Page 7 of Falling for Hailey

It would be a good talking point in interviews—how I managed to spearhead a successful marketing strategy at the university level despite working closely with colleagues I would not have chosen. I’d focus on my goal, my degree, my career.This too shall pass,I told myself, just the way my mom told me that when she was going through chemo. This too shall pass.

CHAPTER6

RICK

Apart from messaging with her, I hadn’t seen my sister in a couple of weeks. I’d been busy with the beginning of the semester and preparing the proposal for my prospective client. She’d been busy with work and ceramics and some new guy she’d met on Hinge. I wanted to catch up with her, and I knew she usually worked on Wednesday nights, so I decided to surprise her at the diner and grab a bite to eat in her section.

If I had a gift card to an art supply store to give her as part of her tip, that was just an added bonus. The place was bustling, which was pretty typical. The diner was cute and kitschy, and the food was first-rate. I sat down at a booth near the window and looked at the laminated menu, breathing in the twin smells of the deep fryer and the bleach they used to clean the tables.

Chuck Berry was blasting from the speakers and noisy families were trying to ply their kids with crayons and offer them applesauce to get two minutes of peace and quiet. It was a warm, friendly atmosphere and a change of pace from the places I usually went to eat. Which, these days, was more likely to be a quick sandwich after the gym than anything nicer.

I looked around but didn’t spot Maria anywhere. Usually, I could find her leaning over a table, talking animatedly and making some stressed out parents laugh while she charmed their wiggly kids. She wasn’t wrong about being more entertaining than me—my sister had personality and then some. I’d missed seeing her, and I was surprised when I saw Hailey approaching my table.

“Good evening,” she said. “I’m Hailey and I’ll be your waitress.” She gave me a half-smile since I obviously knew who she was already. “Meatloaf is on special, and that comes with mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans. For dessert we have lemon icebox pie, banana pudding, or brownie a la mode.”

“Where’s Maria?” I asked. “I came in hoping to see her.”

“She went to some art talk at the last minute and let me pick up her shift. I’ll tell her you stopped by, though. What can I get you? I mean, if you only came to see your sister, you’ll miss out on the meatloaf special,” she said cheerfully.

I couldn’t help noticing how the cheap polyester uniform—a white short sleeve blouse with a light blue skirt that Maria used to complain made her look like a Skipper doll, clung to Hailey in all the right places, accenting every curve. Her regulation ponytail was no-nonsense and somehow also looked sleek and sexy. She was definitely unexpected.

One tendril of hair had escaped from her ponytail and slipped into her open white collar, following the curve of her neck. I could see the pulse beating in her throat, and my mouth went dry as I flashed on what it would feel like to kiss that fluttering beat on her neck.

Realizing what I was thinking, I cleared my throat uncomfortably and reached for a glass of water that wasn’t there. She was looking at me expectantly like she had asked me a question and was waiting for a reply.

“Iced tea, please,” I said. “Unsweetened. I’ll have the meatloaf and green beans, no potatoes or gravy, and some carrots.”

“I’ll have that right out. But I asked how your day was,” she said a little wryly. She had definitely caught me staring which was even worse than having stared at her that way to begin with.

“I apologize,” I said. “My day was fine. How was yours?”

“It was good. I’ll go put your order in and leave you with your thoughts.”

I saw a smile on her face as she turned and walked away. This was a disaster from start to finish. I texted my sister and told her to enjoy her art lecture, that I was just sitting here waiting on my meatloaf with no Maria to bore with my week. Then I emailed Hamilton back about a marketing question he’d asked and scanned my work messages to see if there was anything urgent, which there wasn’t.

When my meal came, I thanked Hailey and ate it as quickly as I could to get out of that place. I didn’t need to sit around where I would catch myself checking out the waitress who was also one of my students and my little sister’s best friend. I signaled for the check and paid it, leaving a good tip as well as the gift card for Maria with a note on it. Then I rushed out of there like I was late for something.

I hoped it wasn’t obvious that I wanted to get out of the diner because I’d already caught myself looking at Hailey several more times during my meal.

I felt like an ass for checking her out. When I got home, I was still thinking about her. Irritated, I went and took a shower. A really cold one. It was uncomfortable, which at least snapped me out of my preoccupation with Hailey Thomas. My sister’s best friend, my student, not a woman I could even consider being attracted to. She was completely off-limits.

If only my dick would get the message.

CHAPTER7

HAILEY

After a long day at work and then covering Maria’s shift—which I was glad to do because it meant extra money—I was wiped out and felt grungy and greasy and generally wished I could fall into bed, but my hair smelled like fried food. I’d have to take a quick shower and scrub my hair.

I tossed my uniform in the washer with some other stuff and started it. Then I folded a load of laundry and prepped some overnight oats for the morning before I got my pj’s out and stripped for the shower. Never mind that all that responsible adult laundry and meal prep did nothing to distract me from what was on my mind. Or rather, who was on my mind. Rick Esperanza, Maria’s brother, my marketing professor at Berkeley. The last actual man in the universe I should be thinking of much less be horny over.

The fact was, my mind kept drifting to how he had looked so caught out, abashed when I saw him staring at me, looking my body over with a gaze so hot and heavy it was like a physical touch. My skin had tingled from the look he gave me, but there was nothing in it that made me uncomfortable.

I was filled with awareness, like warmth and light, that he felt the same pull that I felt when I looked at him. A sparkle of chemistry between us beyond the simple tug of attraction. It was a spicy attraction, the kind that wasn’t just admiration for the handsomeness of a man or the width of his shoulders or his good smile. It was all that along with the hint of a promise, the prospect that we would light up the night if we ever got together, that sex with him would be next level hot.

He was thoughtful and kind—he’d come in to see his little sister and brought her a treat—a gift card to her favorite store for fancy art supplies. He was patient in waiting for his meal when I had his food on my tray and a kid spilled his juice and I had to go take care of that first. He didn’t roll his eyes or sigh or act like he was annoyed. He was brilliant, which I already knew from fangirling over his TED talk and attending his class and reading his book.

The way he looked at me was as intimate as the brush of a hand along the back of my neck or a kiss on my shoulder. It had made me hot all over, a rush of excitement at the male attention plus something more. A hint of the connection between us that I absolutely would not entertain. I hadn’t let myself even think of anyone that way in so long. His unguarded look, the way he had accidentally let me glimpse his attraction to me, had captured my attention. I hadn’t been able to shake that feeling, the sense that we had shared something, a moment maybe. That was a nice way of saying that I was turned on and couldn’t quit thinking about it.

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