Page 135 of Hale Yes
“To your room?”
He smiles. “Not forthat… unless you’re offering.”
“I’m not.”Am I? No, definitely not.
“Okay,” he says easily. “I have something I’d like to give you. Let’s call it phase one of the wooing.”
I look around the room. Rory and Angelica are arguing again, my father is hiding out around the corner of the bar, and Ma is running around looking harried. Most of the guests have left already, even though the newlyweds have yet to make their grand exit. I guess all Angelica’s antics have left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth.
“You know what? Let’s just go now,” I tell him.
Helix seats me on the couch in his suite while he retreats to his bedroom, returning a moment later with a slender box wrapped in shiny blue paper.
“This is for you.”
I stare down at the prettily wrapped package and pick at the tape as Helix sits on the adjacent chair. “What is it?”
“A loaf of bread,” he says sarcastically.
Rolling my eyes, I pull off the paper and open the box to find a nameplate like you would see beside an office door. It reads:
Nicolette Bell, M.D., Ph.D.
Laboratory Director and Head of Research and Development
Hale Laboratories
Picking it up, I stare at the words, trying to decipher what exactly is going on here. “What is this, Helix?”
“It’s your new job,” he says softly.
My head shakes side to side in denial. “No, Director of Research and Development isyourjob.”
His blue gaze is intense and piercing. “Not anymore. I’ve turned in my resignation.”
I leap to my feet and gape down at him. “You can’t resign, you nimrod.” Shaking the metal nameplate at him, I protest, “And you can’t give me your job.”
“It’s already done,” he states calmly. “And I’m not giving it to you. You’ve earned the position. If you reject the offer, we’ll have to shut down the lab until we can find someone else to run it.”
Blinking about fifty times in the span of two seconds, I scoff. “And what about you?”
“If you’d like me to come work for you, I’d be happy to. If not…” Helix averts his eyes to a spot on the wall to my left.
“If not, what?”
He brings his gaze back to me. “If not, I’m moving to London with Remi.”
Alarm bells ring inside my head, and my nerve endings spark into a frenzy. “You’re moving?” My voice is about two octaves too high, and I realize how very much I don’t want him to go.
Helix wets his lips and stands, taking one long step until he’s only an inch away from me. “If things don’t work out with us, I can’t stay, Nicolette. I can’t live close to you if you’re not mine.”
“B-but Houston is your home.”
“You’re my home,” he retorts, reaching down to tap the plate with the tip of one finger. “You deserve this, and it’s what I want more than anything. You’re smarter than me, you have more degrees than me, and you’re older than me.”
“You could have left out that last one,” I say wryly, earning me his signature half-cocked smile, but it fades almost as soon as it appears.
“Please accept it. I believe in my heart that you are what’s best for the future of Hale Cosmetics.”
