Broken & Torn (Emerald Falls #1)

6. 6

6

PARKER

M y plan is falling apart because Lyla Thomas is the world’s best employee.

It’s mid week and she has been killing it at the store, much to my dismay. Not only do I have no reason to complain about her, but her work ethic rivals my own. I had expected a typical prissy princess who wouldn’t want to pull her weight. Instead, I was worried I wasn’t pulling mine. I hadn’t expected her to excel the way she has. She’s like an energizer bunny, never standing still. She’s constantly cleaning and is always the first one to run up to a new customer. I notice that sometimes she speaks very quickly, to the point that she stumbles over her words and has to repeat herself to customers. She gets so animated when she talks about books and while her first love seems to be fantasy, she always has recommendations for any genre.

At first, I was pissed off. I was irritated that everybody seemed to love her and gravitate towards her, like it was a pull they couldn’t control. However, the more time we spent in the store together, the more I feel that same pull. I’m not sure if it’s her bubbly and outgoing personality or her quiet strength that she radiates without reason, but Lyla is growing on me. The more I see of her, the more uncomfortable I feel about our first interactions.

Dammit.

How did I allow this to happen? While I like the other people who reside in this town and am polite to everyone, I don’t let people in, never gravitate towards anyone. It has been my coping mechanism my whole life, but especially after Annie left. It’s easier when people don’t love you because they don’t know you well enough to. But when they know you and reject you? That isn’t something I’ve ever been able to recover from. Whether it was on the playground or with my ex-fiancée, I had received a ton of rejection over the years. People don’t understand me. Men find me too sensitive, and women find me stand-offish. I don’t fit in and that has always caused me to isolate. It’s the safe way to live.

Something about Lyla makes me want to know more and that is entirely unnerving for someone who generally stays away from others. I don’t like feeling vulnerable and I suspect the longer I know her, the more likely it will be that we become friends. I haven’t spoken to her much and have been my usual broody self, but it’s getting more difficult to pretend. I don’t hate her like I thought I would when we first met, and again when I found out she had been our new hire. I’m still wary, but even I had to admit that being around Lyla is like being surrounded by sunshine.

Her laugh draws my attention and I see her excitedly chatting with a customer.

“Oh my gosh, I absolutely love Kodaline! ‘All I Want’ is one of my favorite songs.”

Fuck. One of my favorite bands.

I don’t stand a chance. This girl is intriguing.

Would I tell her that I think so? Absolutely not.