“Josh,” she called, frantically waving him over.
Josh’s head swiveled around, his brown eyes narrowed, before he lifted a finger at her to wait and moved to the next customer.
The woman huffed and muttered, “Ignoring me. Cad.”
She looked high maintenance. Perfect hair, perfectly made up, strikingly beautiful, but…
She turned to him and did a double take. “Oh my God! There’s two of you!” She called to Josh, who was pouring some beer on tap. “You never told me you had a twin!”
“I haven’t told you a lot of things,” Josh returned.
The woman held out her hand with a polite smile, and Jake shook it. “I’m Hailey.”
“Jake.”
Josh appeared in front of them. “What can I get ya?”
“Do you still have Mondays off?” Hailey asked Josh.
“Yeah.”
Hailey gestured Josh closer.
He rolled his eyes, but leaned across the bar. “What?”
She whispered, but Jake was still close enough to hear her ask, “Can you do a Monday date with a new member of the book club?”
Jake’s gaze cut to Josh, who didn’t seem at all fazed by this odd question. Instead he stood straighter and looked vastly entertained. Since when did Josh do blind dates? He met women all the time at the bar. Not to mention all the women at the cooking classes he took because he claimed his boss at Garner’s wanted him to, but Jake knew it was because Josh was a foodie and dreamed of opening his own bar with awesome food one day. If he’d let him, Jake would pony up the money in a heartbeat.
Hailey put a hand on her hip. “Well?”
Josh jerked his chin. “What’s it worth to ya?” He grinned at Jake.
“The standard arrangement,” Hailey said through clenched teeth. Jake got the feeling this was a frequent conversation.
Josh busied himself behind the bar, biting back a smile. Clearly he enjoyed messing with Hailey, who rose to the bait beautifully.
Her blue eyes flashed with annoyance. “So can you do it?”
“Hmm…” Josh said, jerking her chain some more.
Hailey turned to Jake unexpectedly. “Maybe you’d like to go on the date? Very sweet girl.”
Jake opened his mouth to say he wouldn’t be in town on Monday when Josh cut him off.
“He’s on a hiatus from women.” Josh smirked. “Billionaires have that falling-at-their-feet problem.”
Jake glared at Josh. First of all, he’d never said he was on a hiatus, and second, he didn’t appreciate the billionaire dig. Josh had a chip on his shoulder about being the non-billionaire twin. His brother was just as smart and could’ve gotten in on the ground floor of Dat Cloud, but he’d chosen a different less lucrative path. Besides, Jake had fallen out of the ten-figure club recently with an expansion into a country where the government was overturned by a dictator who seized all assets. A temporary dip, he was sure. He took big risks and was frequently rewarded with big gains. Or losses. Money was never a sure thing.
Hailey looked at Jake with new appreciation. “What do you do?”
“I started Dat Cloud. It’s—”
“I read about Dat Cloud in the Wall Street Journal! We should talk. What are you doing tomorrow?”
He caught Josh’s frown and realized his brother might actually want her for himself. Though he had a helluva weird way of showing it.
“Busy,” Jake said.
“Can I buy you a drink?” Hailey asked, surprising him.
It had been a damn long time since someone bought him something.
“Sure,” Jake said.
“Great!” Hailey exclaimed. “Josh, get him whatever he’d like. On me.”
“Another beer, barkeep,” Jake ordered, tapping the bar.
Josh didn’t move. “I’ll take you up on that date, princess.”
Hailey scowled. “Stop calling me that,” she snapped.
“If the diamond tiara fits…” Josh drawled.
Hailey pasted on a smile and smoothed her dress. “I’ll text you the details.” She turned to Jake. “It was really nice to meet you.” She whipped a card out of her purse and handed it to him. “Call me next time you’re in town for a longer visit.”
Josh shot him a dark look that he didn’t need any twin sense to know meant Jake wasn’t supposed to go there.
“Nice to meet you too,” Jake said.
Hailey beamed a smile that made her incandescent. Her blue eyes lit like twin sparklers, her pale skin glowed pink, even her teeth seemed extra shiny white. He was momentarily held in thrall at her stunning beauty.
“Ciao!” She turned on her heel and strode out the door. She seemed to have forgotten she’d bought him a drink.