Page 38 of Hale Yes (Highway to Hale #1)

He’s like my own personal soundtrack that someone put on repeat and then left the room with the remote. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about his filthy words.

I swear, Helix Hale’s dirty talk could serve as a creative writing course for spicy romance authors. And I’m sure he has enough material to last for two entire semesters.

“Or what?” I taunt, and his expression hardens. God, I love when he lets this side of him show.

“Or you might just find yourself in trouble, Dr. Bell.”

“Well, that sounds…” I pause, giving him my very best flirty eyes. “Horrible.”

I can feel his chuckle in my chest as he licks some salt from the rim of his glass and takes a sip. There’s no doubt that tongue will have a starring role in my fantasies tonight.

“Are you trying to make me hard?” he asks so quietly only the two of us can hear.

“Is it working?”

The hint of a smile teases at his lips, and he lifts a single dark eyebrow, as if he’s daring me to find out. Mission accepted, sir.

My eyes journey down his body, over the abs I didn’t miss the few times I’ve seen him shirtless, and directly to his crotch. Helix moves one hand down and lifts his purple-and-black jersey a bit, just for a split second, but it’s long enough for me to see the bulge growing in his black shorts.

“Helix, hello, darling.”

His sexy demeanor vanishes immediately, and he rolls his eyes in annoyance. “And it’s gone,” he mutters.

I take a drink to keep from laughing. Were we seriously just discussing his boner in a crowded room full of his family?

Helix turns and plasters on something that I assume is supposed to be a smile as he greets the newcomer. “Hello, Serena. I didn’t realize you’d be coming today.”

“Remington invited me,” the woman gushes. She’s beautiful with dark-blue eyes and raven hair cut into a stylish, stick-straight bob that halts abruptly at her chin. And she’s wearing a suit. No fucking lie. A royal-blue fitted skirt and jacket with an ivory silk shell beneath. To a football game.

“Interesting choice of attire,” Helix remarks, obviously noting the same thing as me.

“Oh, thank you,” she purrs, drawing out the last word in the most annoying way ever. “I got it last week in London when I went to visit Remington.”

Helix downs the rest of his bloody mary like he needs the liquid strength. I deduce that he does not care for this Serena person. I’m astute like that. Is she an ex of his? That would explain Helix’s hostility. Serena seems to talk about Remi a lot, so maybe she’s his girlfriend.

“I didn’t realize you made the trip across the pond.”

The woman simpers and tilts her head, allowing her hair to brush one shoulder. “He asked me to. You know how Remington is about me.” Her eyes dart around the suite. “Where is my best friend anyway?”

Ah, the best friend, though she’s giving me the vibe she’d like to be more.

Helix gestures down the stairs. “He’s watching the pre-game warm-ups down there.” Serena’s head whips around like a lion hearing the rustle of a rabbit in the bushes.

“Fabulous. I’ll just go say hello,” she says in a posh accent that sounds forced as she twiddles her fingers at him. “Ta ta!”

“Be careful going down the stairs, Serena. Wouldn’t want you to fall in those heels,” Helix warns to her back, though by his tone, I get the feeling he wouldn’t mind all that much if she busted her ass.

“She seems nice,” I quip when she’s gone, and Helix’s face relaxes as he turns back to me.

“She’s just as nice as your sister.” He places a hand on the small of my back and guides me toward the bar again. “Sorry if I was rude for not introducing y’all, but I wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible. Christ, I need another fucking drink.”

“Who is she?” I ask, moving my booted feet quickly to keep up with his long strides.

“That,” he tells me, “is Serena Greenfield. She’s been friends with Remi since practically birth. Our families used to be close.”

“Is she running for office or something?” I ask, earning me a quizzical look, so I clarify. “Because of the way she was dressed.”

Helix snickers. “She always dresses like that. Her father was a financial adviser, so she likes to dress like she’s one too, even though she’s never held down a job before.”

“Her father was a financial adviser?” I repeat. “Did he die?”

After ordering us both another drink, Helix leans one arm on the leather bar top and speaks in a hushed tone.

“Mr. Greenfield went to prison for embezzlement a while back. Their family lost almost everything.” He pushes a frustrated breath from his nose.

“Though you’d never know it from the way Serena dresses and acts.

I guarantee Remi paid for her to go to England last week. ”

“Are they…”

Helix shakes his head hard, making a sliver of his hair fall across his forehead. I resist the urge to swipe it back in place.

“Hell no. At least I don’t think so, though it’s not for lack of trying on her part.”

Our conversation is interrupted when a small blur of purple and dark curls bursts into the kitchen. “Uncle Helix!”

His face looks like someone just handed him a billion dollars when he turns around and scoops up the blur beneath her arms. Propping her on his hip, he grins as the two rub noses.

“How’s my doodle bug?”

Nose rubs? Doodle bug?

Gahh, talk about cuteness overload. My ovaries give him a raucous standing ovulation.

“I’m good. I got dragon wings,” the little girl announces, wiggling her body so the sheer purple wings flap. “Pawpaw and Mimi got them for me.”

Another voice, this one older, says, “Gotta make sure my granddaughter is properly outfitted.” I turn to see Haywood Hale, the CEO of Hale Cosmetics himself, approaching.

“Since she’s my only grandchild.” His tone is pointed, and his blue eyes twinkle at his son, as if telling him to get on the damn ball and produce some more little Hales for him to spoil.

A voluptuous blonde follows Haywood. I assume she’s his wife since I saw a large family portrait in the CEO’s office with this woman sitting beside him.

“Don’t start with me, old man,” Helix warns though his words hold no bite. “Have you met Dr. Nicolette Bell?”

The older man turns to me with a genuine smile and a warm handshake. “I have. On the day she interviewed. I like to think I sealed the deal in getting her to come to our company,” he teases. “How are you, Nicolette?”

“Very well. Thank you, Haywood.” It seems weird to call the patriarch of one of the richest families in the country by his first name, but he insisted the first and only time we met. “And you’re correct. You were definitely the clincher for my decision.”

“I knew it,” he crows before guiding the woman into our little circle. “Nicolette, I’d like to introduce you to my wife, Rebecca.”

Mrs. Hale has blonde hair and big blue eyes and looks at least a decade younger than her husband. She extends her hand and speaks with a lilting southern drawl. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“You as well,” I reply politely before pivoting back toward Helix and dropping my voice to a fake whisper and shooting a glance at the child in his arms. “And who’s the dragon? Should I be afraid?”

The little girl thinks this is the funniest thing she’s ever heard, and her peals of laughter are contagious, spreading to the entire group.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me, silly. I’m a nice dragon.”

“Phew!” I say dramatically, wiping non-existent sweat from my forehead.

“Tell her your name,” Helix prompts his niece.

“I’m Azmina,” she says proudly, and her uncle flashes her a look that says to cut it out. “Okay, fine. I’m Reece.” The little one sounds completely exasperated from having to reveal her real name. She is freaking adorable and has her dad’s dimples.

“I’m Nicolette. It’s so nice to meet you,” I say, shaking her pudgy little hand. “So you like Dragon Girls ?”

Her eyes form impossibly wide circles of childlike astonishment. “Yes, you’ve read those books?”

“Back in New York, I kept my neighbor’s daughter, Marley, a couple times when she got called in to work. She was a big fan.”

Reece reaches for me, and I take her without pause. “We like the same books, and we have the same hair, so we’re twins,” she announces, holding a piece of her curly hair up to mine to compare. “Just like my daddy and Uncle Helix.”

I laugh. “Okay, twin. Are you excited about the football game today?”

She nods enthusiastically. “Yep. I got to go to the Dragons’ first game too, and they won, and there were sliders on the buffet. Those are like baby hamburgers. They’re really good.” She turns to Haywood, who seems as amused by her rambling as I am. “Pawpaw, are there sliders again?”

Her grandfather laughs. “I told the chef to make sure of it.”

“Oh, goody.” Her eyes shift to the bar where the bartender just placed our drinks. “What are those?”

“Um, that’s a bloody mary,” I answer.

Her eyelids pop wide again. “Oooh, is there real blood in them? Can I have one?”

We all chuckle, and Helix answers. “No, they’re made with tomato juice, doodle bug, and you don’t like tomato juice, remember? You tried it at my house one time.”

“Oh. Yeah. I’m thirsty though.”

Helix leans to the bartender and says something I can’t hear because Reece is discussing dragons again. A minute later, the man hands Helix an orange juice with what looks like purple sugar around the rim and two cherries floating on top.

“Your cocktail, madam,” Helix says with a formal accent to his niece.

“Thank you, sir,” she says, matching his fancy tone while frowning into the glass. “Why doesn’t mine have green beans in it?”

I fight a smile and answer. “Because you have a sweet drink so yours has yummy cherries instead.”

Her lips twist wistfully and she sighs. “Okay.” She perks up a second later when the bartender hands her a plastic cup with three long beans in it and winks.

“There ya go, Reece. You can eat those after you’re done with your juice.”