Hayden and Ron? Together?


    And thatst name… Hart?


    All these thoughts mmed into my brain like a freight train.


    I’d had my doubts before. I’d tried to connect the dots, but they both yed it off like I was


    imagining things. But now, seeing them here, there was no denying it


    “Hayden!” I called out


    Both Hayden and Ron turned toward me.


    I was half–crouching by the pond, so they didn’t see me at first. Ron even nudged Hayden and said,


    “Who’s calling you? I thought I heard-


    Before he could finish, Hayden spotted me and walked over. “You almost fell in,” he said, reaching


    out his hand. I thought he was going to help me up, so I started to grab it.


    But instead, he just scooped me up like I weighed nothing and carried me away from the pond.


    “Aren’t you supposed to be having lunch with Mrs. Johnston? What are you doing here?”


    Seriously? We were at a restaurant. What did he think I was doing here, feeding the fish?


    Being swept up in his arms like that left me a little flustered. It took me a second to get my bearings.


    I nced at him, then at Ron, who was standing nearby with a teasing smile, clearly entertained.


    “You two… know each other?” I asked.


    “Yeah,” Hayden said easily, but then added, “We just met.”


    Ron walked over. “So, Ms. Kay’s boyfriend is Mr. Hart. That means he came for a job interview with


    us because someone had referred him. Was that you, Ms. Kay?”


    His words made it clear why they were together.


    It all sounded so reasonable. I had mentioned OceanixCorp vacancy to Hayden before, but this was


    happening way too fast.


    I looked at Hayden, stunned. He seemed totally unfazed, though his voice dropped a little as he


    said, Someone’s been paying a lot of attention to my girlfriend. Thought I’d stick around.”


    I was speechless.


    Even though Hayden’s voice was quiet, Ron caught on andughed. “Ms. Kay, aren’t you going to


    wee your new colleague?”


    Wait, so Hayden got the job?


    I mean, it made sense with his experience, but this seemed way too easy. Easy enough that Ron


    was already inviting him to a celebratory lunch?


    “Ms. Kay, I look forward to working with you,” Hayden said, extending his hand to me.


    I was about to shake it, but Ron jumped in, grinning. “With you two, a handshake? Come on, you


    should go


    for


    a hin hug.


    +25 BONU


    I was speechless. Again.


    N?velDrama.Org owns this.


    “Sure!” Hayden said with a smile, and the next thing I knew, he was pulling me into his arms.


    ‘Perfect, just perfect,” Ron sighed dramatically from the side.


    Even though it was just a hug and Hayden and I were officially a couple now, I still felt a little


    embarrassed. I was about to step back when I heard a familiar voice, low and distressed.


    “Jace, I don’t know what to do anymore. Tell me, what can I do to make your mom like me?”


    It was Tanya.


    “You don’t need to do anything.” Jace replied, his tone icy.


    “Why?” she actually asked.


    I knew exactly what he meant–Lindey didn’t like Tanya, and no amount of effort was going to


    change that. Jace was just trying to spare her feelings by not spelling it out.


    “Let’s go. I’ll take you home,” Jace said.


    There was silence from Tanya. I thought they’d left when Jace spoke again, his voiceced with


    frustration. “Come on, or do you still want to stay for lunch? Do you even have an appetite?”