When he reached Premier Realty, he parked his Range Rover in his designated spot and met up with Hailey. Ten minutes later, they were seated at a table at Spiaggia. They each ordered lunch from the menu of Italian fare, and Max requested a bottle of Prosecco to celebrate. As soon as the waitress delivered the bubbly white wine and poured two glasses, Max lifted his toward Hailey.
“I believe congratulations are in order,” he said, inclining his head as they tapped their crystal stemware together.
She took a small sip, her bright blue eyes sparkling over the rim of her drink. “I haven’t signed anything yet. I’d hate to jinx the deal.”
“Not going to happen,” he promised, setting his glass down just as his cell phone pinged with a text message.
He’d set the device on the table, only because he never knew when he’d get an important call from a client. He also liked being available if his partner, Wes, needed to ask him a quick question about a listing. But as soon as he unlocked the screen and saw who the message was from, he swore in frustration—and aggravation—before he could stop himself. It was a gut reaction to the name mocking him on the display. Addison Brooks, a woman he’d briefly dated—mostly as a favor to his mother—and who was quickly becoming the bane of his existence. A thorn in his side. A burr beneath his saddle. And any other metaphor that applied.
“Is everything okay, Max?” Hailey asked with quiet concern. “If you need to be somewhere else, I completely understand.”
It wasn’t the first time today that Hailey had witnessed, and commented on, his shift in mood after a text, and it annoyed him even more that Addison had the power to interfere in his daily life and affect his normally easygoing disposition. He also realized that Hailey was giving him an easy out if he needed one, but he wasn’t about to let Addison ruin this celebratory lunch with his client.
He cleared the display on his phone and shifted his attention back to the woman sitting across from him, who was the antithesis of the high-maintenance one who was starting to get on his last nerve. “I swear I’m fine.”
She raised a skeptical brow. “I would bet the property I’m about to buy that you’re lying,” she said, calling him out in a teasing tone.
He scrubbed a hand along his jaw and blew out a long breath to ease the tension that had settled across his shoulders. “Okay, maybe I am fibbing. Just a little,” he admitted with a small laugh.
The situation with Addison was beginning to stress him out, and he wasn’t sure how to get the persistent woman to back off without being blatantly rude, which wasn’t his style at all. He was a nice guy, but being polite wasn’t working. Unfortunately, he was caught between a jagged rock and a hard place with Addison, and he had to tread carefully so he didn’t end up causing a rift between two influential business associates—his father and hers.
Hailey took another drink of her wine, and his damnable gaze tracked the movement of her tongue across her damp bottom lip. “Want to talk about it?” she asked.
What he wanted was to run his tongue along her plump bottom lip. Maybe even slip inside to taste the Prosecco lingering on her tongue and forget all about his issues with Addison.
Ahhh, clearly that wasn’t going to happen. But as he looked across the table at Hailey, a woman who ran a successful matchmaking business and was the equivalent of a relationship guru in his eyes, it dawned on him that he had the perfect sounding board at his disposal. So why not take advantage of her expertise, especially if he ended up with a viable solution to his problem?
Decision made, he folded his arms in front of him on the table, having decided to lay out the situation for her. “Here’s the deal. The texts I’ve been getting today are from a woman my mother set me up with, which my mom has been doing with more frequency over the past year.” He tried not to grimace at how pathetic that sounded. “Anyway, Addison and I dated briefly, and after the third dinner with her, I knew that it wasn’t going to work out between the two of us. So I tried to break things off, in a nice way, of course. But she’s not taking the hint. Any advice?”
Mirth danced in her pretty eyes and tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Your mother set you up?”
Was Hailey laughing at him? Yeah, she was, not that he could blame her. What guy his age let his mother pick out his dates? Him, obviously.
“Yes, she did,” he said, owning it, then explained the reason behind his mother’s interference. “I’m the youngest of three siblings. And at the age of thirty, I’m also the only one who is still single. My older brother and sister are happily married with kids, and yes, my meddling mother has made it her mission to find a woman for me to settle down with so I, too, can finally be happy like the rest of the family.” He followed that up with a sarcastic eye roll.
“I’m sure she means well,” Hailey replied, propping her chin in her hand, looking completely relaxed, as well as intrigued by his story. “In the matchmaking business, I come across a lot of mothers who want to find that perfect person for their son or daughter because they don’t want them to end up alone.”
“What my mother doesn’t understand, no matter how many times I’ve tried to tell her, is that I’m perfectly content with my life and being a bachelor.” Did he want to get married and have a family? Yes, someday, with the right woman. Not one his mother handpicked for him based on who she thought might make him a good wife—social status and family connections being her primary concern. And for the most part, it had been easy to deflect his mother’s attempts to pair him up with someone she deemed “perfect for him,” until Addison.
Their lunch order arrived, and after the waitress set a plate of gnocchi in front of him and an arugula and chicken salad for Hailey, she continued the conversation.
“If you honestly feel that way about being happy and single, then why did you agree to go out with Addison?” she asked, stabbing her fork into the leafy greens.
“Mom guilt,” he said sheepishly, because it was a good portion of the truth, even if it was embarrassing. “Trust me, she’s really good at getting me to do things that I’d rather not.” His mother’s method of persuasion was always so sweet and endearing, and he knew she meant well, which made it difficult to say no to her.
Hailey laughed, the light, amusing sound making him smile. “You’re obviously a good son who loves his mom very much, and there is nothing wrong with that. It’s actually a strong quality I look for when I’m interviewing my male clients. If they treat their mother with respect and hold her in high regard, that behavior usually transfers to the women he dates.”
They ate a few bites of their lunches before Hailey spoke again, her expression full of genuine interest. “So, what kind of guilt tactic did your mom employ?”
This was where the story got a bit more complicated, and he tried to simplify the answer the best he could. “My father, who owns a law firm, recently had one of his biggest and wealthiest clients move from New York to Chicago. My mother became friends with the wife, and of course she met their daughter, Addison, at a few social and charity events they attended together. Then came the phone call from my mother, asking me to take Addison out for drinks or dinner because she doesn’t know anyone in the city and we have so much in common.”
“Sounds innocent enough,” Hailey said, and finished off the last of her Prosecco.
“Not innocent. It was underhanded and sly,” he said with a smirk as he refilled her glass, then his own. “Not in a malicious way, of course, but I know my mother. Her motivations were all about setting me up with a woman she decided was a good fit, since our families run in the same social circles. My mom honestly believed Addison was perfect for me. Those were even her exact words when she called the next day to see how our date went.”
“And how did the date go?”
“Meh.” He shrugged, the one word summing up his lack of enthusiasm for how the night had played out, and for Addison herself. “But my mother begged me to give Addison another chance, and yes, I succumbed to that guilt and parental pressur
e again,” he admitted with a sigh.
Hailey’s grin was priceless, as was the amusement sparkling in her eyes. His enjoyment in seeing this lighthearted side to her normally reserved personality prompted Max to continue his less-than-pleasant tale. At this point, it was more about entertaining her than anything else.
“My mom swore Addison had a great personality. By the end of the third date, there was no denying that my mother had lied,” he said with a chuckle, trying to find humor in the situation. “That or Addison has a split personality.”
Hailey gave him a sympathetic look as she set her fork on the rim of her plate, clearly done with her meal, which she’d only half eaten. “That bad, huh?”
“Addison is . . . ” God, how did he politely say that she was a bitch?
“High maintenance?” Hailey suggested with a knowing glint in her gaze.
“Oh, you’re good at this,” he murmured, impressed with her diplomatic choice of words.
“I deal with a lot of different and extreme personalities in my business.”
She shrugged her shoulders, and yeah, out of his peripheral vision, he couldn’t help but notice how her full breasts bounced enticingly with the gesture. She was wearing what he guessed was a silk blouse judging by the soft-looking fabric, and while the top itself was modest, he’d already realized earlier that he could see the faint outline of her lace bra beneath.
That subtle hint of femininity was more of a turn-on to him than a woman who dressed in a way that left nothing to the imagination. Because when it came to finally getting a woman naked, removing each layer of clothing was like unwrapping a provocative present. Discovering all the arousing, delightful lingerie and bare skin and curves that lay beneath—for his eyes only—was the best part of the package.
He was pretty damn sure that beneath Hailey’s prim outfits was a soft, lush body a man could lose himself in—enticing breasts made for his big hands to play with and squeeze. Tantalizing hips built for him to grab on to as he fucked her from behind. Sensual, alluring thighs designed to cushion the impact of his hard, demanding thrusts as he drove them both toward a blissful orgasm, and it was his name on her lips when she came.
“So, just how high maintenance was this woman?” Hailey asked, effectively yanking him out of his indecent thoughts with her in the starring role.
Finished with his lunch—of which he’d eaten every single bite—he leaned back in his chair, not in any hurry to end their time together before they went back to his office and their relationship would revert to business. “For starters, every single time Addison and I went out, she complained about something. The food at the restaurant not being cooked just right, no matter what it was. The wait for the valet taking too long. The wind messing up her hair that she spent two hours at the salon having styled. Half the time, I expected her to snap her fingers to make people jump to do her bidding.”
A pained look of empathy passed across Hailey’s features. “She sounds a little . . . entitled,” she said much too kindly.
“More like narcissistic,” he countered more honestly, and God, it felt good to get everything off his chest since he couldn’t rant to his mother about the situation. “The conversation, no matter what the topic, always ended up revolving around her, and if something happened that she didn’t like, she played the victim.”
He shook his head at the absurdity of it all. It didn’t take him long to realize that despite how stunningly gorgeous Addison’s facial features were, her beauty was all superficial. Her personality was equally artificial . . . Fake laughs that grated on his nerves. Fake smiles that were condescending. Fake boobs that stood out like two firm cantaloupes on her small, too skinny frame. She walked as though she had a stick up her ass, and looked down her nose at anyone she judged as inferior. And the two times he’d kissed her, there had been no spark, no passion, and his dick hadn’t so much as stirred at the possibility of getting some action. If his penis had the ability, it would have yawned from boredom.
On the other hand, Hailey was the polar opposite of Addison in every single way. The woman sitting across from him was demure and unassuming, so sweet and easy to be with and talk to, despite the fact that she was promised to another man. From the moment they’d met three months ago, she’d intrigued him. He found her fascinating and engaging and interesting, more so than any woman in a very long time.
But she is fucking engaged, you moron, so it didn’t matter how attracted he was to her or how much she charmed him and his misbehaving dick, as was proven earlier today when she’d hugged him.
He shifted in his seat and finished his story. “After three dates, I couldn’t take any more of Addison, and I told her at the end of the night that I wasn’t feeling any chemistry, and I thought we should just be friends.” He saw Hailey wince at the choice of words he’d used. “I know, I know, it’s a cliché line of bullshit, right up there with the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ sentiment, but the last thing I want is any issues between our families, considering her father is one of my father’s biggest clients. I was trying to end things amicably to avoid any awkward tension between us in the future.”
Their waitress came by their table to clear their plates, interrupting their conversation. They both declined dessert, and the server promised to return with the check.
Once she was gone, Hailey picked up where they’d left off. “So, how did your mom take the break-up?”
“She was definitely disappointed, but she still loves me,” he said, giving her the same endearing grin that always worked to soften up his mom.
“And Addison?”
He groaned and scrubbed a hand along his jaw. “It’s like we never had that last conversation. She sends me flirty texts and leaves suggestive voice messages. She’s dropped by my office because she just happened to be in the area, and she has a way of showing up at events I’m attending and following me around. I stopped going to my regular coffee place in the morning because she was there every single day at the same time I got there. I even told her that I was seriously dating someone else, which only seemed to make her even more determined and persistent.”
Hailey’s blue eyes widened in concern. “Are you sure this isn’t a Fatal Attraction kind of situation?”
“Trust me, it’s starting to feel like it.” He exhaled a harsh breath and shook his head. “But like I said, I have to be careful how I handle the situation because of the family connection, or else I probably would have done something more extreme by now.”
“Like issuing a restraining order?” she suggested, her gaze glimmering with mirth.
He smirked back at her. “The thought definitely crossed my mind,” he admitted.
The check arrived, and he handed over his credit card to the waitress to process the bill before glancing back at Hailey. “So, Ms. Matchmaker, how do I end this insanity with Addison?”
She braced her elbows on the table and clasped her hands beneath her chin, the diamond on her left-hand finger annoying him with its abrasive sparkle and what it symbolized. “Well, I think you’re going to have to stop avoiding and ignoring her. Agree to meet Addison somewhere, preferably a public place so she won’t make a big scene. Be blunt and honest and tell her flat out that you’re not interested in dating her, and the texts and the calls and the stalking need to stop,” she said, then let out a small laugh. “Well, I wouldn’t use the exact word stalking, but you get what I mean.”
“I kind of like the word stalking,” he said in a wry tone. “I certainly can’t get blunter than that.”
“True.” She was quiet for a moment, then spoke again. “I almost don’t blame Addison for stalking you. You’re good-looking and successful and quite the catch. You should let me set you up. I have a ninety percent success rate when it comes to pairing up two compatible people, and I guarantee no stalkers since I do an intense and thorough pre-screening of every applicant.” She grinned cheekily.
He chuckled but quickly declined her offer. “Nah, I’m more of an organic kind
of guy. I prefer things to happen naturally in a relationship.”
She looked sincerely disappointed that he’d turned her down. “Okay, but if you change your mind, you know where to find me.”
“Yeah, I definitely do.” He signed the receipt the server had delivered and put his credit card back into his wallet. “You ready to head over to my office and get that offer submitted?”
She nodded eagerly as she stood and settled the strap of her purse over her shoulder. “Thank you so much for lunch. It was wonderful.”
“It was my pleasure,” he said, and meant it.
He let her walk in front of him through the restaurant to the lobby, somehow managing to keep his eyes on the back of her head and not her ass. Just as they reached the entrance area, out of the corner of his eye, he saw an older woman, probably in her mid-fifties, heading toward them.
“Hailey!” the lady called out, her voice loud and enthusiastic. “I thought that was you!”
Hailey’s entire body stiffened, and reluctantly, she turned toward the other woman, who was now standing in front of her. A smile that seemed forced tipped up the corners of her mouth as she exchanged air kisses with the stylishly dressed woman who reminded him of his own mother.
“Maureen!” Hailey said once they were done with their faux kisses, her voice pitched higher than normal as she deliberately eased in front of Max. “It’s so good to see you. How are Brian and Tiffany?”
Maureen grabbed Hailey’s hand in hers and gave it a gentle pat. “They are doing well. Very well,” she said cheerfully. “Dare I say I see an engagement in their future? You couldn’t have matched them any more perfectly than you did. They are like two peas in a pod, and absolutely adorable together. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my son so happy.”
The Book Boyfriend Series Box Set Page 19