“Are you trying to justify some make-believe crush you think I have on Hayden or that sparkle in your eyes when you say Parker’s name?”
His smile grows to twice its original size. “Man, if I thought for even a second I had a shot with Parker, I’d jump on the opportunity to take her out. She’s gorgeous.”
“There’s more to women than just looks.”
“Did you not hear her tonight?”
“I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Because Hayden was in the room. Look, I understand, but Parker isn’t a simpleton. She’s very smart. Her vocabulary is top notch. Her reasoning skills are on point, The woman is smart.”
“If she’s as brilliant as you’re making her sound, then she should be able to take a hint that I’m not interested,” I argue as I start walking toward my truck.
“She’s well aware you aren’t interested. I think she’s trying to make Hayden realize she likes you.”
“What?” I spin around so fast I nearly knock him over.
“Not interested, huh?”
“What are we, in high school? Just drop it.” Please don’t drop it because I want to know what I missed.
“I’m not Brooks,” he blessedly continues even though I told him not to. “But I know when a woman is put off and when they’re interested. Did you see the way she looked up at you when she was putting her hair behind her ear? Classic flirty move.”
“Are you getting your information from How to Date For Dummies? She did that because it kept falling in her face and tickling her chin.”
I can’t believe I was overly eager, and that’s the tidbit of information he has? Waste of my damn time.
“There’s a How to Date for Dummies?”
I laugh at his question, but don’t mention his awkwardness.
“I’m going home,” I mutter as I hit my key fob and unlock my truck door.
“Yeah, okay. See you at the office.”
I give him a wave, but the asshole is right. Home isn’t where I want to be, and instead of driving in that direction, I arrow my truck right to the Blackbridge offices. I know he’s going to bring up tonight to anyone there that will listen, and I figure being here would give me a little more control over the conversation.
I stop off to grab some fast food, wondering what Hayden had for dinner before heading to work. I realize how random the thought is, especially since I haven’t really had a second alone with the woman.
The guys are already laughing when I enter the breakroom with my paper bag filled with cheeseburgers and fries. Yes burgers—plural—because I’m a big guy and can put away some food.
“Any chance I can give you assholes a burger in exchange for shutting up and letting me eat in peace?”
“We already ate,” Brooks says as he points between himself and Kit.
“I’ll take one,” Jude says, holding his hands out in front of him like he’s getting ready to catch a football.
He laughs loudly when I narrow my eyes.
“I was just telling the guys about your crush on Hayden.”
“Fucker,” I mutter, tossing him a burger.
He doesn’t open his mouth to talk about the woman again until after he’s sank his teeth into the food.
“She’s adorable,” Jude says around a bite of food. “A tiny little thing, like small enough he could fit her in his pocket. He couldn’t take his eyes off her the entire night.”
“You going to hit that?” Brooks asks.
The man is a huge flirt and has had his share of women. He’s never been in a real relationship that I know of, but he leaves them satisfied, and is somehow able to walk away with them smiling.
“I’m not hitting anything,” I say before taking a bite so big that I couldn’t talk even if I wanted to.
They either don’t notice or don’t care about my reluctance.
“You need a good woman in your life. It’s been a while since you’ve been on a date.”
“I date,” I mumble around partially chewed food.
Brooks scrunches his nose, always the one to have perfect manners. But wouldn’t good manners include not talking with a full mouth as well as dropping a topic of conversation when someone isn’t wanting to talk?
“When was the last time you were on a date?”
“I had coffee last week.”
“You mean the business meeting with Mr. Palmer? Is there something you’ve failed to tell us, because if you’re counting that as a date…” I glare at Brooks, hating that his grin only seems to be getting bigger.
“I’m not gay,” I say after forcing down the food in my mouth. I take a smaller bite next because it doesn’t seem they’re going to let me off the hook whether I’m eating or not.
“But you can’t recall the last time you went on a date?” Jude asks, holding out his hand. “Napkin.”
I all but growl at him as I reach into the paper sack and shove a napkin in his direction.