Page 47 of Hale Yes (Highway to Hale #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Is that a dildo?

Nicolette

I glance over at Helix, doing my level best not to drool. He’s been poring over paperwork for the past two hours, and his hair is sticking up in places from where he ran his fingers through it. His shirt is halfway untucked, and he’s completely, delightfully mussed.

He’s currently using the centrifuge while some of the lab assistants sort samples. Looking over and catching me staring, he gives me a subtle wink.

“Hey, you guys can go ahead and knock off early for lunch,” he tells the assistants.

They don’t argue for a second, cleaning their areas and heading downstairs. Which leaves me alone in the lab with Helix. As soon as they’re gone, he locks the door and saunters over.

“Dr. Bell, why aren’t you working?” he asks sternly.

I brush his crotch with a teasing drift of my hand. “Because I’m distracted by this big… sample.”

He laughs and pins me against the lab table with his hips. “I want to have my wicked way with you on this table, but first I wanted to talk to you. I planned to during brunch last weekend, but you and my mother were too busy talking shit about me.”

I roll my bottom lip out. “Aww, poor little Helix got his feelings hurt? Maybe you should punish me.” He lifts an eyebrow at the hopefulness in my voice.

“Oh, I fully intend to, but that will be later when you’re least expecting it.”

“For the record, golden sprinklers as a punishment is a hard limit for me.”

Helix’s expression goes flat. “I don’t like you very much right now.”

My hips press forward against his growing erection. “Your big sample says otherwise.”

His only response is a slow, deep kiss that makes my toes tingle in my loafers.

“I do like you, Nicolette,” he says, pulling away and making eye contact.

“I want to date you. I’ve had trust issues in the past, but I want to try and make this work if that’s something you want too.

You’ll just have to be patient with me while I work through how to be in a healthy relationship. ”

The organ inside my chest constricts at his words. “That’s exactly what I want. And I can be patient. Everyone has past hurts, and that’s okay. We can work through them together.”

His blue eyes are so soft as he searches my face. “I think I’m falling for you, and it scares the shit out of me.”

Before I can respond, his phone rings and he curses before pulling it from his pocket and frowning at the display. “It’s Reecie’s pre-school. Phoenix is out of town, and she’s staying with me for two days, so I need to take this.”

“Of course,” I say, rubbing my hand up and down his bicep as he answers with a clipped hello.

He listens for about a minute before responding with, “I’ll be right there.”

“What’s wrong?” I ask, watching him pocket his phone and shrug off his lab jacket.

“Reece is sick. It’s just a sore throat so probably nothing serious, but I need to take her to the pediatrician because she might need antibiotics.”

“Go,” I say, taking the jacket from him. “I’ll handle the lab and call Phoenix for you. He’ll need to call the doctor’s office and give you permission to bring Reecie in for treatment.”

Helix shakes his head. “You don’t have to call him. I have power of attorney for her when he’s out of town or in case anything ever happens to him. We had the paperwork drawn up the day after she was born.” He grabs my face and kisses me hard. “Thank you, baby.”

And then he’s out the door, leaving me flabbergasted in his wake. I can’t even imagine being so close to another person that you’d put that kind of trust in them. I certainly don’t have that kind of relationship with Angelica. I wouldn’t trust her to look after a house plant.

But the Hale family is different. They have a mutual bond and respect for each other that I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced.

To be honest, I’m a little jealous, but then I remember how open and welcoming they all were to me.

His mother included, despite the embarrassing freak-out scene she witnessed in that restroom.

After our initial awkwardness at seeing each other at the brunch table with Helix, all those walls seemed to fade away. Might have been the mimosas and bloody marys lending their boozy support to the situation, but it’s more likely because she’s a genuinely nice person.

I took Ophelia to Cowboy Yoga on Monday evening, and thankfully I had no more gaseous interruptions. She absolutely loved it, though she blushed through the entire class.

Taking a seat on one of the padded stools, I get to work on some of the fragrance additives we were working on and wait for word from Helix about his niece.

Two hours later, I’m alone in the lab. I’d sent the assistants down to the microbiology lab to do some cultures on our next mascara.

Mascara tubes are notorious places for bacteria to reside, so it’s a struggle to find a formula that’s as antimicrobial as possible while also being gentle enough for the sensitive eye areas.

The door creaks open, and I swivel around in my chair to find Helix with Reece on his hip. She has a ring of what looks like chocolate ice cream around her mouth, and she’s holding a giant teddy bear.

“Hi, Nicolette,” she says, her little voice raspy. “I got a shot, so Uncle Helix got me ice cream and a teddy bear and new shoes.” I notice a bag from the Nike store hanging off Helix’s arm.

“New shoes make pretty much anything better,” I tell the cutie pie, standing and walking toward them.

Helix backs up a step into the hallway. “It’s strep throat, so she’s contagious. You might not want to get too close.”

Chuckling, I say, “I did a rotation in emergency medicine. I’m pretty much immune to everything except the bubonic plague.” I reach forward and press my hand against Reece’s forehead. She’s pretty hot but not dangerously so. “How are you feeling, sweet girl?”

Her face is a precious pout. “Pretty icky, but Uncle Helix said I could sit in his office and draw. That way I don’t spread germs to all the lab people.”

Her uncle kisses her forehead. “I think we have some popsicles in the refrigerator if you want one later. Let’s get you settled.

I’ll leave you my phone because your daddy said he would call you again in about an hour to check on you.

” He turns around, and I giggle at the sparkly dragon backpack slung over his shoulder.

I’m still laughing when Helix returns a few minutes later. “What’s so funny?” he asks, washing his hands and forearms at the sink.

“You look cute with a glittery backpack.”

He cuts me a glare. “Keep on pushing me, woman.”

I bite into my bottom lip and wait for him to join me. “I think I solved the issue with the new fragrance,” I tell him, trying to contain my excitement. “Well, we solved it because I used what you came up with.” I flip through my notebook and hold up a page of his scrawled writing.

He takes it from me and scowls. “I thought this one didn’t work.”

“It didn’t by itself but flip to the last six pages. That’s what I’ve been working on while you were gone.”

He does and I watch as his face changes. Lowered brows, raised brows, lips twisted to one side and then the other before rolling in between his teeth. Finally, his lips part, and his eyes widen. He flips through the pages again, and a smile broadens across his face.

“Dammit, Nic, this is fucking brilliant.” His eyes meet mine. “ You’re brilliant.”

“You are too. It was your original idea that spurred my own.”

He shakes his head in awe. “But your brain is at another level. I never would have thought of this in a million years,” he tells me, flapping the notebook in my face.

“It was a team effort, and I think we should apply for a patent together.”

“This was your baby though. You thought of the idea for it before you ever even came here.”

“And you gave me the resources to make it happen.” I bite my cheek, feeling a little emotional. “Including your confidence in me. I probably wouldn’t have pursued it if not for you.”

Helix picks me up around the waist and spins me in a circle, his eyes sparkling with happiness. “You really want us to apply for the patent together?”

“I really do,” I laugh, cupping his face with my hands and kissing him. “There’s no one I’d rather share it with.”

He puts me down and begins pacing, his fingers tapping against his lips. This is what he does when he’s deep in thought. “We’ll have to do some testing first.”

“And clinical trials, of course,” I add.

“Yes. We should have the patent ready to be filed by spring of next year.”

“Your birthday is in March. What if we file it then?”

I can tell he’s touched by the suggestion because he binds his lips together and nods tightly. “Okay.”

“I know you’re dying to run some analyses on it, so go ahead. I sent everyone else to the micro lab to work on mascara so we could have the place to ourselves.” I hand him a small vial of clear liquid.

“I also want to see if I can replicate it. It seems like it would be pretty easy to mass produce.”

“It is. Production wouldn’t need to buy any new equipment, so it’s definitely cost-effective.”

He nods knowingly. “And that’s the thing. So many good ideas end up on the drawing room floor because the product would cost more to make than the market allows.”

I don’t hover while he gets to work, instead busying myself around the lab. I went to check on Reece a couple times, and last time I did, she was curled up in Helix’s big leather chair fast asleep. I removed my jacket and balled it up beneath her head as a makeshift pillow.

Now I’m beside Helix as his hands work beneath the ventilation hood, my head level with his shoulder. I catch the scent of chlorine and ask, “Do you swim?”

He glances down at me. “Every day. Why?”

“I can smell chlorine on you sometimes.”

“I have a saltwater pool, but of course it has a chlorine generator.”

“Right, the chlorine is separated from the salt through electrolysis.” I eye him up and down. “You have a perfect swimmer’s body. Did you ever swim competitively?”