looking down at what looked like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. There was an empty space next to her, so I grabbed it and plopped down beside her.
“How’s it going?”
“Well. We’re enjoying lunch.” She smothered a smile and then took a bite of her sandwich. She covertly glanced at the woman beside her, and I saw them exchange a look. The woman was Deanna, the human resources admin, and she was a good worker from what George had said, but we’d had very little interaction.
Deanna flashed a grin my way, and I returned it. “You ladies look especially happy today. Any reason for the lighter mood?”
“George was just telling us about the April Fool’s joke his wife played on him this morning,” Deanna said breezily. Her eyes trailed my face and landed on my lips briefly. Her eyes sparkled with a hint of flirtation, almost as if she were testing the waters to see how I’d respond. I glanced away, not wanting to encourage anything there. I’d never dated an employee and wouldn’t start now. My gaze fell to Maya, and I stiffened. I couldn’t seem to shake my attraction for her after all these years, but it didn’t matter now since she worked for me. Even if she hadn’t agreed to this job, she would never consider a future with me, and I didn’t blame her.
“She told me she was pregnant,” George said, interjecting.
I took a sip of water and glanced at him. “That would make your fourth kid, right?”
“Yep, but there’s more.” He paused and waited until he had my full attention. “She said she was going into labor.”
I barked out a laugh. “No way.”
“Yeah, she’d stuffed a small pillow underneath her shirt to make her claim seem more credible, though I couldn’t figure out how I’d missed the bigger tummy.”
“That’s a good one,” I said, biting into my turkey sandwich. “That must have gotten your heart pumping fast.”
“You bet it did,” he said, chuckling.
I glanced around the table at everyone eating. “Someone played a little prank on me this morning.”
The room grew quiet as everyone’s eyes widened, and I sensed Maya’s refusal to look my way. I turned my attention to her. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you, Maya?”
She lifted a shoulder and blushed, still refusing to meet my gaze. The pinkness of her cheeks reminded me of flowers in the Spring. She’d always had a creamy complexion, but I resisted the urge to stare at her.
“Me?” Maya brought panicked eyes to mine for one fleeting second and then she glanced away. “It would be crazy to play a joke on my boss when it’s only my second day.”
“You might be right there.” I sensed Deanna’s gaze, but a gut feeling told me not to return her glance. “I got a good laugh out of it though. Someone put cat pictures all over my office.”
George was in the middle of sipping a soda and nearly blew liquid out of his mouth. He swallowed and then coughed. “Cats? Are they still there?”
“Nope, but I took a few pictures as proof.”
Maya slid down in her seat slightly as if trying to make herself less noticeable, but I sensed every inch of her next to me just like I had when we were teenagers. I’d thought it would be no big deal to work in the same office as her, but now I was starting to doubt that. I had a giddy feeling whenever I was around her, and that wasn’t good.
She and Deanna exchanged another glance, and Deanna mouthed something to her I couldn’t understand.
“Do you have any idea who did it?” George asked.
“I know exactly who the culprit is,” I said, a smile tugging at the corners of my lips.
Maya stiffened, and I resisted the urge to look her way. If she had anything to do with that prank, and I knew she did, then it meant she didn’t hate me as much as she’d led me to believe.
It wasn’t a spiteful kind of prank. Just lighthearted and fun. The impulse to reach over and place my hand on her back was so strong it hurt to resist, but touching her would be inappropriate, and I couldn’t allow myself to step over the line. I had to stop my thoughts from venturing in that direction.
Suddenly, the room felt too hot, and it seemed as if the air wasn’t circulating well enough. “I should return to my work.” I stuffed the rest of my