She opened her mouth to make an excuse for Haley when Jared shocked the hell out of her by leaning over and pressing a kiss to the top of Haley's head. Zoe watched in shock as the large man gently removed Haley's glasses and pushed an errant strand of hair out of her face.
"Poor thing is exhausting herself," he mumbled, sighing before he stood up and walked quietly away from Haley. He ran his hand through his hair as he exhaled slowly, looking deep in thought.
After a moment he looked up at her and gave her a small smile. "I hate to say this, Zoe, but I'm not sure that Haley is going to be able to train you and I'm afraid my wife's been out of the office for so long that I don't think she'd be much of a help."
Zoe nodded, wondering what the plan was going to be. She hoped she wasn't about to get canned.
"She has a photographic memory," Haley muttered drowsily, slightly startling her since she thought the woman was asleep. "And she catches on very quickly. She was able to fully take over the job two hours ago." She yawned loudly before adding, "And she caught us up on everything."
Jared's eyebrows arched in surprise. "Seriously?"
"Mmmhmmm," Haley grumbled seconds before soft snoring filled the room once again.
Worrying her bottom lip, Zoe nodded. She still remembered the moment her last boss realized how fast and efficiently she worked. He smiled just before he added his daily workload to hers. After that he shoved anything and everything on her that he didn't want to do and took the praise for her work.
At first she went along with it because she foolishly thought that he'd at least mention her role in all the work. She also thought by helping her boss out that she'd be on the fast track to a management position. Six months into her job she realized she wasn't going anywhere and all the raises that her boss was getting should have been hers. When she'd confronted Ted, her ex soul sucking boss, about it he merely shrugged it off and added more work to her load and a few dozen write ups to her file.
After that she learned to keep her mouth shut and do her work and his without complaint. Actually, now that she thought about it she wondered how he was managing his work now that she wasn't there to do it. With a small sigh she realized that he probably just pushed it off onto someone else.
"Do you think you could look this over and call the bank to have them fax over another copy?" Jared asked, sounding hopeful.
"Of course," Zoe said, not only because it was her job, but because for the first time in three years she had a boss who asked her to do something instead of slamming more work on her desk as he gave her a dirty look. It was a rather nice change, she thought as she picked up the thin packet.
"I would really appreciate that," Jared said with a warm smile. His eyes shot to the clock. "But it can wait until after your lunch break. I'll cover the phones for you," he offered and before she could thank him he walked back into his office, leaving her stunned.
She got a lunch break? she thought with a smile, but then her eyes landed on Haley. Maybe she should-
"I'm going to call Jason to come get Haley," Jared said, popping his head out of his office long enough to tell her.
"Okay," Zoe said, taking a seat behind her desk. By the time Jason stepped into the office she'd already gone through the packet, making notes of the figures that didn't add up.
He stepped into the office quietly, wiping sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm, acknowledging her with a smile and a nod as he walked over to where his wife slept.
"Hey, my little grasshopper, are you ready to go home?" he asked in a hushed whisper as he laid his hand over the swell of Haley's stomach and gently caressed his unborn child. The gesture was so sweet and romantic that Zoe found herself biting back a content little sigh. She might question his sanity, but she sure as hell couldn't question his devotion to his wife.
"Go away I'm working," Haley mumbled, absently swatting at her husband as she tried to snuggle deeper into the couch.
"I see," Jason said, chuckling softly. "And you're doing a really great job of it, but it's time to go home."
"I'm too tired to go home," Haley said around a small yawn.
Jason leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her mouth. "I'll carry you."
Haley was quiet for a moment before she responded. "Do I have to be awake for you to carry me?"
He chuckled. "No."
She sighed heavily. "Fine. You may carry me then," she said regally, not bothering to open her eyes.
"That's very generous of you," Jason mumbled, grinning.
"It is, isn't it?" Haley said sleepily as Jason scooped her up into his arms. She curled up in his arms and Zoe had no doubt that she was already asleep before Jason finished standing.
Zoe quickly walked over and opened the door for them. He nodded his thanks to her as he stepped out of the trailer. After she shut the door she walked over to the large stack of ledgers and prayed that the results weren't as disastrous as the last time she looked into bank accounts that didn't add up, because she was pretty sure she'd miss this place if she had to leave.
Chapter 8
"You lying bitch!" Trevor hissed as he stormed into her kitchen.
Zoe fought back a smile, knowing exactly what he was pissed about. "Good morning to you, too," she said, focusing her attention on making his lunch and barely biting back a snort of laughter.
"Don't give me that 'good morning' bullshit, Zoe. You know exactly what you did!" he accused, trying to look stern as he pointed a finger at her. His eyes darted down at the food spread out on her counter several times completely wrecking the effect, especially when he went ahead and licked his lips in anticipation.
"Can I have double cheese?" he asked, momentarily forgetting why he was pissed at her, which she noticed happened quite a bit when food was around.
Sighing heavily as if it somehow pained her to do as he asked, she put down the jar of mayonnaise and added extra cheese to his sandwiches.
"Only three sandwiches? Are you trying to starve me?" he asked with a pout that she shouldn't find adorable, but did. "You know we're not all on diets like you, don't you?" he asked as he reached out and pushed the loaf of potato bread towards her in silent demand.
With an eye roll she pulled out two more slices of bread, wondering how she let him talk her into this particular chore. Oh, that's right. Two months ago he pouted and kept on pouting for a week until she finally had enough and agreed to make his damn lunches for him. She hadn't missed the triumphant smile he tried hiding from her, but she let it slide since it meant more hours for her and because he was just so damn cute when he thought he was pulling one over on her.
"Oh god! What the hell have you poisoned me with now?" he demanded, drawing her attention.
"Hey! Stop eating my food!" she snapped, reaching over and taking her bowl of high fiber cereal away from him. He practically shoved it in her hands. "You keep screwing with my calorie count, you jerk."
A woman on a diet who was only allowing herself twelve hundred calories a day was not someone to mess with as Trevor should have already learned, but the man couldn't seem to stop himself from stealing whatever food she was eating. Most of the food she bought was admittedly gross, but it worked. If she hadn't already lost a lot of weight and actually felt good about herself she would have given up a long time ago.