Love Unspoken (The Maya Alden Romance Collection #2)

1. Naya

ONE

NAYA

"I think Naya has a crush on you, Amias," I heard Ann's voice right before I was about to knock on my company's CEO's office door.

"I've known Naya for years," Amias replied.

"And she's had a crush on you for years. Everyone knows it."

"She may have a thing for me, but everyone also knows that I don't think of her that way. She's Nolan's sister, for fuck's sake."

Ann laughed and there was a teasing note in her voice. "Ah, you do know about her crush."

"It's a little hard to miss. I wish she wouldn't be so obvious. But it is what it is."

"It is a little pathetic the way she keeps watching you. Are you really not interested in her, even just a little bit? I mean, I know she's dull but…some men like that."

"I'm not interested in Nolan's fucking sister," he growled.

"Really?"

"Oh, for god's sake, Ann, please tell me you're not jealous of Naya. Have you looked at her? The woman has no curves to speak of; she has terrible fashion sense. Added to that, she's boring as fuck."

I stood frozen outside his door. Not sure what to do or how to do it. I just needed to raise my hand and knock on his door, and they'd stop talking about me.

"Then why did you hire her?"

"I was doing her brother a favor, alright? And she's a decent programmer."

A decent programmer?

"She went to a state school; how decent can she be?" Ann said.

I'd gone to the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and had graduated with a degree in computer science engineering.

I was recruited from university and worked at Google in the San Francisco Bay Area for three years before returning to Boston when my father fell sick.

I moved in with him and took care of him until he passed some months ago.

Nolan said he had a family, so he couldn't take care of Daddy and would have to put him in a home.

I knew my father was frightened of that because of how he had seen some of his friends treated at hospices, which is why I became his full-time caregiver.

I hired a nurse to be with him during the day and tried to work from home as often as possible.

"She's an okay programmer, Ann. She needed a job in Boston, and I helped out. And she's Ethan's problem. Not mine."

Ethan's problem? Ethan Rogers, my boss, always told me I was his star employee. Was he gaslighting me?

I wanted to walk away, but I couldn't. We were on a deadline, and I needed to run the specs of the program the team had been working on by Amias.

Finally, after pulling together all my courage, I knocked on his door, not letting my mind wander. I had to compartmentalize. Keep things in their place. Emotions locked in one file server. Password protected.

Now, forget that password, Naya, don't think about what he said, and walk in with your head held high.

"Come in," I heard Amias' deep voice.

I opened the door and smiled wanly. "Amias, we have Project Phoenix on the calendar. We have a milestone deadline today. Hi, Ann."

"Right, yeah, we have a meeting," he said absently.

Ann, Amias, my brother Nolan, and a few others had all gone to MIT together and were part of the same friend group.

I'd fallen head over heels for Amias the first time I'd seen him when he'd come to our place with Nolan.

His popularity with women was well known, and I'd heard about all the women Amias was banging when his friends ribbed him about it.

And now, as one of the rising tech stars in Boston, he was always enjoying a woman until he and Ann had decided to end their on-again, off-again romance and become a proper couple.

Now, they were banging only each other. Or so the story went.

I thought I'd hidden my crush. After all, I didn't talk to him or many others in a social setting. I felt ashamed that everyone knew. Tears pricked the back of my eyes, but I shoved them away.

Not the time and place to have a breakdown, Naya. Wait until you get home.

"Hi, Naya. How are you? I love your outfit. Very business." Ann was blonde, tall and supermodel gorgeous. She also had a mean streak.

I felt humiliated. Amias had said that I had no fashion sense.

I guess I didn't. I also didn't have the money to go shopping like Ann who was a big time executive and had a trust fund to boot.

I was still paying off my father's medical bills, which Nolan conveniently decided he couldn't contribute to because he had just bought a house.

And that is why I was living in a tiny apartment in South End while I chipped away at massive debt.

I shopped at Marshall's, Ross, and TJ Maxx. If anything cost more than twenty dollars, I didn't buy it. But I looked alright, at least until now, I thought I had.

Today, I was in black dress pants and a black sweater.

Black was my go-to color, and I had plenty of clothes in black.

Actually, nearly all my clothes were black.

I wasn't a fashion plate or a good-looking woman by any means.

I knew very well that someone who looked like Amias was way out of my league.

I was average height, five feet five, size six to eight, depending upon the brand; my hair was some kind of brown.

My face was nothing to write home about except for the small scar right above my left eyebrow, which was the result of an accident.

That was the other reason why I covered my legs at all times.

To work, I wore professional clothes – blouses, shirts, and sweaters with dress pants.

I wore comfortable shoes because I bicycled to and from work.

I tied my hair in a ponytail because I didn't like it falling in my eyes when I worked. I wore little jewelry, just earrings I bought on sale, which were definitely not diamonds like the ones sparkling on Ann’s ears, hands, and neck.

I was your garden-variety Plain Jane.

"Thanks, Ann," I said politely and caught the scowl Amias threw his girlfriend's way and her smirk in response.

Amazing how some people took pleasure in making fun of others.

I'd never be able to understand that. Why someone who looked like Ann, a Vice President of R the guy hated me.

"Thanks for sending the project plan," he muttered.

"Please let me know if you need anything else," I replied, staring at my shoes.

Mousy Naya didn't make a lot of eye contact. I was an introvert by personality, but I felt rawer than usual after what I had overheard coupled with Amias' reprimand in his office.

The elevator beeped, and we both stepped in. Amias pressed the button for the parking garage. I leaned over to his side and pressed the button for the lobby.

"Where's your car parked?" he asked.

"Ah…I bicycle," I told him blindly staring at the elevator doors.

"In this weather?"

It was November in Boston and I understood where he was coming from. But I liked to bicycle, and I was happy to save money on car payments.

"It's a short ride home," I mumbled.

"Where do you live?" he asked.

He'd shown more curiosity about my personal life since we got in this elevator than in the past three years I worked at Midas.

"South End."

The elevator thankfully stopped.

"Goodnight," I said softly and scurried away. I hated how small I felt when I was around Amias. Now that I knew he thought I was a woman with no curves, my insecurities were lit up like a Christmas tree.

While I bicycled home, wrapped up in a warm coat, hat, scarf and gloves, I called Nolan by asking Siri to dial.

"Yeah?"

"Hi, Nolan," I spoke into my earbuds.

"Naya, is this urgent?"

This was how all our conversations went. It was always transactional with Nolan. I had no idea why he couldn't muster any affection for me, but I'd given up trying to figure that out.

"Yes," I said firmly. "Did you ask Amias to give me a job?"

"What?"

"You heard me, Nolan."

I heard a long sigh. "I didn't. I may have mentioned that since you were moving, you'd need a job in Boston. Why?"

"I…I just overheard a conversation that made me wonder. Anyway…thanks. Say hi to Magnus and?—"

"Naya," my sister-in-law grabbed Nolan's phone, "can you babysit Magnus tomorrow night?"

"Ah…."

"Our regular canceled, and Amias and Ann are throwing a party at his place," she motored on.

"Sure, Kara."

"Great. I'll drop him off around six? Thanks."

And then they hung up on me. Boring nerdy Auntie Naya, who dressed like a frump and had nobody in her life. I needed to get some cats, and I'd be set at the tender age of twenty-six to be a cat lady. If only I wasn't allergic to the little furballs.