Dating My Brother's Best Friend

by Sofia T Summers

  Probably because if she’d spread the news, Parker would’ve realized where it had all started. And Kelly had an image to maintain. She’d fooled Raff all these years, after all.

  Parker smiled at me apologetically. “Hey. I’m sure you know why I’m here.”

  I nodded. “Kelly made it clear that she would be reporting us.”

  “Do you mind if I sit?”

  I shook my head and Parker drew up a chair. He kept his voice low and private. “My first priority is to ask if you ever felt coerced in any way. If you did, I hope you know you can tell me. I know you needed this job and if Rafferty made you feel like it was in jeopardy if you didn’t…”

  “No, no, it was consensual, I promise.” I didn’t want Raff to be thrown under the bus like that. Even if telling the truth meant that I lost my job. My integrity was more important.

  “I know you never expected this to happen. You seem very professional.”

  “I didn’t, I really didn’t.” I felt so nervous, my stomach so knotted up, that I worried I might start to cry. Like hell I’d do that. I wanted to be professional. “Raff and I have always been attracted to each other. It was mutual. Close quarters just… made nature take its course. I’m embarrassed, honestly. I’m better than this, and I know it. I’m so sorry for my part in all of this. I know that I’ve made you look bad and I’ve been unprofessional and I truly, truly apologize.”

  “I understand.” Parker sounded like he really did.

  “What kind of disciplinary action will be taken?” I knew that there would be something. I just wanted to know what it was and get it all over with.

  “Well…” Parker sighed. “I’m in a bit of a pickle here. Normally, I would have to fire you. You signed a form when you were hired that said you would not act in any way that would reflect badly on the company, and that you wouldn’t break company policy. Having a relationship with your direct boss is breaking company policy and getting caught having sex in the office during work hours does reflect on us pretty badly.

  “But I know that you’re a single mother, and I like the work you’ve one for us so far. The fact is also that… really this is on Raff. He’s where the buck ultimately stops. He’s your boss, he’s the supervisor, he’s in charge. He should have known better. So, I’m inclined to just stick with firing him and not you as well.”

  My heart twisted. “He’s fired?”

  I was surprised, I had to admit. Raff had done such good work for this company and he’d been here for four years. I was the newbie. I would’ve thought that out of the two of us, I would be the one fired. I was just an assistant, he was the executive, the head of his department. Surely, he was more valuable than I was and surely he’d proven himself more than I had.

  Parker nodded. “Yes. I already had a talk with him.”

  Shit. I felt awful. Raff’s job had meant so much to him, and now it was gone. “Can I persuade you to reconsider?”

  Parker blinked at me in surprise. “…reconsider firing Rafferty?”

  “Yes, please. Raff doesn’t deserve to lose his job over this.”

  “I can’t excuse this kind of thing at my company, Cassidy. If word gets out that I let him stay on after something like this, I’ll lose the faith of my employees.”

  “Then I’ll take the fall. It was my fault. I seduced him.”

  Parker narrowed his eyes. “That’s not what Raff told me. He said that it was consensual but that you were the responsible one who pointed out how unprofessional it was. That you were the one who kept reminding him that it wasn’t a good idea. He said that he should’ve listened to you and stopped thinking with his dick.”

  “Well, he’s lying to you to try and cover for me because he knows I need this job,” I replied quickly.

  Parker still looked skeptical. I had a feeling that he knew that I was lying, but he couldn’t straight up say I was lying, now could he? He would have to just take whatever I said as truth if I insisted on it enough.

  “He turned me down repeatedly,” I promised. “He was the one who tried to be professional. I kept pressuring him and he finally gave in. He doesn’t deserve to lose his job.”

  Parker sighed. “Cassidy, are you sure you want to do this?”

  “Yes. I’m certain.”

  I would move back home with my parents and just take a little break before finding another job. It would be fine. Raff would give me a glowing recommendation for any job I applied to and I had a suspicion that Parker would do the same if asked. He was obviously able to tell that I was lying. But if I kept swearing this was the truth, there was nothing he could do about it.

  Parker nodded. “Then I’m forced to fire you. If you can pack up your things, we’ll get you out of here. HR will take care of the rest.”

  I nodded, tears still fighting to break free in my eyes, but I managed to keep a hold of myself until Parker left—muttering to himself the whole time. He wasn’t happy with the situation, that much was certain.

  Seeing as I’d only been here a month, there wasn’t much for me to pack up. I had a few things—there weren’t even pictures of Chelsea, though. I hadn’t wanted anyone to know I had a daughter, otherwise Raff might’ve found out. It only took me a few moments to pack.

  And then I was gone. It was like I’d never been there in the first place. My dream job, gone in a whiff of smoke.

  Yeah, I was definitely crying on the way home.

  25

  Raff

  I stared out the window of my office, the office that would soon no longer be mine.

  Parker had told me to pack up my things and that HR would be handling my paperwork. It was all very civil, very fast. I expected nothing less from the likes of Parker, of course. He was a man who didn’t waste time or drag his feet on things, even if it was a decision he didn’t like. And boy, oh boy, was he unhappy about this decision. I’d been a damn good employee for him, why wouldn’t he be upset?

  I was upset as well—at myself. I had worked my ass off at this job for four years. I’d taken it so that I could help my family and in the process, I’d given up my original dream of starting a business with my best friend. I had been a model employee, my job had been my life, and now it was all going to be taken away from me.

  And it was all my fault.

  There was really no getting around that. I was pissed at myself. Oh, sure, I was pissed at Kelly, too. She’d better hope she never ran into me again. And I was a bit pissed at Parker even though I knew it was unfair and I had no reason to be. He was just doing what was best and if he’d come to me for advice about someone else doing what I’d done, I’d say hell yeah, fire the idiot.

  But the fact was that Kelly would’ve had nothing to go to Parker with if I’d just listened to Cass. Time and again she had cautioned me that this wasn’t a good idea. She’d kept trying to say that this time was the last time and then a few days later, or hell even the very next day, I would be kissing her and persuading her all over again to come to bed with me. I’d sent this ship crashing and burning, nobody else.

  Now Cass would want nothing to do with me. She’d already had a piss poor reaction to the idea of me being in Chelsea’s life. She didn’t trust me after how I’d abandoned her and Trevor before, and now I wasn’t sure that she wasn’t right to be worried.

  What would she do when she found out I’d been fired? How could I possibly offer to be in Chelsea’s life when I couldn’t support myself, never mind a child? I didn’t know of a company that would take me after being fired for this—people would want to know why, and Parker would have to tell them the truth, and then nobody would want me. I was screwed.

  Fuck. All these years I’d been hung up on Cass. Thinking about her and wondering what might have been. Regretting that I hadn’t been able to tell her, that I had been bound to my promise to my parents. And now she was in my life again and I’d just lost my damn head. I’d been so addicted to her, I’d wanted her so badly, that I hadn’t been about to think about it properly and now I wa
s going to lose her all over again—the one woman I’d ever truly wanted to share my life with.

  I took a few deep breaths and forced myself to relax as I stared out the window, enjoying the view. Okay, Raff, okay. Think about it. Just because I had a challenge ahead of me didn’t mean that I was going to give up.

  Cass and I had been pissed at each other. That was fine. We would work this out. I wasn’t going to just walk away this time. I was going to prove to her that I would stick around this time.

  And if I didn’t have a job, at least for a short bit, I’d have a lot of free time to spend bonding with Chelsea. It would be hard for her to deal with me at first, a father that she probably didn’t know she had—God only knew what Cass had come up with to explain things to a toddler—but with enough time I was sure I could become someone that she liked. I could find a way to be a father in her life.

  I’d just have to work on bringing Cass around to the idea. I could convince her, right? Given enough time? She was attracted to me and I knew we’d had something special that night in Rome when we’d walked to the fountain together, arm in arm.

  There was a knock at my door and my heart leapt like I was back in goddamn middle school and hoping that whoever I’d had a crush on (I couldn’t remember her name) would notice me.

  “Come in,” I called.

  I turned back from the window and started grabbing up the things at my desk so that it at least looked somewhat like I’d actually been packing instead of staring out the window and moping.

  But Cass wasn’t the person who walked through the door. It was Parker.

  “Surprised to see me?” he said. He sounded tired but he smiled as he closed the door behind him.

  “Um, a little. Want to help me pack up my desk?”

  “Funny. But no, actually, you don’t have to pack up anything.”

  …what?

  “Your termination has been revoked.”

  I stared at Parker, unsure that I could be hearing him correctly. “I—my—it’s what?”

  Parker nodded. “Yeah, I figured you’d be pretty confused. I’ll be honest, I’m not happy about it. I think I know how things when down but when someone insists on something what am I supposed to do, bring in the truth serum that doesn’t exist? Tell them I think they’re lying? Cass insisted that she take the fall and that you did nothing wrong, and I couldn’t argue with her. She’s a determined person.”

  “Yeah, she is.” I couldn’t help the admiration that crept into my voice even as my heart plummeted.

  “She told her side of the story and explained how the blame was all on her.”

  “Okay, no, that’s not—”

  Parker held up a hand. “You might want to think about what you’re going to say. Because Cassidy just made a huge sacrifice for you and if you screw that up, I don’t think she’s going to be all that happy with you. She made a choice, and the best thing you can do is honor it. Not reject it and make her sacrifice meaningless.”

  Jesus Christ. Cass had needed this job. I knew that. She’d told me plenty of times that she needed it and now I understood why. As a single mother it must’ve changed everything in her life, made it difficult for her to get a job, and now…

  “You know, my mom might as well have been a single mother for all that my dad was around,” Parker noted. “It really has an effect on a kid, knowing you’ve got this person who’s supposed to love you but is never around. I can imagine that Cassidy’s child has it easy in some ways—no father around to disappoint her—but she’s got to live with her mom often being gone. It’s not easy for single moms to get jobs, to get people to take a chance on them. People still assume that a woman’s first priority is her kid and that she won’t be good at her job, but we assume the opposite with men. I really wanted to give her a chance, for my mom’s sake.”

  He looked over at me. “You were always an upstanding man, or at least I thought you were. If we’re going to continue to work together, if I’m going to let Cassidy make this gesture for you, then you’d better prove yourself to be that man. Are we clear?”

  I nodded. I was too stunned to say anything.

  “Good.” Parker gave me a short, brisk nod and then turned and left the office.

  My legs gave out and I collapsed against my desk, fumbling to keep myself upright. What the fuck? Cassidy had given up her job for me?

  This job had meant everything to her. She’d said as much to me multiple times. There was no way she would be happy about giving it up. It wouldn’t have been an easy choice for her and it’s not one I’d ever thought she would make about me, for me.

  Cass had made it clear this entire time that she didn’t want anything to do with me. Despite our sexual chemistry, she had insisted repeatedly that we shouldn’t be together and she’d all but thrown me out of her apartment the other night.

  Yet she’d given up this job she’d moved across the country for… for me?

  I had to find out what it meant. I had to know. Maybe I had a chance after all.

  26

  Cass

  My head was spinning. So much had happened in such a short time. I never expected my new job to begin this way, and I certainly hadn’t expected it to end this way either.

  I felt like I slunk away from work with my tail between my legs, even though I was sure I was the only one who’d noticed. A few people that I’d gotten friendly with said farewell to me and asked if everything was okay, but I’d assured them all was well. It was clear that Kelly hadn’t told them anything, either.

  That was a small mercy, I supposed. I would’ve thought that Kelly would take every opportunity to blab… but maybe she’d thought it would reflect badly on her to Parker if she was heard to be going around gossiping about how she’d gotten her new position at the company. Kelly was vindictive but she was also smart. Raff’d had no idea about her, the poor man. He’d thought she was his friend.

  There was a vicious part of me that was glad Raff had been betrayed by Kelly. Let him see how Trevor had felt when Raff had abandoned him without a word all those years ago. But mostly, I was just tired. I wanted to get out of here and get home.

  Not my apartment home. Home. Back east with my parents, where I could recuperate and figure out my next move. There was no way I could afford to stay in San Francisco without a job. I trusted that Parker would give me a good recommendation but who knew how long the job search would take? Who else would take a chance on a young single mother the way he had?

  No, I needed to be somewhere I didn’t have to worry about the bills. My parents and Trevor would be able to help me out as I job searched, and I could get something on the side to help out while I looked for something better.

  It was far from ideal. I didn’t want to go home—not because I didn’t want to be around my family but because I didn’t want to give up this excellent opportunity, being a part of a company that I enjoyed and cared about, I wanted to be independent and able to make it on my own as an adult.

  But I’d do what I had to.

  I cried on the way there but by the time I got home, I was completely composed. No reason for Chelsea to see how upset I was. It would just make her upset, too.

  God, I should’ve known this would all end in ruin. I double-checked my reflection in my makeup mirror, making sure that there weren’t any tear tracks.

  The moment that I’d seen Raff I should’ve backed out and asked Parker to reassign me somewhere else. I should’ve explained that Raff and I had a personal history and I didn’t feel comfortable working under him. I’d wanted him from the moment I’d seen him again, and my desire and anger had mingled so powerfully, we were bound to crash and burn.

  And now I was the one who was leaving.

  It wasn’t out of anger or wanting to get back at him. If I’d wanted revenge, I would’ve planned this whole thing a lot better, that was for sure. But it did have a painful irony to it, the fact that he had left me without a word and now I was pretty much doing the same.

 
It made me wonder why he’d left all those years ago. If there had been a reason for it that I didn’t know about, one he’d never explained to me.

  There could be only two outcomes from today’s events, now that I’d signed my own death warrant—metaphorically speaking. Either Raff was just going to let me go without a word, or he was going to come after me because I’d given him his job back at the expense of my own. I’d lied about our relationship to preserve his job.

  Yeah, I didn’t think that was going to end well.

  I had no interest in getting into another fight with Raff. I was far too exhausted for that. That meant getting out of here and fast.

  Satisfied that I no longer looked like I’d just been crying hysterically, I hurried upstairs to the apartment.

  To say that Dawn was surprised to see me was probably an understatement. She looked like I’d dropped out of the sky. “What are you doing here?”

  Chelsea was sitting at the table, eating her lunch. She smiled at me and waved. “Hi Mama!”

  “Hi baby!” I kissed the top of her head and gave her a squeeze. “Finish your lunch, I’m going to talk with Auntie Dawn!”

  “Okay!”

  I pulled Dawn down the hall to my room and pulled the luggage out of the closet so I could start packing.

  “Um, what the hell is going on?” Dawn asked, keeping her voice low so that Chelsea wouldn’t overhear us. “Are you packing? Why are you here in the middle of the day?” She paused, peered closer, and then added, “Have you been crying?”

  I explained everything quickly as I could while I folded my clothes into my luggage. Thank God I hadn’t had time to really buy much furniture, just a few things like a table and chairs for the kitchen area and a couch for the living room, plus beds in the bedrooms. Things that I could easily resell or donate. I had the apartment paid out through the end of the month anyway so I could keep my furniture in here while I sold it. Dawn could help me.