Building Something Hot Read online

  Kason sighed and there was a long moment of silence. “Well, let her know that I miss her and any time she needs to talk, she can call me, okay?”

  “I’ll let her know. How are you doing…missing a certain girl I know?”

  “More than you know. It’s surprising, actually. I know that we don’t know each other well, but I feel this connection with her, and she had to leave before I really got to know her,” Kason said with a sigh. “Hopefully tomorrow will take my mind off her a little when I meet my new boss.”

  “I know what you mean about the connection. But good luck with the new boss tomorrow!”

  “I need it. I have no clue what the boss’s name even is. Well, I’ll let you talk to Dexter now.”

  Dexter and Mila talked for another half an hour, and by the end of the conversation, Mila had tears in her eyes. She didn’t think it was fair to meet someone so perfect for her and have him live so far away.

  Meanwhile, Briella made her way to Jameson’s apartment. She wanted to surprise him by coming by without calling. Truthfully, she just didn’t want to call and have him hear the sadness in her voice. She never did well at hiding her emotions when she felt she was going to hurt someone.

  Briella let herself into Jameson’s apartment with the key he had given her a few months before. She searched the living room and kitchen, but didn’t see him, so she made her way back to his bedroom. The door was closed, which was quite odd - she didn’t remember ever seeing his bedroom closed up before.

  She knocked lightly on the door, and opened it before getting a response. When she looked toward the bed, she got the shock of her life. There lay Jameson, a woman with flaming red hair, and an older man with gray hair, all naked with their bodies intertwined.

  When she gasped Jameson’s name, all three participants turned to look at her. She mumbled an apology and turned to leave. Before she got out the door, she turned and looked toward the bed. Out of the blue, she started laughing. Jameson was scrambling, trying to get out from between the other two people to grab some clothes. Those two people were snatching at sheets and trying to cover themselves. It was downright comical!

  He was yelling at her to stop, to wait. “Briella, it’s not what you think, let me explain!”

  Briella had begun walking out of the apartment when she felt Jameson’s hand on her shoulder. She turned and looked at him with a smile on her face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to barge in on you.”

  “Briella, I can explain. Let’s sit down and talk,” he said, and led her over to the couch. He was so upset by the sudden turn of events that he was actually trembling and blushing. “I know what you saw looked bad, but…”

  Briella held up her hand to stop him from speaking. “Seriously Jameson, it’s okay. I actually had wanted to talk to you about our relationship when I came over here. I was so worried about hurting you, but I guess you aren’t going to mind what I have to say. I don’t think this is working out for us, and it’s obviously not working out for you,” Briella said, and then chuckled. “Now, go back to your friends. I’ll leave my key on the table and see myself out.”

  She squeezed his hand and got up from the couch. She was amazed at how easy this was, at how smoothly she could go from worried about him to knowing he would be just fine. She was actually glad she caught him cheating on her.

  “So, wait, you aren’t going to freak out about this?” Jameson asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

  “No, why should I? It’s pretty obvious we weren’t meant for each other. I just want you to be happy. If what you were doing makes you happy, then so be it.” Briella said, and kissed him on the cheek. She took his apartment key off her key ring, placed it on the kitchen table and left his apartment.

  Briella laughed the whole way home. She laughed so hard she started crying, and she got weird looks from those she passed, but every time she thought she had it under control, she burst into gales of laughter again. The relief made her weak in the knees.

  When she got in the apartment, Mila was on the couch waiting for her to hear how it went. Mila saw tears streaming down Briella’s face, and couldn’t understand why Briella was laughing.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I am. Unbelievably okay. I got some food on the way home, I figured you’d be hungry,” Briella said, and wiped the tears from her cheeks, holding out the bags of food. She chuckled again and then burst into full-scale laughter. Her stomach was actually starting to hurt from all the laughing she had been doing over the last thirty minutes.

  “How did it go? Did he take it badly? Is that why you’re crying?”

  “Huh? Oh, no! Actually, I have been laughing so hard since I left his place that my eyes have been watering. I must have looked like some loon at the restaurant when I was getting the food. People were probably pointing at me saying, ‘Look at that psycho, laughing to herself. I bet it’s the voices in her head making her laugh!’” Briella chuckled again and sat down. “But really, I’m perfectly fine. I think he took it well, but there was really no choice in the matter for him.”

  “Okay, so are you going to let me in on this little joke?” Mila asked.

  Briella proceeded to tell Mila what happened at Jameson’s apartment. Mila’s eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped. By the time she was done, Mila was laughing too.

  “So, speaking of exes and possibilities and - well, sex — I talked to Kason tonight. It might be nice for you to call him and say hi. He sounds like he’s really missing you. I think he’s a little stressed about tomorrow too, so a friendly voice might be good for him to hear,” Mila hinted.

  Briella knew she was right, so she went to the phone and called Kason while Mila got the food out of the bags. A woman answered the phone and threw Briella off guard.

  “Um, hi. Is this Parker?” she asked the woman.

  “Yes it is, who may I ask is calling?” Parker said, her voice rather short.

  “Oh, hi Parker, this is Briella. Is Kason there by chance?” she asked, suddenly nervous.

  “Yup, he’s right here,” Parker said. Briella could hear her tell Kason in a whisper that the phone was for him and who it was. It sounded like they must have been close together.

  “Hello, Briella?” Kason asked as he took the phone.

  “Hey, Country Boy. Just wanted to call and say hey, and tell you we were home. Am I interrupting something?”

  “Um…n-not really. What’s up?” Kason stammered.

  “I was just talking to Mila and she said you were a little stressed about tomorrow.”

  “Oh, just meeting a new boss. Not a big deal. Listen, I’m sorry, I’m not trying to be rude, but can I talk to you some other time?” he asked.

  Briella was surprised, curious and a little hurt all at once. “Oh! Sure, sure. That’s fine. Sorry if I caught you at a bad time,” she said, and hung up the phone, not giving him a chance to say goodbye.

  Briella went back to Mila, who was chowing down on the food without a care in the world. “Great idea, Mila. Remind me not to listen to you again!”

  “Holy shit, what did I do?” Mila asked.

  “Oh, you just had me call Kason and make a fool of myself when he was obviously in the middle of something with Parker. Is it just me, or am I interrupting everyone having sex today?”

  Briella turned and stormed out of the room. Mila stared at the food for a moment, then got up and followed her. She found Briella standing by her bedroom door, about to step in and close it behind her.

  “Hold on,” Mila said. “It’s not like you to act like this. You rarely get mad. What’s up? You’re kind of scaring me.”

  Briella threw up her hands. She had gone from crying with laughter to feeling real tears in a matter of moments. The emotional rollercoaster was about to dump her off into a fit of sobbing. “I feel like a fool. I thought Kason actually liked me, and that we had a connection. Now I know he couldn’t care less and is more interested in Parker. What’s the point anyway? I’m not going to Texas, and he would never
come here. Looks like the decision is already made for me,” Briella sighed. “Whatever. Sorry I yelled. I’m going to bed, and hopefully when I wake up in the morning, I’ll feel better. Good night!”

  Briella closed her bedroom door, leaving a confused Mila in the living room.

  Chapter Six

  The next morning Mila and Briella headed to work. “You look like shit, honey. Did you even get any sleep?” Mila asked, looking at Briella’s puffy eyes and the dark circles underneath.

  Briella sniffled. “Not much. I tried, but I kept replaying the time we spent with the guys in my head to see if I perceived his feelings in the wrong way. Maybe he was just giving me a dose of that southern hospitality and I misunderstood his feelings. I feel like such a fool for believing it!”

  “I don’t think you twisted any of his feelings up. I saw how much he likes you. I think there has to be some sort of misunderstanding,” Mila said, determined to get to the bottom of it tonight when she spoke to Dexter. She would have to talk to Kason too, to find out what was up with him and Parker. “But, listen, put it all out of your head for now. We have a full day of work ahead of us, then we have tickets to the Knicks game tonight.”

  “I’m sorry. I’ll try to focus,” Briella told her worried friend.

  The work day went pretty fast for Mila and Briella. They had a lot to catch up on since they had taken some vacation days the previous week, and it was their first day back. Briella was the senior architect, and Mila was partnered with Briella as the lead Interior Designer. By the end of the day, the girls were both ready to go to the game and blow off a little stress.

  Briella was a sports fanatic. She loved basketball most of all, but would sit down and watch pretty much anything, except golf and bowling. It was the one thing that she was able to bond with her father over. She wasn’t very close to him, not nearly as close as she was to her mother and grandmother, but when it came to sports, the two had been very compatible.

  The girls managed to enjoy themselves at the game, even though the Knicks lost, again. Briella had a few too many beers and was pretty drunk by the time the game ended. Mila saw how much Briella was drinking, so she decided to stay sober. Mila knew that the past couple of days had been rough on Briella, so she was more than happy to let her friend forget her problems for the night.

  After the game, the girls headed home. Resting against their door was a dozen long-stem white roses. Briella nearly stepped on them, since she couldn’t walk straight. Mila saved them just in time, then walked Briella over to the couch and sat her down.

  “Who are they for?” Briella slurred.

  “Um, they’re for you, but I’ll save the card for you until tomorrow when you sober up,” Mila said.

  “Whatever, just throw them out. I don’t want any flowers from anyone right now. I’m going to bed.” Briella said, and stumbled to her bedroom to pass out.

  Briella, I miss you already. Call me so we can talk. Love, Country Boy, the card in the flowers said. Mila had half a mind to throw the card out, along with the flowers, as Briella wanted, but instead chose to call Dexter to see if there was an explanation.

  “Hello?” Dexter greeted as he picked up the phone.

  “Hey you! What’s up? How was the first day with the new boss?” Mila asked him.

  “Hey Mila! I’m so glad you called. Ugh, the first day was hell. Everyone is worried sick wondering if we are all going to keep our jobs. You know how things are when someone new takes over a company. There’s bound to be some downsizing of sorts. At least I know that if that happens, there are other places I can go, but I just don’t want to leave here.”

  “I hear ya. So, listen, I have a question for you. What’s going on between Parker and Kason?” Mila asked.

  “What do you mean?” Dexter was confused.

  “Well, Briella called him last night and seems to think that they were in the middle of having sex or something. Is that possible?”

  “What!? That’s ridiculous. Why would she think that?” Dexter sounded shocked.

  Mila told Dexter the story about the phone call last night and why Briella was really upset about it.

  “Sorry, Mila, I have no clue. I don’t think there is anything going on between them. Do you want to talk to him?” Dexter asked.

  “Yeah, because at this point, I don’t think she will call him and ask him herself.”

  A minute later, Kason got on the phone. “Hey Mila, Dexter told me ya’ll wanted to talk to me?”

  “Yeah, just wondering what’s up between you and Parker. Are you involved with her, or do you like Briella? You kind of have her confused.”

  “What? Nothing’s up with me and Parker. Why? She works for me, end of story,” Kason said, obviously frustrated with the conversation already.

  “Hey, don’t take it out on me. Briella’s the one who thinks you were in the middle of something when she called last night!” Mila shot back. “Then the flowers showing up today sure as hell seemed like an apology.”

  “Oh man! I had no idea. It probably seemed that way, didn’t it? Can I talk to her?” he asked.

  “Um, not at the moment. She’s passed out cold in her bed. We went to the Knicks game tonight and she tied one on because she was upset about you and Parker. Besides, even if she was sober, I don’t think she’d want to talk to you right now. She was pretty hurt.”

  “Well, first of all, she was the one who said she only wants to be friends. I don’t know why I am even bothering to explain myself here, but I don’t want her to think something happened that didn’t,” he said with a sigh, but he continued talking anyway. “Last night Parker’s boyfriend broke up with her, and she came over here to talk. We started drinking because we were both upset, Parker over her boyfriend and me over Briella. She told me that she had feelings for me, and I told her I was her employer and nothing more. She felt bad about the whole thing and started crying.”

  Kason sighed again. “I was giving her a hug when Briella called and she handed me the phone. She started crying harder, so I let Briella go and told her I’d talk to her later. Nothing happened. Parker spent the night in one of the guest bedrooms and I slept in mine. Trust me, if Briella even cares, she has nothing to worry about. She should have talked to me before jumping to conclusions.”

  “I agree, and I’m sorry to spring this all on you. Briella is fighting her feelings for you, but she definitely likes you. Just give her a little time to figure everything out.”

  “If she’s already getting upset and it’s only been a day…oh, man,” Kason said, sighing again. Mila rolled her eyes.

  “Keep sighing and you might hyperventilate,” she teased.

  Kason laughed. “Okay, okay…hint taken.”

  “Oh, hey, I have a great idea! Why don’t you guys come and visit us this weekend? We’ll surprise Briella.”

  There was a long moment of silence, then Kason’s smile came through loud and clear over the phone line. “That sounds like a perfect idea. I’ll give you back to Dexter, and you can work out the details.” Kason called for Dexter to pick up the phone.

  Mila couldn’t wait to see the guys this weekend, and hoped that everything would work out for Briella and Kason. She wasn’t sure if she should tell Briella about their conversation tonight, or let her find out on her own. Mila didn’t want Briella to be upset about sticking her nose in Briella’s business, but this whole mess needed to be straightened out. She decided to go to bed and figure something out tomorrow.

  The next day Briella woke up with a hangover. She thought about calling in sick to work, but she was just back from a vacation. She needed to go in. Briella got up and went to the bathroom for some aspirin and a shower, her pounding head telling her that it would be a long day, indeed.

  After Briella finished getting ready for the day, she made her way to the kitchen to have breakfast with Mila. Sitting on the table was the vase of white roses. “Those came last night, didn’t they?”

  “Yup, they’re for you. The card is still
in there. I think you should call him,” Mila said.

  Briella read the card. If she hadn’t called and heard him with Parker, the card would have been quite touching. She loved that he signed it ‘Country Boy’ and not Kason, and that almost made her smile. But now all of those good feelings were ruined by him having sex with Parker.

  “Yeah, right. Like I’m going to call him. I don’t want to ruin another sex session with his maid,” Briella said bitterly.

  “Wow, Briella. Nothing like giving him the benefit of the doubt, huh? I’m telling you that there was a big, huge misunderstanding. You really need to call him and talk to him about it,” Mila thought about it quietly for a moment. “You’ve never acted like this, and definitely not over a guy. Think about it, you saw your current boyfriend in bed with two other people. That didn’t affect you nearly as much as thinking that Kason was sleeping with Parker, when it didn’t even happen.”

  “Yeah, thanks. Keep reminding me that I always play the fool,” Briella replied, rolling her eyes. Then she saw the look on her friend’s face.

  “Oh shit, Mila. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to take this all out on you. I really apologize. I am so hung over and confused about everything. I’m not trying to bite your head off,” Briella said, pinching the bridge of her nose to fight back the sudden tears that wanted to spill over.

  “It’s okay,” Mila soothed. “Just promise me you’ll talk to him, and stop thinking he slept with Parker until you know the whole story.”

  “I’ll talk to him, but I’m not ready yet,” Briella said as she finished her bagel. “Come on. We’re going to be late for work!”

  The next few days went by rather slowly for Mila. She was counting the minutes until the guys arrived on Friday. Briella tried to keep busy by working out and shopping after work, but during the rare moments she was at home, she would mope around the apartment and sulk. She still hadn’t called Kason, and every time Mila got on the phone with Dexter, Briella would disappear into her room.