Judge instantly looked down at Rix and saw a muscle dance up his jaw.
Rix thought she was uncomfortable around him because he didn’t have full legs.
How a man who scored the way he did with the ladies didn’t see a woman who had a massive crush on him, Judge didn’t know.
He resolved to talk to Rix about that later too.
“Hey, Alex, what’s going on?” Judge called.
Her face had gone the shade of red of one of Judge’s favorite pairs of Chloe’s shoes.
Now, seriously.
How could Rix not see this?
She dragged her gaze with visible effort from Rix, and when she saw Judge, she was reminded of her earlier excitement.
It was then her eyes lit and the pink in her cheeks became about something else and Judge, after working with her for a year and a half, suddenly saw a woman he’d never met before.
He’d never looked at her in that way. She was his co-worker, and he was her superior.
But damn, she was pretty.
“Tom Pierce is here,” she declared.
Okay, he knew she was a fan, she’d told him, but they’d both been working closely with Tom now for months. He thought she was over that.
“And Hale Wheeler is with him,” she breathed.
Judge smiled.
Well, cool.
He’d talked briefly on the phone with Hale once, the day of Judge’s mother’s memorial.
Hale had called from Singapore. Chloe had put him on speakerphone and done an introduction. Wheeler had conveyed he was sorry for Judge’s loss and then Chloe didn’t push that any further. But she did talk to Wheeler for fifteen minutes, and Judge could tell how she did that they were close, and she got something out of her call with her “adopted” brother.
He settled her, like Matt and Sasha did not (but he’d also noted that, in somewhat the same way, Sully did).
Therefore, Judge liked the guy because he was, for all intents and purposes, Chloe’s big brother, and he gave her what Chloe gave to her younger siblings.
Even all the way from Singapore.
“They’re in the conference room,” Alex shared.
Judge looked that way, and sure enough, through the glass, he could see movie-star handsome Hale Wheeler, one of the world’s richest men, and thus most eligible bachelor, sitting with Tom, Duncan and Harvey, smiling and chatting.
He’d seen pictures of the guy often since his dad died. With his money and looks, it was impossible to escape him. The media latched onto him like a parasite.
But in the flesh, he was different. Not even being in the same room with him, Judge could see he had natural charisma.
A lot of it.
No wonder Alex was buzzing with excitement.
They all moved that way. Duncan noticed them coming so they were all up out of their chairs by the time he, Rix and Alex were through the door.
“Great, you’re here. Judge, Rix, Alex, this is Hale Wheeler, Chloe’s brother,” Duncan introduced.
Judge walked up to the guy, hand out, smile on his face.
“Really good to meet you in person, man,” he said when they clasped hands and shook, the hold not too strong it said he was trying to prove anything, but it wasn’t wimpy either.
“You, too, Judge. Finally. Everyone says good things.”
“That means a lot, Hale. Seriously.”
When he was about to release their hold, Wheeler kept it with a subtle jerk.
Judge focused on him.
“Really sorry about your mom,” he said low.
Judge stared into his eyes, knowing he’d just met a kindred spirit who knew something about losing a parent too soon.
A parent that left you with anger and confusion and a legacy you didn’t know what to do with, but you did know it would forever haunt you.
“Thanks, brother,” Judge replied quietly.
Wheeler dipped his chin, let him go, and the rest of the introductions were made before they all sat down, and Duncan immediately punted.
“Hale has something to propose, and since it’s his deal, I’m not gonna speak for him.” He nodded his head across the table. “Go, Hale.”
Everyone looked to Wheeler.
“Right, I’ll start by apologizing. I’m not gonna get real flowery with this. I wish I had more time, but I’ve been attempting to impose changes in Dad’s company that will put our carbon footprint at a zero within ten years and the board is losing their shit,” he said as an opener.
Judge and Rix exchanged glances, and he knew in his, and saw in Rix’s gaze some of the excitement Alex had shown earlier.
“So I’m probably gonna be forcibly removed in about a month,” Wheeler continued, saying this like he gave zero fucks about it. “But until then, I got unions to set up and as many inroads to make as I can with our environmental impact, so I don’t have a lot of time. I need to be in California tomorrow. But I had a window, and I took advantage of it, so here goes.”