Page 58 of Hale Yes
“Thank you, Felix.”
“His name is Helix, Ma,” Nicolette corrects. “With an H.”
Bridget glares at her daughter. “I see you forgot to fix your hair today.”
I want to come across this table, but I need to let Nicolette find her own elephant, so I nudge her with my knee. When her attention turns to me, I subtly tap my nose, earning me a smile before she turns back to her mother.
“I didn’t forget, Ma. I like my hair down,” she says calmly, her chin lifting the slightest bit in defiance.
I want to fist pump, but instead, I drift my fingers through the curls and give her a little backup. “I do as well. It’s one of my favorite things about Nicolette.” Her hair is silky beneath my fingers, and I have to force myself to pull my hand away before I do some inappropriate shit in front of her entire family.
The so-called mother pinches her lips together but shuts the hell up while Mr. Bell clears his throat and gives me what seems to be a grateful smile. “Helix, we’re so glad you could make it. Was your flight okay?”
“Very smooth,” I reply, taking a sip of my water.
“What kind of aircraft were you on?”
“It was a Dassault Falcon 8X.”
The man’s green eyes widen. “You took a private jet?”
“Yes, sir. It’s my family’s craft.”
I wonder if I said something wrong because everyone stares at me like I just grew a horn from my forehead. Rory, the cheating prickwagon, chokes on a meatball, and Angelica scowls at her sister like she did something wrong by having a boyfriend with a private plane.
“Pop is obsessed with planes,” Nicolette explains. “You’ve just made his night.”
Her dad nods in affirmation. “I wanted to be an Air Force pilot, but I had a heart valve problem that disqualified me. I enjoy going to air shows every chance I get though.”
We talk for a few minutes about the Falcon, Mr. Bell asking about every single spec he can think of before he turns to Nicolette. “Honey, how is your new job going?”
“Really good, Pop. All the people who work there are?—”
“Nicci, did you see the new earrings Rory bought me?” Angelica breaks in, pulling her stick-straight blonde hair behind one ear to show off tiny diamond studs.
“Those are nice,” Nicolette mumbles, and I can hear the sigh she suppresses at the interruption.
After that, Angelica cuts off her sister three more times when their dad asks Nicolette a direct question, and it’s starting to piss me the fuck off. I notice she doesn’t do that to anyone else at the table. Only Nicolette. When dinner is almost done, Mr. Bell tries again.
“Nicci, tell me about your new townhome.”
She opens her mouth to speak, but this time, I’m the one who stops her with a hand on her arm. “Hold on, sweetheart. You know your sister is going to interrupt you like she has four times already, so let’s let her get it out of her system.” I don’t miss Nicolette’s small snort, which she turns into a cough as I direct my most saccharine smile across the table. “Angelica, go ahead and say whatever it is you feel compelled to say so that Nicolette might actually get to finish a sentence some time tonight.”
I’m afraid I may have given the woman an aneurysm because her mouth gapes open before she begins stuttering out nonsense syllables. Finally, she grudgingly says, “Go ahead, Nicolette.”
My fake girlfriend finds my knee beneath the table and gives me a gentle squeeze as she has an uninterrupted conversation with her father about her new digs.
Rory keeps his gaze fixed on his plate while Angelica blushes furiously beside him. Mrs. Bell’s face is so sour, she looks like someone force-fed her a live squid.
But Nicolette seems happy to be talking to her dad, and that’s all that matters.
After dinner, Mr. Bell says, “Nicci, I put yours and Helix’s suitcases in the blue room upstairs.”
I freeze. Well, hell. Somehow with everything I’ve had going on this week, I seem to have overlooked one tiny detail…
The sleeping arrangements.
Nicolette shoots panicked eyes in my direction, and I try to portray a look of calm, but I’m not.What the fuck was I thinking?Of course they’d think we would share a room. You know, since we’redatingand all. Then her brow furrows, and she turns back to her father. “Not in my room?”
