Part 7 (1/2)

”Aly, what am I going to do with you?” he asked in a low tone.

Surprised, I said the first thing that came to my mind. ”I don't know, Paul. I'm wondering what I'm going to do with you.”

That made him throw his head back and laugh. I felt even more annoyed and scowled at him. He tried to hold back his laughter, but didn't do a very good job of it.

”I fail to see how this is funny,” I said.

He stood and went to sit behind his desk. I sighed at the s.p.a.ce between us. I couldn't think clearly when he was so close. I needed to work on that.

”You amuse me, that's all,” he replied.

Not liking that, I crossed my arms against my chest and glared at him. He was really getting on my nerves. Before I could tell him that, his cell phone started ringing.

Cursing under his breath, he picked it up and glanced at the screen to see who was calling. Pressing a b.u.t.ton, it immediately stopped. I guessed at who was calling, which made me even more upset. It was good he didn't answer, but she never failed at letting me know she existed.

”Sorry about that. You know, you're really cute when you're mad.”

”Okay, Paul. I've had it. You can't tell me one thing this morning and then say things like that to me this afternoon. You made it quite clear we only work together and that it should stay that way. So I'm putting my foot down and asking you to please do that.”

Whoa, where did that come from? Am I crazy? No, he doesn't get to play by two sets of rules.

Taken aback, he stared at me. ”You're right.”

Disappointed he didn't fight me on it, I sighed. I have worked for this man for three years and never once had things been awkward between us, until now. Still confused as to why, I decided to finally to ask him.

”What's going on, Paul? Things have never been awkward between us the whole time we've worked together. Why now?”

I could tell he didn't like the question. He looked at me with confusion. He opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it. A minute later he finally answered.

”Aly, you're important to me. You're a huge part of why Pierce Homes is so successful. We work closely together, day in and day out. I'm sorry things have been awkward between us lately and kissing you didn't help.”

Feeling the humiliation creep back in, I lowered my gaze to my lap. I didn't need to hear over and over how he felt kissing me was a mistake. Once was enough.

”Okay, we've been over that. You regret kissing me, I get it,” I said, refusing to look at him.

”You think I regret kissing you?” he asked with a surprised tone in his voice.

My head shot up. ”Well, yeah. After what you said this morning, what else was I supposed to think?”

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Paul let out a sharp, ”Come in.” I turned around to see who it was, not sure whether to throttle them or thank them for the interruption.

Ethan opened the door and stepped inside. Seeing me there, he smiled. ”Hey, Aly,” he said before addressing Paul. I looked over at Paul and saw his face harden. I was so confused.

”Sorry to interrupt, Paul, but I need to talk to you about an issue that just came up for the Glendale project. Do you have a minute?”

Nodding, Paul looked over to me. ”We'll continue this as soon as Ethan and I are finished.” Taking that as my cue to leave, I stood and walked over to the door. As I was about to exit, Ethan took a hold of my hand and gave it a squeeze. Smiling at him, I shut the door behind me.

Grateful for the break from the tension with Paul, I headed out to the break room to get a drink of water. I was also worried about the issue Ethan referred to with the Glendale project. We were getting everything finalized to break ground soon and I hoped it was nothing serious.

I got to the break room and leaned back against the sink as I gulped down my water., I started to wonder just what was going on in my life. One minute, I'm crus.h.i.+ng on Paul with no drama. The next, he's acting weird and kissing me, then apologizing for it. The man was driving me crazy and I didn't know how much longer I could deal with it.

When I got back to my office, Ethan was at the door of Paul's office. Hearing me come in, he turned and waved at me.

”I'll go call him back right now, Paul. I appreciate the help. I'll let you know what he says,” Ethan said as turned to leave.

He stopped at my chair and ruffled my hair. ”You doing okay, Aly?” he asked.

Giving him a shadow of a smile, I nodded. ”I'm fine. Everything okay with the Glendale project?”

”Yep. Had a little glitch, but Paul and I figured it out. I'm on my way to fix it now. I'll talk to you later.” I waved to him and watched him disappear from my office. I suddenly really needed him and was about to call him back when I heard Paul's voice.

”In my office. Now.”

I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath. He shut the door behind me, then crossed over to sit behind his desk. He nodded for me to take a seat as well. I decided I'd better not be difficult, so I let out a sigh and sat back down.

I didn't say anything as I waited for him to begin. It was obvious he was extremely annoyed and I was sure he'd enlighten me as to why. Like I didn't already know.

Finally, he leaned over his desk, giving me an intense look. ”I have to know something,” he said.

Not sure what he meant, I raised a brow. ”What?”

He pointed to his office door, ”You and Baker. You say you're only friends, but I suspect he feels differently.”

What the h.e.l.l?

”Number one, I fail to see how any of that is your business and number two, you are crazy. Ethan doesn't like me more than a friend because that's just what we are, friends.”

He slammed a fist on his desk. ”Dammit, Aly! You are not taking me seriously. And it is my business!”

Startled, I jumped a little in my chair. He never spoke this way to me. How was I supposed to react?

”I'm not the one playing games here. What I do in my private life is none of your concern. Frankly, your little tantrums over Baker are getting old.”

That didn't go over well. His green eyes darkened and he ran a hand through his hair. ”My little tantrums? Oh you haven't seen any of my tantrums, as you call them.”

I scowled at him. ”What is that supposed to mean?”

”It's supposed to mean exactly that. I don't appreciate your backtalk, Aly. I think I had a legitimate question there. I sense that Baker feels more than friends.h.i.+p for you. I merely asked you what your feelings were.”

I couldn't believe my ears. ”My feelings? I don't remember you asking me what my feelings were. I just remember you stating you suspect Ethan feels more than friends.h.i.+p for me. And for your information, I don't feel anything more than friends.h.i.+p for him. If, if, he feels more for me, that isn't something I can control. To be honest, I am at a loss as to why we are even having this conversation.” I sat back on my chair and folded my arms across my chest, twirling my hair around my finger. I was seething, and also a little turned on, much to my chagrin.

When he looked at me, his green eyes were blazing. ”Aly,” he whispered my name, then put his head in his hands. I could tell something was troubling him, but at the moment I wasn't in the mood to comfort him. His telling me this morning that he regretted our kiss killed that.

I sat there, waiting for him to finish what he'd started. He raised his head and looked at me. I saw more emotion in his eyes then than I ever had before. I wasn't sure what was going on in that head of his.

Suddenly, his expression changed and he looked clearer. ”You know what? Just forget about this. I'm sorry I brought it up. Obviously you two are just friends and even if you were more, it's none of my business. I just worry too much sometimes about things I shouldn't.”

His complete change in att.i.tude threw me for a loop. Even though I was perplexed at what had just transpired, I wasn't up to pus.h.i.+ng it with him. All I wanted was for things to go back to the way they were, when we were comfortable around each other.

I stood. ”Fine. Whatever, Paul. If you're done, then I should get back to work. I'm working out how soon we can do a fundraiser for Hidden Creek and trying to line things up for the Glendale ribbon cutting ceremony. We need to get the Glendale residents to their temporary housing as soon as possible too.”