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TheBrassBeanbuzzedwith life despite it being early Tuesday morning. I’d stopped in to grab a coffee before heading over to work at The Harrison Agency. I’d been working for Casey’s dad for several months now and with the exception of onething, I couldn’t be happier. Well, I could be happier, but that was a moot point.
By chance, I happened to run into Casey who was also on her way to work. My best friend ran the social media accounts for her fiancé Jason’s steakhouse and French bistro. Casey had once been like me, stuck in a crummy job and miserable in her personal life, but she’d triumphed over it all. That didn’t mean getting there had been easy.
After experiencing the hardest day of her life, Casey came home to find it was much, much worse. I’ll never forget her horrified expression or the tears in her eyes as we spotted her dickhead ex-husband on her front porch kissing and groping his barely-legal squeeze. My best friend allowed herself a few days to wallow before she took action. That’s right. Casey dumped her ex-husband’s ass and went through a magnificent renaissance. She’d rediscovered her backbone. She’d taken that piece of shit to the cleaners. She quit her job, and after a chance encounter, fell back in love with the guy she’d been mad about in college. Now, she was happiest she’d ever been. Casey loved her job. She loved her man and it showed. Oh, and she wrote a romantic suspense novel that just hit the best-sellers list on the world’s largest online retailer.
“I’m so glad I ran into you,” Casey said as we stood off to the side to wait for our coffees to be prepared. “There was something I wanted to ask you.”
“Oh?” I said. “Is everything okay?”
“It’s nothing serious. Well, it is serious, but in a good way. Jason tossed out the idea of us throwing a co-bachelor/bachelorette party at this club his friend owns. You’re the first person we’re inviting."
“Of course, I’ll be there!” I exclaimed excitedly, not missing a beat. “I’d never miss the chance to celebrate you and Jason finally getting your shit together."
“When you put it that way, no. You definitely would not.” Casey laughed. “So, I can count on you to be there?”
“You’re damn right I’ll be there—”
“Ah, Deandra. How lovely to run into you. Oh, and Casey. Good morning to you as well.” A familiar voice suddenly spoke behind us. Casey shifted to greet the offending person, turning on her megawatt smile while I remained facing forward, watching the baristas as they worked.
I tried not to growl as Casey and the intruder chatted. I, meanwhile, stood with my arms crossed over my chest, beyond irritated. I rolled my eyes so many times I was surprised it didn’t knock me over. This was unbelievable. The one person I didn’t want to see was here. The one guy who’d been a thorn in my side for the last six months. My co-worker.
Standing at six-five, Travis MacDaniel was chiseled from his years playing college and professional football. With tousled dark brown hair, arresting brown eyes (think tiger’s eyes), and the most beautiful mouth I’d ever seen, Travis was made for sin. And sex. And mind-blowing orgasms. Not that I wanted any of those things from him. I wanted nothing to do with him because since he’d come to work at Russell’s, he’d gone out of his way to pester and annoy me. And frankly, I was over it. So over it.
“Travis!” Casey’s sweet, honied tone made me sick. The last person she needed to be nice to was the douche canoe who even the sound of him breathing got under my skin.
“How are you?” Travis gave her a simple, respectful hug. No doubt he was still on guard after what happened last time he'd hugged her. Casey, Jason, Travis, and I had gone out to dinner and Travis had had one too many. At the end of the night, he’d gotten a little tipsy and well, a lot emotional. Even I could see that when he leaned in to hug Casey and held on, it wasn’t lust or desire fueling the action. It was the need for comfort. A band-aid on what could only be incredible pain caused from his wife leaving. It was the only time I’d ever felt a shred of empathy for him.
“I’m good,” Casey chuckled as she pulled him in for a full hug. “You don’t have to worry about hugging me, Travis.” She patted his back a few times before letting him go. “Your best friend has been made well aware of how he acted like a complete ass that night.”
“Well, it didn’t help that I had too much to drink.” Travis offered a smile. I could tell by the tight way his mouth was stretched that he still believed he deserved the near-punch he almost received.
“You had every right to kick back and relax,” Casey stated, not letting him off the hook. “You carry a lot of responsibility. It’s okay to be a grown up once in a while. Even single dads are allowed to have a good time. Trust me, I know. I was raised by one. I know how important it is for you to find the right balance in your work-slash-personal life.
“Thanks.” His entire body deflated. “You don’t know how much I needed to hear that.”
“She’s right, you know." I heard myself say before I realized I’d spoken. “You’ve got to cut yourself some slack. Be kinder to yourself. You’ve experienced a lot of big changes over the last few years. And you shouldtrust me, becauseI knowwhat it’s like.”
To my surprise, Travis busted out with an easy, happy laugh. “I know how much it probably killed you to say that, but thank you, Deandra. I appreciate it.”
“I’d appreciate it if you’d stop calling me that. I prefer ‘Dee.’ No one uses my full name except my mother.”
“Well, it’s your name, isn’t it?” he bandied back. The jerk.
“Yeah. So what?”
“Well, if that’s your name, then it’s perfectly acceptable for someone to call you that. I mean, it’s even on your office door at work.” Travis smirked, that gorgeous dimple in his left cheek decided to make an appearance. Goddamn him and that dimple. It had the power to make me feel things that I absolutelydid notwant to feel. Things I thought I wouldn’t feel for a long, long time.
“That is irrelevant!” I snapped angrily. “I prefer to go by Dee and I expect you to use it like everyone else!”
Travis scrunched up his face as if he were thinking really hard. “Nah,” he said a few seconds later, wearing an ever bigger cheeky grin. “I like Deandra.That’syour actual,professionalname, after all, and so, that’s what I’m going to go with.”
Before I had the chance to tear into him, he piped up.
“Oh look! Our coffees are ready.” Giving me a wink, Travis skipped ahead, grabbed his coffee before he headed out.
“See you at the office, Deandra! You too, Casey. Tell Jason I said hi!” he shouted just before he exited the building. I stood fuming, barely able to keep my anger in check.
"The fucker must have ordered ahead through the app," I grumbled. “If not, then he just stole some poor schmuck’s coffee.”
