“Time, huh? So this has nothing to do with Hailey?”
“It might.” He caught his reflection in the windowpane and liked what he saw. He’d never understood men who linked their happiness to that of their mate, but nothing he’d done with WorkChat ever made him feel as good as getting that job for Hailey. Her excitement had become his.
“I feel bad about what I said about her, Spencer. I was just worried about you.”
“We’re good, Rach. Don’t give it another thought. I’m not going to.”
“When do we get to meet her?”
“You’ve already met her.”
“This decade.”
“I told you—we’re taking it slow. Are you teaching summer school?”
“Not this year. I’m taking a college course instead. Why?”
“You busy this afternoon?”
“No.”
“I was thinking about texting Brett to see how busy his day is. We could try for a late lunch.”
“He’d love that. Let’s do it.”
After hanging up with his sister, Spencer returned to his desk and finished writing the code for a glitch he’d noticed in Jordan’s album simulator. He sent it to Jordan and returned to a mailbox of e-mails.
He swore as he realized he’d almost forgot to contact Brett.
S: Want to meet for lunch?
B: Yes, but Alisha and I have a sonogram at noon.
S: How about after? Bring her. Rachelle plans to join.
B: Sounds good. We can meet in the middle.
S: Yes.
I’m beginning to think we can.
Chapter Twelve
Saturday evening, still hungry after devouring a high-priced meal of minuscule proportions, Hailey took a sip of wine while letting her eyes wander over Spencer’s chiseled features. He is too damn good-looking. She was glad she’d chosen to wear the second dress Delinda bought for her, a formfitting, knee-length emerald frock with spaghetti straps, because otherwise she would have felt dowdy next to him. He’d casually thrown a jacket over a button-down shirt and gray slacks, and somehow he looked as if he could model the outfit. Some people looked good in anything.
And nothing.
Oh yes, she remembered too well what was under his clothing.
Hailey tore her gaze from his and glanced around. More than one woman was shamelessly trying to catch his attention despite the fact that he was with someone. Handsome, confident, and in the news for making a name in the tech industry—Spencer could have probably left the restaurant with half the women in the place.
And according to Instagram he already has.
“What would you like to do after dinner? I’ve never planned a non-date.” All it took was for him to look up with that boyish grin for Hailey to forget about everyone else in the room.
“I told Mrs. Holihen I’d be back by ten.”
“That gives us a few hours.” His smile was easy and warm. “It’s entirely up to you how we spend them. I set up a couple of contingency plans, but you can suggest something entirely different.”
“Contingency plans?”
“I like to be prepared.”
She leaned forward. “This I need to hear. How does Spencer Westerly prepare for a night out with a woman?”
“Normally I just buy condoms and keep hydrated.”
She rolled her eyes skyward. “Charming.” He wasn’t pretending he hadn’t been with anyone else. A lot of people go through wild stages. Maybe I’m worried about nothing.
“This isn’t a date, though, so I took a different approach.”
“I’m afraid to ask what that was.”
He sat back, looking incredibly proud of himself. “I booked a helicopter tour of Boston, arranged a private harbor cruise on a yacht, and bought out Steve’s mini-golf in Mendon, in case you want to stay local.”
“You did all that? Seriously?”
His eyes burned with the same hunger she was fighting. “I want you to see that this time would be different.”
Whoosh. She could hardly breathe. It already is. This time is frighteningly perfect—the kind of perfect that is too good to be true. Nothing this good happens in real life, and if it does, there is always a catch. She grasped for a joke. “All that and no condom.”
“Oh, I brought some.” His smile turned lusty.
“‘Some’?” she croaked. No. Traitorous mind, don’t go there.
He took her hand in his. “Full disclosure. I felt guilty when I stuffed them in my pocket, but that guilt wore off. They have a long shelf life, and I didn’t expect to tell you I had them. I figured if you came across them on your own, we were probably doing something that would require them.”
Hailey imagined him having that very internal debate and burst out laughing. I want to believe in this, Spencer. His smile widened. Being with him was that easy. “Did you hydrate?”
He raised his glass of water with his other hand.
She laughed again. “Do I dare ask what it does?”
“Any athlete will tell you that performance is improved by maintaining optimal health conditions.”
“Athlete? Isn’t that a stretch?”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “I’ve learned a few things along the way.”
She had the feeling that if she asked, he would have volunteered to show her. Instead, she blushed and glanced away. She wasn’t ready to take that next step with him. “I’ll take your word for it.”
His fingers laced with hers. “So what do you want to do?”
She considered the options he’d listed, but they were his attempt to make up for what he thought he’d done wrong the first time. She hadn’t needed fancy dates then, and she didn’t yearn for them now. “I’d like to see your office. The other day you offered to show me what you do, but I didn’t have time to see it. I have time now.”
He looked momentarily torn, like a child being offered a chance to do something he felt he shouldn’t. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. I spent enough hours with you while you came up with concepts. I’d love to see what you moved on to.”
“All right, then.” Spencer called their waiter over and paid the bill. There was something magical about how he didn’t spare a glance at the other women in the room as they left. Before they were even at the car, he started describing how he’d solved the bandwidth problems. As they sped toward Braintree, he summarized the turning points that had brought him to where he and his company were today.
Hailey’s head was spinning from the terms he was using. She didn’t understand the difference between virtual reality headsets and the holographic AI processor that formed the cornerstone of his programs. Parts of what he was saying were so full of technical terminology, it was as if he was speaking another language.
And Hailey loved it.
His excitement was infectious. This was the Spencer she remembered, the reason she’d once been content to sit with him as he wrote code. The passion he brought to the process made it like watching a gifted painter. She was excited to finally see his masterpiece.