Another tear hit my cheek, gliding down and disappearing into my collar. “Yes.”
His kind brown eyes met mine again. “Think of it like this: perhaps this is a good thing. A chance for you to rest and regroup.”
I didn’t know how to rest outside of my schedule.
Resting outside it…felt foreign. It was terrifying to even think about. Still, I couldn’t let him know that. “Perhaps,” I uttered, running a hand through my hair.
“Do you need someone to take you home?” he finally asked, blowing out some air. He tossed his thumb over his shoulder. “Margo isn’t here, but I’m sure Rachel would be happy to.”
I shook my head, the fear of being a burden weighing heavily on my shoulders. “No, no. I couldn’t ask her to do that. She’s in the middle of her shift.”
“I’ll keep her on the clock.”
Something moved out of the corner of my eye, and I turned to find Hayes coming around the building. He was dressed in black cargo pants and a crisp white shirt. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of aviators. He looked like he just stepped off the set ofTop Gun. Just as he was about to reach his Jeep, his head turned and those sunshades were pinned on me.
“Here we fucking go,” Joey mumbled, shaking his head.
“Here what goes?”
“Angel?” Hayes called, his deep voice stretching to me.
I lifted my hand and gave him a practiced but polite wave. “Hello, Hayes.”
He didn’t speak until he was a few feet away. “Everything okay?” he asked, pulling off his shades. He shot a look at Joey. “What are you doing here?”
My tongue shot up to the roof of my mouth. “Well, I…I was just here on my lunch break,” I blurted out.
Joey rolled his eyes. “Babe, I don’t know if anyone has told you this, but you’re a terrible liar.”
Hayes’ eyes were burning into my profile as I stared at Joey. “No, I’m not,” I told him.
“Let me rephrase. You’re terrible at lying to him.” He pointed at Hayes. “This fucker is a walking lie detector.”
“Angel,” Hayes called.
I didn’t want to look at him. If I looked at him, I would start crying again. Then he would call Margo and she, being the amazing human she was, would come to my side. I didn’t need her to do that. She was slammed with work.
“Yes?”
He took a step closer. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” I chirped.
Hayes said nothing, and in one smooth movement, he picked my purse up off the ground and held it out to me. “Doesn’t look like nothing,” he noted.
“I’m fine. Just a long morning,” I assured him, hiking my bag over my shoulder.
He folded his shades and hung them from his shirt collar. “Look,” he sighed, “if you don’t tell me, I’ll just ask Joey.”
My eyes flicked to the bar owner. “He isn’t going to tell my business.”
“Yes, he will,” Hayes said at the same time Joey muttered, “Yeah, babe, I will.”
“Why would you tell him about my problems?” I demanded to know. “I barely know either of you.”
“You’re one of Margo’s girls,” Joey deadpanned. “That’s enough for both of us to have the right to be concerned.”
I pressed my lips together, not really understanding his logic. A sudden wave of exhaustion hit me, and I didn’t have the energy to attempt to explain to them how this had fundamentally fucked my next two weeks. “Marg sent me home for the day,” I told Hayes, not meeting his eyes. “I don’t have my car and came down here to…find a ride.”
