Page 7 of Love Unspoken

Hayes picked up his drink. "Something spooked you. What?"

I ran a hand through my hair. "Fucking hell, Hayes. I think Naya may have overheard Ann and me talk about her. That's the only place she could have heard about me hiring her because Nolan asked me to. I've told absolutely no one that except…Ann yesterday evening."

Hayes raised both eyebrows and took a long puff. "Did you hire her because of Nolan?"

I shrugged. "He told me she was coming back, and I knew she was going to be her father's primary caregiver. You know Nolan wouldn't lift a finger. Kara wouldn't let him, even if he wanted to. I just wanted to help out."

"But?" Hayes persisted.

"But we may have talked about how she looked and…hell, something about how she has a crush on me. Ann was doing her green monster routine." I remembered seeing Naya by the elevator bank, how she didn't look at me, pissing me off some more.

"Why is she jealous of Naya? No offense, man, but your girlfriend is a horrible person. Naya is a sweetheart. She fucking takes care of everyone. I mean, she's babysitting Nolan and Kara's kid on a Saturday night. And you saw how loyal Kara is to her?" Hayes liked Naya. Amongst all of us, he was the one who talked to Nolan's baby sister.

"Yeah."

"She's a bright girl, you know that, right?"

I nodded. "Ann said something about how she went to a state school, so how good could she be?" Fuck! Had Naya heard that too?

"Of course, she went to a state school. Her dad didn't have the money to send her anywhere else—'cause he spent it all on Nolan's ungrateful ass." Hayes shook his head in disgust. "What's your problem with Naya, man?"

I finished my drink and set it on the bar table we were standing at. "It's just how she looks at me."

"Oh, you mean the way she idolizes you? Looks at you with adoration?"

I sighed. "Yeah."

"Does she do it in the office?"

"Fuck no. She's very professional and I don't see her much; I work more with her boss." The boss who was now on paternity leave having handed over many of his responsibilities to Naya. We'd be working more closely in the near future.

"Then what?" Hayes prodded.

"The whole, gray-eyed sad story routine watching my every move makes me uncomfortable and pisses me off."

Hayes glared at me. "I think being with Ann is turning you into an asshole."

Hayes didn't know the half of it. As I recollected more and more of what Ann and I had talked about yesterday, I cringed. I remembered mentioning how she had no curves and that she was boring.

God! What a goddamn shitty thing for her to overhear.

"I may also have been a bit of a hard ass to her at a few meetings," I confessed.

"Why?" Hayes raised his hands, palms out in defeat. "What the fuck has she ever done to you?"

"She rubs me the wrong way."

"Why?"

"I don't know," I exclaimed. "She just does."

"You gonna fix this?"

"How?"

"You're a guy with a high IQ. I'm sure you'll find a way," Hayes mocked.

I shook my head. "No. First, she shouldn’t have eavesdropped on a private conversation. I'm going to pretend it never happened. We'll just keep it professional."