A Guide to Being Just Friends(62)

“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.”