Apparently, the idiot didn’t count on Brandon remembering that insignificant comment he’d made weeks ago, because in his report he included the part about answering one of her questions in Spanish. However, he wasn’t stupid enough to mention whether or not she’d been blown away.
Last night after calming down, Brandon had no doubt he’d overreacted. He was even mad at himself for doing so. This really was getting ridiculous. If he wanted nothing to do with Ms. Brady, then why the hell did he care about seeing her with someone else? After finishing the meticulously written report, Brandon was now glad he had reacted the way he had. If Rodriguez hadn’t blown Ms. Brady away yesterday, Brandon doubted that after his nearly explosive reaction Rodriguez would be looking for another chance to impress her again.
Cursing himself, Brandon set the report down, remembering how he’d actually looked up the name Brady to make sure it in no way had any Hispanic ties. She’d made it clear that she was a Ms., not a Mrs. That meant one thing. Either she was part Hispanic and her father had Irish roots, which seemed unlikely given her looks, or she’d previously been married to a Brady. If it was the latter, then unlike with Sofie and Eric, Rodriguez or any other Hispanic guy shouldn’t have a cultural advantage over Brandon about getting a girl like Ms. Brady, especially guys like Rodriguez using his Spanish to try and impress her. If she’d married out of her culture before, obviously it didn’t matter to her.
Brandon shot out of his chair, more annoyed with himself than he had been last night. The fact that he was even thinking in these terms was absolutely unacceptable. He dropped the report in the trash and slipped his hat over his head. He had no business putting so much damn thought and even research into this. Damn it. He’d even told the woman he had no desire to get to know her better.
Shaking his head in frustration as he walked out of his office, he forced himself to think of what he should be thinking about: the day ahead of him. It would be a long one for sure. He had several meetings with a few of his stuffy superiors to discuss the evaluations he’d been overseeing all week. He’d concentrate on that instead.
Chapter Eight
Regina
Staring into the darkness outside her office window, Regina smiled, thinking about how nice it had been to see her family this past weekend. Saturday she’d gone into the gym then did some grocery shopping before going home and fixing herself some pasta. Eating alone in her quiet condo, she felt herself sinking into that lonely place again. She needed to get used her life as it was now. Here or in New York, this is how it would be forever. He was gone, and until she began to move on—find herself again, be the person she was once—she’d continue sinking. She needed to go back to being that girl who didn’t need someone else to make her happy.
Sunday had been nice. Maybe she didn’t need a man to make her happy, but her family, she definitely needed. Being close to them again felt right. She was glad when her mother told her that now that all her children were living close by she’d be having early Sunday dinner for the entire family at her place every week. That was even more to look forward to because seeing her siblings and their families had been wonderful.
Albeit her parents weren’t that close, the just-over-an-hour drive each way to their home had also served a purpose. It’d given her time to think. Her job wasn’t that bad, really. She just had to give herself time to adjust, and she’d already decided she wouldn’t give the sergeant another thought. The only energy she’d put into anything where he was concerned was to avoid him completely. She had enough things to deal with and an entire new lifestyle to adjust to. She didn’t need to be thinking about a man who, from what she’d seen Friday, was likely married or in a relationship anyway. Being around her family reminded her why she’d made this move in the first place. Knowing she was close enough that she could be with them often now made it all worth it. She wouldn’t let a less glamorous job than her job in New York or some jerk working in the same building make her forget that.
For the past few days, she’d effectively managed to be upbeat about her job and hadn’t once run into him. That is until yesterday, but fortunately it’d been brief, and both times he’d been just as cold and indifferent as ever. Screw him. She was done trying to figure out what his problem was. She’d seen the way he glared at the other sergeant she’d been speaking to. Unlike Sergeant Billings, Sergeant Rodriguez had been friendly and engaging. Yet Sergeant Billings had seen fit to look at him in that same rigid way she thought he’d reserved just for her. The simple answer could very well be he was just an asshole.
Done thinking about it, she brought her mind back to the more pleasant things about that week. Regina had finally come up with what her boss had been counting on when she pitched her the idea of taking this job—a way to get this lagging project moving along.
Standing from her chair, she smiled, feeling very pleased with herself. Today had gone better than she’d imagined. The impromptu meeting she had with the staff to run her idea by them had gone well also. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her things and headed out.
All week she’d been taking the stairs instead of the elevator, except for yesterday when she’d seen him rush up the stairs. It’d been the only time she’d seen him do that. Usually, he took the elevator, so she’d stick to the stairs under normal circumstances. Taking the stairs added steps to her step count for the day, and she didn’t have to worry about any uncomfortable elevator rides. Win—win. Tonight, however, because she got caught up putting her new idea into effect and had to make a few calls to some key people who could get it moving along, she’d been here much later than usual.
Since the building was just about empty, she figured her chances of getting caught up in the elevator with him were slim to none, so she made her way to the elevator. Unbelievably, halfway there, she heard slow ominous footsteps coming from behind her—the direction of his office—but she dare not look. It could be someone else. What were the odds that of all the other people on this floor it would be him?
Charlie Brown.
Panicking as the footsteps got closer, she thought of the stairs just around the elevator. She could keep walking and take them instead. She still had a chance. As she reached the elevator, she hesitated for a moment but then kept going. She’d rather walk down than risk ruining her otherwise pleasant day by engaging in another irritating encounter with that man. She stopped just on top of the stairs but out of view now of whoever had been behind her. Deciding she should wait and not go down just yet to avoid running into him downstairs, she did. But the footsteps hadn’t stopped. What if like yesterday, he’d decided to take the stairs as well and came around the corner only to find her standing there like an idiot?
Going back and forth because the footsteps were still coming, she shook her fist, frustrated by her inability to make such a simple decision. Head down or not? Geez!
Maybe he just hadn’t reached the elevator yet. Even if he did take the elevator, she still had a chance to make a mad dash down the stairs and beat him because he still had to wait for the elevator.
Regina took off in a hurry but immediately realized she’d be much faster if she took her shoes off. A few steps down, she took one shoe off then went for the other and lost her footing. Her heart jumped to her throat when she tried to recover and couldn’t. Before she knew what was happening, she heard herself yelp from the pain of her ankle bending under her. Everything after that happened so fast there was nothing she could do to stop it. Her arms flayed out wildly, unable to grasp onto anything as her entire body went down. The things in her purse flew everywhere as it fell out in front of her, and she hit every step, unable to slow the fall until she finally hit the wall where the stairwell turned with a loud and painful thud.