Instead she saluted him, which sent Zander into another round of laughter.
“Do I need to clear any side trips with y’all?” she asked as she slid into the back of a very sleek, luxurious car.
Oh heaven, but the leather was covered in the heady aroma of new-car smell. It had to belong to Silas because surely no one else he associated with was such a neat freak. She couldn’t see a single speck of dust anywhere. She was almost afraid to touch anything.
“What kind of side trips?” Justice asked warily.
“Market on the way home? I need groceries.”
It was a lie, but then again it wasn’t. She technically did need groceries, but not the kind she planned to buy. She wasn’t in the least bit domestic and her father had never minded a single bit. He did all the cooking even though she’d tried time and time again to get him to teach her so she could take over the preparation of at least some of the meals they shared in the evenings.
But twice now she’d overheard conversation between Silas’s men, when they had no idea she was within hearing distance, and they’d gushed on and on about how awesome Evangeline’s cooking was. How it was manna from heaven, a gift from the gods. Blech. There was only so much Hayley could stand. The damn woman, whoever she was, was perfect. The men revered her and put her on a pedestal.
And apparently Silas was dating her. Lucky him.
Her sarcasm was starting to burn even her. God, she sounded—and acted—just like a jealous bitch. It was an emotion that until now had been utterly foreign to her, and it left her bewildered by the power of the feelings Silas stirred within her.
Again, why couldn’t she be attracted to any of his six business partners? Six hunky, drool-worthy alpha males. Most women would kill to be surrounded by so much testosterone on a daily basis, and yet shewas pouting and sulking like a child because the one man she was attracted to obviously didn’t return her attraction.
No, she might not be a goddess in the kitchen, but there was at least one meal she could kick that was guaranteed to rock their world. Then maybe they’d quit running out for takeout every single night. It made her feel guilty that they were forever paying for her meals when she couldn’t afford to eat out every day.
“Hayley? You with us?”
She shook herself from her dour thoughts and retrained her gaze on Justice.
“I was asking why you needed groceries,” he explained patiently.
“Because I don’t have them and I need them to eat?”
He sighed, but then conceded. “All right. We’ll run by the market on the way home. Although if you want, you could just tell me what to pick up and I’ll run by and get it on our way to pick you up this afternoon.”
She considered his offer for a moment. Since it did take a while to prepare the meal in question, it would be good if she had all afternoon to soak the fish.
“I’ll text it to you,” she said.
He grunted as if surprised he’d actually won an argument with her for once. As if she ever won when they had their minds set on something.
18
As soon as Hayley started down the steps of the school, she immediately saw Maddox, Justice and Zander standing by an illegally parked car. Not that they gave a damn. Someone would have to be a fool to tell them to their face they had to move. Before she hit the bottom step, Justice was beside her, his hand cupping her elbow while Zander reached for her violin case.
“Seriously, guys. It’s sweet of y’all to hover over me the way y’all do, but this really isn’t necessary. I feel like a helpless Barbie doll with the way y’all treat me. Like I’ll break or something.”
“You did break something,” Maddox growled as they approached the car. “Or do you forget those bastards breaking your ribs and doing their best to break every bone in your face?”
“Oh yeah. That,” she muttered. Then she glared back at him. “Do you ever lose an argument or fail to have the last word?”
His smug smile told her his response without him having to say a single word.
“Y’all may be hot, but you’re also annoying as hell,” she said under her breath.
She heard Justice and Zander choke beside her while Maddox just laughed.
“Hot? Did she say we were hot?” Justice asked between wheezes.
“Just don’t say that in front of Silas,” Zander rumbled.
“What is with warning me not to talk about y’all’s hotness in front of Silas?” she asked in exasperation. “First, he doesn’t care who I find hot or not and second, he doesn’t get to decide who I say is hot.”
