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.