Page 52 of Right Number, Wrong Man
Is she pretty? If she is, does she have a single sister?
Me
She ain’t pretty, she’s the most beautiful woman on earth. And no, she doesn’t have a sister, so back off.
Go to a dive bar and impress some chick with your uniform like you usually do. Maybe you’ll find your fourth wife there.
Cody
No man, it’s your turn for wedding bells! Can’t believe my best bro is finally in love! You bet I’ll get you that voice changer ASAP. Try not to catch a restraining order in the meantime…
Heat singes my face. Did he have to make such a big deal out of?—
The passenger door opens and my heart almost catapults out of my mouth when Hailey sticks her head inside. She plops onto the seat.
“Have you been waiting long?” she asks.
I’ve been sitting here for an hour cause parking in front of your house is the closest I could get to you short of scaling the building and crawling through your window to hide under your bed.
“Nah, just got here,” I lie, stuffing my phone in my pocket.
She closes the door and her perfume hits my nose. Heaven is the inside of my town car and it smells like Hailey. Or I reckon it could be hell too, cause she’s sitting right there and I’m not allowed to touch her. A tingling ache spreads through my hands.
Holding back physically hurts now, huh? I might actually need a doctor.
Years of pining should’ve trained me for this, but sexting with her as Jax broke my carefully crafted restraint like a jackhammer on fine china.
How badly I wanna reach over and put my hand on her thigh. What if my fingers slipped under her baby blue summer dress, pushing up the hem from her knee and?—
Hailey sets her handbag on her lap and fastens her seatbelt, squinting at me. “What’s with that look on your face?”
That’s the look of being madly in love with you, Spitfire.
She crosses her arms. “It’s one minute past 5 p.m. I’m on time. You don’t have a reason to be mad at me.”
Her comment gives me pause. I glance at myself in the rearview mirror and a wave of shock hits me.
Is that my face? That’s how I look when I’m in love?
My lips are pressed tight, corners pulled down. A big, fat scowl creases my forehead and I think it’s giving me a tension headache. In short, I look like I stepped in dog shit wearing my favorite boots, lost my hat in a rainstorm, and ate a bucket of lemons—all at the same time.
Suddenly I’m aware of my body as if I’m a ragdoll made up of ill-fitting spare parts. My foot taps uncontrollably and I grip the steering wheel with both hands, my knuckles white.
Finally I understand why Hailey thinks I’m always angry.
I gotta work on smiling more.
I give her a sideways look and she purses her lips but doesn’t avert her eyes. Would it freak her out more if she knew I’m overcompensating? Cause if I stopped scowling and holding the wheel like I’m fixin’ to strangle it, I’d have to grab her face and kiss her.
With effort, I pretend to relax. Our gazes lock as I reach across the center console and her shoulders stiffen, her legs angling away from me.
Is shethatrepulsed by the possibility that I might accidentally touch her?
I ignore the crack in my chest and open the glove compartment to take out the ace up my sleeve: A flat gift in pink wrapping paper with a sparkly pink bow. I offer it to Hailey, but she blinks at me like I’m handing her a piece of rotten roadkill.
“What is this?” she asks.
My stomach winds into knots. Did I overdo it? I wanted to bring her flowers but going to my parents certainly ain’t a date. Then again, I wasn’t raised to pick up a lady empty-handed.
