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“What?” Bran asked.
I considered pointing out how cozy they looked but decided against it. Instead, I pulled my legs up onto the couch and stretched out, enjoying the space. I was staring at the ceiling, contemplating a snack, when I realized that my best friend and my brother were communicating silently. I pulled my eyes down in time to see Liv incline her head toward me and Bran roll his eyes.
I narrowed mine. “What?”
Liv pretended like she was absorbed in her work, but Bran didn’t have anything to hide behind. And he wouldn’t have bothered even if he had. “Liv wants me to find out why you looked so happy when you got back from work. She’s really nosy.”
Liv sunk her elbow into his side.
“Ow,” Bran said, but he still didn’t move away.
“Are you two flirting?” I asked, going on offense. “You’re practically sitting on her lap when I have all this room over here.”
“I’d rather sit on Putin’s lap than anywhere near you,” Bran said, comfortably slipping back into our childhood dynamic. “And if you aren’t nice to me, I’ll tell Livexactlywhy you look so happy.”
Liv’s eyebrows shot up and she stopped pretending to be working.
“Why?” I called his bluff.
“Yeah, why?” Liv echoed when Bran only grinned.
“Do you want to tell her or do you want me to?”
“Nothing to tell.” I closed my eyes, smugly certain that Bran was about to have to admit to Liv that he had nothing. But again, I was surprised.
In a loud stage whisper that I felt certain could be heard all throughout the building, Bran leaned closer to Liv and said, “She’s in love with her boss.”
CHAPTER10
AIDEN
If I could have fired Layla, I would have. Not because she didn’t fit right in with the Brand Development team, not because Maureen had even hinted that her job performance was anything less than stellar. No, it was solely because I couldn’t think when she was around.
I started getting into the office early to get work done before she came in at nine. Somehow, I always knew precisely when she arrived, even with my door shut. The energy on the floor changed, became charged. I didn’t need to hear the tap of her high heels on the steps or hear her smoky laugh to know that the particles of the room had become electrified. When it happened, I gritted my teeth and put my Bose headphones on, using the pounding music of my disaffected teen years to drown out her presence.
I couldn’t avoid her though. We weren’t a huge company, and I had a hand in everything. We found ourselves going into the same conference rooms or going for the pot of coffee at the same time all throughout the week.
“Where’s your travel mug?” Layla asked teasingly on Wednesday when I showed up with the Okay-est Boss Ever mug that Maureen had gotten me a few years ago. I watched amusement gild her smile as she read it.
“I don’t go out for coffee every day,” I said shortly, trying not to be affected by her beauty.
Layla raised one eyebrow, silently questioning my terseness without seeming particularly bothered by it. It seemed she didn’t have to pretend to be unaffected by me. She treated me with the exact same comfortable affection she showed Joe and Stephan and the others. I’d say it was flirtatious, but it was how she spoke to the women, too.
“I’m sure you’re very busy,” she said, and poured the coffee in my mug before pouring her own.
It was a neat trick how she managed to sound completely serious and I still felt playfully patronized. I ground my teeth, wondering how she’d done it. Had she doneanything, or was I reading too much into everything she did?
“Thanks,” I said gruffly and turned away to head back to my office where I could shut my door and clamp my headphones over my ears and let theDropkick Murphy’sreplace the relentless thoughts of my best friend’s daughter.
But Layla’s casually friendly voice stopped me. “I’m looking forward to the game on Friday.” Her head was bent down, carefully adding milk to the top of her already full mug. She flashed me a smile. “I remember going a few times on your tickets when you’d give them to my dad.”
I didn’t have to look around to know that no one was in earshot. Layla wouldn’t have said anything otherwise. We were both careful not to mention our longstanding connection at work.
“You’ll know the seats then. They haven’t changed.”
“Right behind the dugout?”
I nodded and her smile widened. “No wonder they love you.”
