“No! Well…shit, I guess,” Reid admitted. “But once I saw how good you were at the job, I knew that Alex had made the right decision. I finally came to terms with that after I left the job site yesterday. You’re the better person for the job.”
“So if you decided yesterday to stop blaming me for something Alex did—because I’ll remind you that I am completely innocent in all of this—why the shitty attitude tonight?”
Because I’m not used to seeing you joking around with the other guys on the crew.
Great, now he was both jealous and possessive. What in the hell was happening to him?
No way would he tell her that he’d been seething with jealousy over how well she was getting along with the other guys. If there was one thing he could say that would make him look like an even bigger asshole, that was it.
“I have no excuse,” he said. Reid held his hands out in a plea. “Can we just start over?”
She looked him over, skepticism teeming in her brown eyes. “What exactly does starting over mean? Does it mean you finally start treating me like just one of the guys?”
He definitely didn’t see her as just one of the guys, but Reid figured it was a safe place to start. There was still Alex to contend with. His cousin had ordered Reid to look out for her. Maybe it actually was best to think about her as just one of the guys. No matter how hard that would be for him.
“Yeah,” Reid answered. “With Alex dividing his time between the two worksites, we may find ourselves working together more often than we did already this week.”
She stuck her hand out. “To being friendly co-workers.”
He grasped her hand. “Friendly co-workers.”
Chapter Five
“I’m so good I scare my damn self,” Brooklyn murmured as she keyed in the last bit of data on the pivot table she’d just created to keep track of sick time. Not that there was anything wrong with the spreadsheet Holmes Construction had been using to monitor sick leave, but this would make the task much more efficient. She saved the file to the local server, then opened up her cloud drive to save it there as well.
Her heart gave an emphatic thump when her eyes landed on the file she’d named FELLOWSHIPS in her cloud drive. It just sat there, taunting her to open it. But opening it was unnecessary. She knew exactly what she would find if she clicked onto the little file folder icon.
Brooklyn had spent the summer researching various grants, scholarships, and fellowships throughout the country, and even a few in Canada and the U.K., searching for a way to kick up her comics game. There were new opportunities for writers and illustrators sprouting up every day. After talking herself out of applying for them for the last two years, she’d finally summoned the nerve to seek out a few programs that seemed the most open to welcoming women into their fold.
But then Dad got sick.
Whenever she even contemplated filling out one of these applications, the guilt nearly suffocated her. How could she be so selfish? How could she even consider leaving her mother to take care of her dad on her own? Just so she could work on this pipe dream of writing comics?
She should just delete this folder from her drive. Even if Dad were to get better—and, God, how she prayed his condition eventually improved—Brooklyn knew there was no way she could apply for one of the fellowships. She’d just started a new job. She couldn’t go to Alex and tell him she needed three weeks off to fly up to Chicago and attend one of the premier comic book consortiums in the country, could she?
“Of course not,” Brooklyn said with a sigh.
Yet, as the pointer hovered over the folder on the screen, something inside her would not allow her to click the computer mouse. Maybe it was just a foolish pipe dream, but it was her foolish pipe dream. She couldn’t give up on it just yet.
The trailer door opened and Reid walked in.
His eyes immediately sought her out, a tentative, slightly tense smile lifting one corner of his mouth as he greeted her with a soft, “Hey.”
“Hey,” Brooklyn returned, hearing the caution in her own voice, despite her attempt to sound normal.
She wasn’t really sure what normal looked like when it came to this new, fresh start she and Reid had embarked upon following their run-in at Pal’s Friday night. It was as if they were still feeling each other out, trying to decide what it meant to be friends-slash-co-workers-slash-something Brooklyn wasn’t sure how to define just yet.
She studied him as he turned to hang up his hardhat and remove the neon-yellow, mesh safety vest all the guys were required to wear while out in the field.
She’d anticipated the awkwardness. It wasn’t as if it could be avoided after the way she’d whaled on him outside the restroom at the bar. It was not knowing the scale and scope of the awkwardness that had gnawed at her all weekend long. Would he go back to being the guy he was her first day on the job, the one who didn’t want her there? Would he be the Reid who leaned back in Alex’s chair and lobbed silly, nosy questions at her? The one who’d walked her to her car her first week on the job? Would he acknowledge her at all?
Worry about how this would all play out when they saw each other Monday morning had hounded her the entire weekend. To both her surprise and relief, things had been okay.
Of course, Reid had been in the field most of this week, so the opportunity for awkwardness to rear its head between them had been scarce. Even so, the few times she had run into him during her daily morning and afternoon tours of the site, he hadn’t been distant or cold. He’d been…normal.
As each day drifted by, Brooklyn did her best to convince herself she was just fine with the two of them coexisting in this ordinary, run-of-the-mill way. This was how things usually worked with her workplace crushes, wasn’t it?
She felt the floor vibrate as he made his way to her desk. Brooklyn twisted her chair around before he arrived, pasting a smile on her face.
“Been a busy start, huh? How are things going out there?”
“The dump truck just arrived with the fill soil,” he answered. “They’re going to start filling the hole in another ten minutes.”
The situation with the sinkhole had gotten worse over the weekend, requiring all hands on deck in order to get things under control. Work had been halted on the left wing of the urgent care center while the engineering firm Holmes Construction had contracted scrambled to redesign the drainage system with one that would alleviate the water pressure if something like this were to happen again.
“Are they certain they’ve found the culprit?” she asked.
He nodded. “They’re pretty sure it’s a natural underground flow. I don’t have to tell you that New Orleans is basically a bowl, and Mid-City is at the bottom of it, so there’s runoff coming in from all the surrounding areas that are at a higher elevation. Alex had a soil study done well before we started this build, but according to the engineer, these pockets can develop at any time. I don’t think this was avoidable.”
“It sucks,” Brooklyn said. “It’s going to put this project behind, something I know Alex has been trying to avoid.” She pointed to her progress chart. “I’ve been staring at this thing all day, but can’t figure out how to shift the work to make up for the time lost.”
Reid came around her desk and perched on the edge, stretching his legs out and crossing his ankles. Brooklyn swore she could feel the heat radiating from his firm thigh. It sat just inches from her arm; the way his worn jeans stretched over the solid muscle taunted her to touch it. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked up at the white boards, undoubtedly clueless to the way his nearness caused her heart to race.
Relief swept through her as she reveled in the familiarity of it all. This is how a workplace crush worked. She would sit here and pine over Reid’s hotness while he had no clue that he was being mentally undressed by her overactive imagination. At the end of the day, they would bid each other good night and go their separate ways until he arrived in the morning for a cup of the coffee with chicory that Alex ke
pt here in the trailer.
This is what she wanted. The lighthearted teasing as he walked her to her car, the playful banter that tipped-toed too closely to the edge of flirting; it had muddled her thinking and thrown her expectations out of whack. Juxtapose that with the distance he’d kept once they were outside of this trailer, and it was no wonder she was so confused when it came to reading him.
She would not put herself in that position again. She was prepared to mentally fistfight any foolish thoughts about Reid Holmes being anything more than a friendly co-worker on whom she had a normal, safe, and totally innocent crush.
Damn, girl! Way to get back on track! As soon as he left this trailer she would give herself a high-five.
Reid continued to peer up at her progression chart. After another minute or so of studying it, he released an exhaustive sigh and shook his head.
“I’m not sure there is a way to make up for the lost time. The framers have already built as much of the walls off-site as they can. They’ll just have to wait until the new cement is poured before they can begin erecting them.” He shrugged. “It’s just the way these things work out sometimes.” He quickly stood and slipped his hand into his pocket. “I almost forgot why I came in here. The lead civil engineer suggested we install something to capture the runoff water and reroute it so that it can be used to irrigate the landscaping.” He nodded at her computer and handed her a sheet of paper. “You mind?”
Brooklyn snatched the paper from his fingers. “Only because I’m getting paid to do it.”
She should have known her quip would lead to a grin from him, and that his grin would lead to her heart doing that pitter patter thing again.
Nothing wrong with a pitter pattering heart when it came to a workplace crush, she reminded herself.
“Ah, there’s the smart-aleck,” Reid said with a laugh as he reclaimed his perch on her desk. “I haven’t been in here much this week. I’d forgotten about that attitude.”
If her cheeks even so much as tried to blush…
Shit. She was totally blushing.
Brooklyn stuck her nose up in the air. “Don’t expect some things to change just because we decided to start over.”
His expression shifted from amused to thoughtful. “I wouldn’t want you to change a thing,” he said, the wistful tinge to his voice knocking her off-balance.
A ripple of awareness quaked through her belly at his softly spoken words.
She caught the moment Reid recognized that he’d caused the conversation to veer off the innocuous, easygoing course it had been on. He straightened and said, “Besides, I’m the one who needed to change his attitude, remember?”
“And have you?” she asked. “You’re no longer holding the fact that I took Donte’s job against me?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Even Donte doesn’t hold it against you, not after the way you saved his ass by shifting his schedule so that he can attend his sister’s homecoming ceremony this coming Friday. He’s been the father figure in her life since their dad died. Thanks for finding someone to cover his shift so he could be there.”
Being a daddy’s girl, Brooklyn’s heart broke for Donte’s sister. She’d played Tetris with the work schedules until she found one that worked, simply because she knew how important it meant for a girl to be crowned homecoming queen and didn’t want Donte to miss it. She’d had no idea just how important it was to their family.
Brooklyn shrugged as she swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Like I said, it’s my job.”
“No, that’s going above and beyond your job.” His eyes locked with hers and the sincerity she witnessed staring back at her arrested the air in her lungs. “Holmes Construction is lucky to have you.”
It would suck if she died from lack of oxygen right now, so despite every instinct that urged her to continue holding her breath, Brooklyn willed herself to exhale.
“Thank you,” she said. “It means a lot to hear you say that.” Why did her voice sound so husky? Oh, yeah, lack of oxygen. “So,” Brooklyn said, turning back to her computer and hopefully out of the dangerous territory she suddenly found herself wading through. “What size catch basin am I ordering?”
“Right,” Reid said after a moment’s pause. He leaned closer to her computer and she instantly realized the mistake in summoning his help. He smelled like a sweaty construction worker. As far as she was concerned, if someone slapped Sweaty Construction Worker on a candle she would buy up the entire stock.
“The forty-eight by thirty-six inch should work, but make sure the inlet and outlet match the piping we already have. It would put us over budget if we had to buy all new pipes just to fit this basin.”
His phone dinged and he took a step back. Thank God.
He pulled it from his pocket, glanced at the screen, and cursed.
“Shit.” He wiped a hand over his face. “As if I don’t have enough crap on my plate today.”
Not your business, Brooklyn reminded herself. So why did the words, “Something wrong?” come out of her mouth?
Reid tapped his thumbs against the phone, then stuck it back into his pocket. “It’s taken nearly thirty years, but I’ve finally learned the meaning of the phrase biting off more than you can chew,” he answered.
Brooklyn’s mouth twisted in confusion. “You’re going to have to give me more to go on.”
He reclaimed his earlier pose, leaning against the edge of her desk and folding his arms across his broad chest.
Ignore the biceps. Ignore the biceps.
“It’s a family thing,” he started. “I volunteered to come up with the theme for this thing…this kickoff party. And I have no idea what the hell I’m doing.”
“Okay.” Brooklyn nodded. “Umm…actually, not okay. I still need more. What exactly are you kicking off?”
He looked as if he was about to indulge more, but then shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure something out by tonight.”
“Reid, come on. I’ve thrown a party or two in my day.” Exactly two, but he didn’t need to know that. “Maybe I can help.”
He released another of those deep sighs and readjusted his perch on the desk. “My family is starting a foundation in honor of my mom. She died earlier this year. In March.”
“I’m sorry,” Brooklyn said.
“Thanks.” His lips tilted in a sad smile. “Anyway, the goal of the foundation will be to educate women, specifically those in the black community, about the dangers of heart disease, which is what took my mom from us. And we want to provide scholarships to young black women who want to major in medicine. That’s the focus for now. We’ll eventually branch out as it grows, but we’re starting small.”
“Small? That’s huge, Reid. What an amazing tribute to your mother’s memory.”
“That’s the thing, it needs to be amazing. This kickoff party is the official launch of the foundation, and my brothers and sister put me in charge of coming up with the theme.” He put his hands up. “Okay, I volunteered to do it. But I didn’t think they would take me seriously. They never take me seriously.”
He pushed up from the desk and started pacing. Brooklyn tracked his steps as he marched back and forth between her desk and Alex’s. He stopped, looked up at her, and said, “I don’t know what I’m doing. What the hell do I know about coming up with party themes? The last three parties I went to were bachelor parties.”
“I doubt that’s the vibe your siblings are going for.”
“No shit,” he said with a desperate laugh. He pitched his head back and ran both hands down his face. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I should have just let Indina roll with her bougie gala idea. But that’s so damn tired.” He looked at her again. “I want something different. Something that’s going to stand out. Something that—”
He stopped. His forehead furrowed and his eyes narrowed as his gaze focused on her breasts.
“Hey.” Brooklyn crossed her arms over her chest. “Stop that.”
“
Wait. No.” He shook his head. “No, I wasn’t staring at your chest. Okay, I was, but not for the reason you think.” He pointed at her. “Your shirt.”
She uncrossed her arms and looked down at her well-worn Wonder Woman T-shirt. She had at least a half-dozen she wore to profess her love for her favorite Amazonian princess, but this one was, hands down, her favorite.
“What about my shirt?”
“My mom’s foundation is all about creating a space where girls can grow into strong, capable women. Who’s stronger than Wonder Woman?”
“Well, if we’re talking pure physical strength, The Hulk or Thor would win out.”
“I mean women.”
“In that case.” Brooklyn pointed to the emblem on her chest. “This is your girl.”
And, great. She just directed his attention back to her breasts. And, oh shit, her nipples were now responding to the fact that he was once again staring at her breasts.
She quickly put her elbows on her desk and folded her hands, surreptitiously blocking his view.
“Are you sure it would work as a theme for that kind of party?” Brooklyn asked. “I had a Wonder Woman birthday party when I was six years old.”
And ten. And twelve. And twenty-two.
“I’m not saying we blow up a ton of balloons and hand out those little paper whistles. I was thinking something a bit classier than that, but still fun. People can even dress up if they want.”
“Are you talking full costumes, or just a She-Ra crown?”
He hunched his shoulders. “Not sure yet. I just came up with the idea. My brain doesn’t work that fast,” he answered with a grin.
She reeeeally needed him to put the brakes on the sexy grins. They were coming too fast and too furiously for her heart to maintain a healthy rhythm.
Brooklyn cleared her throat. “So, sophisticated super heroes.”
“Yeah.” He nodded as he returned to her desk, his relaxed gait a stark contrast to his frantic pacing from moments ago. “I’m picturing something fun and not boring, but that people who’ve paid five hundred dollars just to walk through the door will still feel comfortable attending.”
Awaken Me Page 9