Page 22 of Up for Heir (Westerly Billionaire 2)
“Oh, so it’s not who you had lunch with. I thought perhaps you’d been out on a date.”
Taking a page out of the older woman’s book, Hailey said, “For lunch? What a pathetic date that would be.”
Delinda tapped her fingers on the arm of her chair. “I suppose it depends on the company.”
Does she know? Or is she fishing for confirmation? Would she want me with Spencer?
“It was just lunch with a friend.”
“A male friend?”
Hailey tipped her head to the side. “Delinda, you know it’s none of your business.”
Delinda sighed. “I’m bored. I don’t crochet. Hollywood hasn’t made a good movie in fifty years. I’m practically housebound . . .”
Oh, please. She lays it on thick. “Where would you like to go? I’ll take you somewhere.”
“I don’t need to go anywhere, but I never had a daughter, so I missed out on talking about dating and lunches out. Humor me. What was your lunch like?”
“He took me out for pizza.”
“Pizza?” Delinda exclaimed as if it were a heinous crime. “Oh, dear, no wonder you weren’t impressed.”
She has to know. Otherwise, why would she be this curious?
Granted, she is curious about every other part of my life that has nothing to do with Spencer.
I could tell her whom I was with.
She just said she likes me too much to fire me.
But should I test it? Now? When things are just beginning to settle?
“Are you planning to see him again?”
Hailey pictured Spencer’s smile, his beautiful eyes, and the feel of his strong arms around her. “I think so. Yes.”
“I know the perfect designer. I’ll have him bring samples tomorrow. I wonder if he is still in London. He vacations in Tuscany if I remember correctly. I’ll call Alessandro. He’ll know.”
“I don’t need new clothing.”
“You do if he’s feeding you pizza.”
Hailey burst out laughing. “Delinda, you’re so bad.”
With a skyward roll of her eyes, Delinda said, “I’m sorry I don’t know a nice way to say that you won’t get your man if you continue to dress older than I do.”
This is her being nice. Hailey laughed until her eyes began to water. “Stop.”
“I’m trying. Is there a polite way to tell you that your hair is due for a trim and a treatment, and those fingernails . . . ? I’ve seen better on Michael’s feet.”
Hailey laughed harder still, until her sides began to hurt. “Oh my God, Delinda. No. No, there isn’t a nice way to say any of it.”
“Enough silliness. Let’s have a spa day tomorrow. I’ll have a foot rub.” She waved her hand in a wide circle. “And you can have everything else done.”
Gaining control of herself, Hailey dabbed the corners of her eyes. She took a calming breath and agreed if for no other reason than curiosity about what having “everything else done” entailed. “I think I’ve figured it out,” Hailey said suddenly.
“What?”
“Watch and learn.” Hailey sat straighter in her chair and clasped her hands on her lap in a mimic of how Delinda often sat. “Hailey, dear, let’s pamper ourselves tomorrow.” She wasn’t one to pat herself on the back, but she was nailing her Delinda impression. “We’ll get our nails done, our hair done. I even know a designer. You’d look stunning in anything from his line. What do you say? Will you indulge an old woman? A very, very old woman?”
Delinda nodded a few times slowly, but she was smiling. “I’m not sure you’ve mastered polite, either.”
“We’re all a work in progress,” Hailey said, feeling more lighthearted than she had in a long time.
Hailey’s phone beeped again, not because a new message had come in, but as a reminder that she had one waiting. “Do you mind if I step outside for a moment?”
“Not at all. I have a few phone calls to make for our day tomorrow. Should I plan for Skye to join us? There’s no reason she couldn’t do her lessons and get her nails done.”
She’s asking? Now there is progress. “I’ll speak to Mrs. Holihen. She might be able to fit the lessons around what we have planned.”
“Considering what I pay her . . . if she balks at all—”
“Delinda—”
“It’s just to make sure we get exactly what we want.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
“That’s how I came into the world, and it’s likely the way I’ll depart it. Now go, answer your friend. Don’t say yes to seeing him tomorrow, though. Make him wait until the weekend.”
“I have Skye on the weekend.”
“I’m sure Mrs. Holihen will come by if I ask her to, or I could watch her myself.”
“I’ll ask Mrs. Holihen. If I decide to go anywhere.”
“Whatever you wish. Go on, now. I’m tired. Being nice is exhausting.”
Spencer was back in his office, looking down at his phone like a high school boy waiting for an answer from his crush. He’d made it a lifelong practice to not chase women. There were enough vying for his attention that worrying about which woman he’d end the night with was unnecessary.
Hailey is different.
He’d spent a pathetic amount of time crafting his text to her. It had to be warm without making it seem like he wasn’t willing to honor his promise to go slowly.
He’d written: Today was nice.
When no response came back, he regretted not saying more.
It’s Spencer.
As soon as he sent it, he groaned. She knows it’s me. I blew my two-line limit on stupid shit. Three unanswered texts spells desperate. All I can do now is fucking wait.
He sat at his desk and placed his phone in front of him. She’s at work. She might not even know she has a message.
“What are you doing?” Jordan asked, taking a seat in front of his desk.
Spencer would have put his phone away, but he didn’t want to miss her response if she wrote back. “Nothing much. Does this mean you’re back?”
“Yeah. I tried to get some stuff done at home, but I ended up watching every season of Dr. Who and a disturbing number of reality shows. I was knee-deep in half-empty pizza boxes, and I started to wonder why there were no beer cans. Why would someone like me not wallow in alcohol when he’s unhappy? Then I remembered that ass kicking you gave me our junior year when I got drunk instead of working on the coding you’d asked me for, and I started to miss you. You’re an asshole, but you’re still my best friend.”
Spencer pretended to dab away tears. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
“Whatever. You don’t look hungover today, which robs me of the opportunity of kicking your ass back toward sobriety.”
He hadn’t thought much about it, but Jordan was right—he hadn’t looked at another woman or had a drink since he’d met up with Hailey again. He wanted better than the life he’d fallen into.
“So you really liked my album simulator?” Jordan asked.
“I told you, it’s fucking genius. There’s nothing on the market that can compete. The way it isolates and creates specific 3-D holograms from merged video is mind-blowing. It’s a game changer.”
“Thank you. And the volleyball-babe simulator?”
“No.”
Jordan laughed. “It was worth a shot. You’re probably right about it being a slippery slope to porn. Not that I wouldn’t buy the program if someone else made it, but it’s not what I want to be remembered for.”
“See, sometimes I’m right.” Spencer glanced down at his phone.
“Waiting on a call?”
“No.”
“Fucking liar.”
It was Spencer’s turn to laugh. “I had lunch with Hailey today.”
“And?”
“And it was good to see her. Really good.”
“Tell her I said hello.”
“I will. When she answers me.”
