his idiocy.
“What was that?” Noah asked, his voice ringing with laughter.
“Nothing.” Wes pushed his hands through his hair, avoiding all their gazes. “Can someone open a window?”
“Had you already met Hailey?” Everly asked. Her tone was so soft and safe, it would be a dick move not to answer.
Seeing no way out of it, he stood abruptly, heading for the window. Once he did, he stayed close to it. He needed space if he was going to embarrass himself.
“Sort of.” He leaned against the wall, grateful for the slight breeze, and told them the story.
“Oh my God. I cannot believe you did that. Holy fuck you’re bad with women.” Noah was peppering his colorful commentary with bursts of laughter.
“Noah,” Grace said firmly, eyeing Wes with compassion and empathy he didn’t deserve.
“I’m sorry, Wes. That must have been awful,” Everly said. She sounded like she understood the many layers of how terrible it was.
“I’m not sure which sucks more, the feeling I had when I thought I was stood up or seeing her just now and realizing I’m a complete jerk.”
“It’s a misunderstanding,” Noah said. “I’m sure she’ll forgive you.”
“I don’t need her forgiveness.” Wes’s snap ended on a groan. “Sorry. I don’t like being an asshole for no reason.”
He’d been fully and completely in the wrong and as the son of a man who would never admit such things, accountability mattered to him. How he treated others mattered. Those stupid dating apps. Why do I even bother?
“You should still explain it,” Grace said, sharing a glance with Everly.
“You could just pop by the shop. She seems really nice. I’m sure she’ll laugh when she realizes what happened,” Everly said.
“Then you can ask her out properly,” Noah said.
Chris shoved Noah’s shoulder. “Knock it off, man.”
“What?” Noah looked around at them. “What’s wrong with that?”
“I’m not going to date the woman I mistook for someone else and made hate me without even knowing my name.” Or the one he’d accidentally thought of so many times this week, he’d recognized her voice even before he’d looked up to see her face. That road led somewhere he’d carefully avoided for most of his life. Their father had his faults but he’d loved their mother. The divorce had changed him irrevocably for the worse. Wes didn’t want to open his heart only to have it ripped out of his chest.
“Stacey was going to talk to Rob about ordering some salads for the gym,” Everly said quietly. “She really liked it there, and Tara told Stace that Hailey is new to town so I’m not sure how many people she knows.”
Where was Everly going with this?
“We agreed to meet for lunch there next week with Tara,” Grace said.
Wes groaned. “Awesome.”
The women he did like were going to become friends with the woman who didn’t like him. Perfect.
He grabbed his laptop, shoved it in the bag, gathered his keys and phone.
“Where are you going?” Chris asked.
“To figure out how to apologize to their new best friend,” Wes said. He wasn’t prone to dramatics but he felt severely backed into a corner. One that had a sign over it reading DO THE RIGHT THING.
“We weren’t done talking business,” Chris reminded him.
“We talk forty times a day and see each other several times a week. We can catch up later. I’m sorry, Everly. I’ll figure something out with Hailey.”
Mostly, he meant he’d figure out how to apologize and then stay as far away from her as possible.
As he was clearing the doorway, Noah called out, “Wait, don’t you want a salad?”
Noah’s laughter rang in his ears as he headed for home to figure out the best way to proceed. His mistake had been acting emotionally after believing he’d been stood up. Life’s poorest decisions were made when emotion colored the scene.
He’d think this through like any other problem, find a solution, and go back to his workcentric routine. He didn’t need to date. Clearly, he wasn’t good at it.
4
Hailey was focusing on the positive. Yesterday had thrown her off her game for a quick minute when she’d seen coffee-shop guy, Wes, at the radio station. Not just because she was fairly certain he realized how wrong he’d been but also because he looked better than she remembered.
Not important. She turned her Kindle off, stuffing it in her purse. Sometimes, reading a few pages or chapters took the edge off for her, settled her pulse like nothing else.
Hailey checked the list of must-do items she’d created. Top of the list were getting her website updated, business cards, and looking into preorder options for customers.
Having the producer of a local radio station as a return customer was huge. She’d felt like a total rookie when she didn’t even have a card to offer, especially after Wes was so kind as to point it out. Positive. You’re focusing on the positive. Her skin heated remembering the intensity of his gaze.
“What would Taylor say?” Hailey asked, leaving her list on the end of the counter where she’d been sitting on one of the stools. She’d left her phone by the sink and picked it up now, pressing play. “Shake It Off” came through the Bluetooth speaker and she threw her energy into chopping, dicing, and prepping for what she hoped would be a busy day.
The three brothers were a sight to behold. Everly’s boyfriend was a dark-haired cutie and the other one, Noah, was straight-up adorable. Wes? Definitely good-looking no matter how immune she wanted to be to him in a suit. She really couldn’t imagine someone standing him—or his brothers—up on a date. Wondering what apps he was using, she wondered if she should put herself out there again but quickly dismissed the idea.
She didn’t want to be distracted right now. She wasn’t bitter about love, no matter how poorly it had turned out the last time around, but she and her store came first.
“Hey, Siri,” she called, going with her gut.
“What can I help you with?”
“Text Piper.”
“Would you like me to text Piper?”
“Yes.”
“What would you like to say to Piper?”
“We need a girls’ night. I’m thinking rom-com, wine, and pretzel sticks. What time do the kids go to bed?”
“Your message to Piper says, ‘We need a girls’ night. I’m thinking rom-com, wine, and pencil dicks. What time do the kids go to bed?’”
The knife sliced the edge of her thumb, distracting her from anything else. “Shit.” She grabbed a napkin.
“Would you like to send this message to Piper?”
“Yes.” She groaned the word. She hated blood.
“Your message is sent.”
“Thanks,” she said, grabbing a bandage from the first aid box by the sink. “Now can you stop blood?”
“Here are some articles I found on the internet on how to stop blood.”
A low, irritated growl left her throat. Okay, Siri. Thanks for nothing. The cut was tinier than an eyelash. She was such a wimp. After she wrapped it, she cleaned the prep area, mad at herself but letting Taylor Swift’s brand of calm work its magic.
When her phone rang, she was still cleaning so she swiped accept, moved down the counter.
“Hey. You okay?” Piper’s voice came through the Bluetooth speaker loudly.
The bell over the door jingled. Hailey locked eyes with Wes.
“Hailey,” Piper called.
“I’m fine. I have to call you back.”