ran away. No kidding. She just ran back into the restaurant, even though she was on her way out when I caught up with her. I waited around for a few minutes, but she never came back out. What the hell was that about?”
My cousin’s eyes grow wide for a second and then he throws his head back and laughs. “She ran away from you? Dude, you are totally losing your touch. I can’t remember a single time a woman has run away from me while I was talking to her. Too funny.”
So much for having a best friend you can confide in.
I take a swig of my beer and then chug the rest of it. Slamming the empty bottle on the coffee table, I whip him off. “Fuck you, Alex.”
Still laughing, he waves off my irritation. “Okay, my bad. I didn’t mean to laugh at your humiliation. You have to remember she’s someone who’s creative, so maybe she saw your moves coming from a mile away and wasn’t having them. Maybe you’ll have to do more with this girl than just show up as you with that great car as your calling card.”
“Dude, I wasn’t standing there in the middle of the Comfort Food parking lot showing her all my moves. I was just trying to have a conversation to get to know her and she…”
I can’t bring myself to say she ran away again. I’ve replayed the scene in my head a hundred times since yesterday, and then every time I checked my phone to see if she texted or called when I was asleep. I may not be the world champion in seducing women, but even I know when one runs away, it’s not a good sign.
“She bolted,” he says in a serious voice I know is taking every bit of strength he has because he probably wants to continue laughing in my face.
“So what are you going to do? Maybe she’s not your type?” Alex asks, giving voice to something I’ve wondered more than once.
No. I don’t know if Hailey is my type, but I want to get to know her before I cross her off my list. Maybe she really is just a shy girl. Nothing wrong with that. I can work with shy.
As long as she doesn’t keep running away when I try to talk to her.
“I don’t know if she is or isn’t, but I’m not ready to throw in the towel quite yet. She’s a beautiful woman. I’m me. I don’t see why we can’t get together and have a good time, right?”
“You’re one of a kind, Cade. I can’t decide if you’re funny or just way too fucking cocky. Either way, you’re okay, man. So are we going to sit around talking about your failure with women all day or head out and get this day started? I have to be at work by six, so time’s wasting.”
He doesn’t give me a chance to answer his questions before he grabs my bottle off the table and walks into the kitchen. Alex is one of those creative types. He and Hailey are a lot alike in that way, especially since they both like to create with food. Maybe she’s a lot like him, which would be great since he’s my best friend.
Sounds like the best of both worlds in one beautiful woman. How could I not take a chance on that?
Chapter Eight
Hailey
My phone vibrates against my side, tearing me from my thoughts about how I acted with Cade yesterday. I grab it and see it’s Meadow calling me. She must want to talk about the interview again, but I’m probably not the best cheerleader at this moment.
“Hey, Meadow! What’s up?” I say into the phone as I pretend not to be miserable.
“Hailey, I got it! I got the job! Oh, my God! I can’t believe it. Can you believe it? Durkin and Chestnut offered me a position in their firm. I’m going to be designing for the best firm in Tampa!” she squeals into my ear.
I sit up in bed, finally excited about something after the last twenty-four hours of regret and recriminations I’ve beat myself up with over running away from Cade like some scared rabbit. “That is so great! I knew you’d get it. They’d be crazy not to hire you with your experience. Ten to one they decided after your work on the Tamsin project.”
She sighs into the phone at my mention of her favorite achievement since she started