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é had suggested she have work done and she’d seriously considered fillers. Even in business, the world favored attractive people. The only thing stopping her was being too busy for the regular appointments.
“Doesn’t everyone have work done?” she mumbled.
“Other than character actors, it’s hard to find someone in my businesses who doesn’t need to freeze their looks, who isn’t expected to continue to look like they did a decade ago. I’ve had fillers around my eyes and mouth and my aesthetics consultant is beside himself about me being in the sun. Threatened to quit on me when he heard I was learning to surf.”
She lifted her shoulders to turn and squint at him. “You’ve had work done?” He had a whole person on staff who worried about how his face looked.
“I am not this pretty naturally,” he said, pushing her back down. “The camera is a harsh taskmaster and since it’s mostly the fantasy of attraction we’re selling on screen, it’s a circular argument. Much tougher on women. I’m allowed to age semi-gracefully. I can still play a romantic lead as long as I don’t get fat and jowly.” Another kiss to her mid back.
“What I mean to say is there’s no need to be self-conscious about how you look. I like what I see. I like who you are, but if you want to diet and have cosmetic treatments and that makes you feel confident and ready to take on the world then that’s what you should do. The only person who gets to judge you is you.”
Those words were as smooth as the massage oil and as soothing as they were exciting. She’d signed up for a weekend of sex and no regrets and it was turning out to be so much more. “And Evie. She judges me whether I like it or not.”
“The mysterious Evie. Who is still very much alive, I hope.”
Oh God, Evie. “She’s going to kill me.” Teela pushed up on her elbows. “What time is it?”
“A little before seven.” He put a hand to her shoulders. “Stay down.”
“No, no. She’ll be at my place at seven with food.”
Haydn passed her a towel and helped her sit. Her limbs were noodles and not completely under her control. “Easy fixed. Hassan can bring Evie here if you’d like?” he said.
She leaned against him, not eager to move too far. Everything she’d read about Haydn suggested he was a nice guy. Not even the scattering of ex-girlfriends dished evil on him. She’d assumed it was down to good management, a well-crafted and rigorously maintained public image that had yet to hit a truly rough patch. And those lawyers.
Whether he was true to form wasn’t a question she’d considered during her research or when she took that first elevator ride with him, because it didn’t matter to her. Haydn Delany existed on a different plane, and it was only a fluke they’d come into contact that was more than a handshake and a smile. Now she wondered if the public image and the private one were that far apart.
“Evie is my best friend, I trust her completely, but I’m not sharing you with her.”
That won her a smile, the kind that could power a small village. Vietnamese takeaway four suburbs away got a little colder while they shared lazy, slightly oily kisses.
Back in the toweling robe and phone in hand, Teela called Evie with a favor in mind. What were best friends for if you couldn’t dump on them and ask them to do something for you all at the same time? She wondered if Haydn had someone he didn’t pay who he could dump on.
Evie picked up. “If you’re calling to tell me you’re working back, I am going to hide this food in your place and it’ll go off and you’ll never get the smell out.”
“Eat your portion first.”
“Tee, are you truly not coming home?” Ooo, Evie’s pissed-off voice. “It had better be a goddamn national emergency and since you’re a conference planner that seems bloody unlikely.”
“Are you sitting down?”
“I’m currently walking all over your new couch in my ugly old boots.”
“Yes, that’s why I gave you a key, so you could trash my furniture.” A realistic threat. Definitely pissed off. Teela put the call on speaker and nudged Haydn. She needed the big guns.
He raised an eyebrow and she gave him an encouraging smile before he said, “Evie, it’s Haydn Delany.” The man knew a cue when he saw one.
“Oh fuck me,” said Evie.
Haydn laughed. “The plan is to do that to Teela this weekend, but she needs a few things from her place.”
There was a delay before Evie answered but they could hear her moving about. “Is that why there is a very handsome dude in a uniform standing outside the door?”
“That would be Hassan,” Haydn said.
They heard Evie say, “Do you eat Vietnamese?” and a rumble that was Hassan’s response, then Evie was back. “He can stay.”
“Evie, Hassan has a list of things I need,” Teela said. “Clothes, shoes, stuff from the bathroom.” Haydn had said he’d buy what she needed but she was his guest, not his special project. It was enough he’d feed, house and entertain her.
