Disgruntled Read online

  “We didn’t assault him,” Ben denied. Reva simply raised her brows and glanced at him. “Okay, maybe we did but he was—”

  “Making a move, asshole,” Tim said, recognizing what had transpired. “Reva scratched herself and he had planned to play the big hero but we went all ape-shit and ruined it. Now the poor guy thinks we’re all a bunch of crazies. Sorry Rev.” She shrugged. “Well, your heart was in the right place even though your fists weren’t.”

  The remainder of the week Reva struggled to shake the kiss out of her head. Sure, she had instigated it but that was a rash decision made to alleviate the situation. Her brothers thought him an aggressor. They had lumped him in the same category as Nick without thought. She imagined much of that came from their helpless feeling at not being around when things with Nick got nasty. There was little they could have done anyway and Todd was nothing like her ex. She had considered her action a way of redeeming him. Unfortunately, it had served more to confuse her than anything. The kiss hadn’t prompted an electrical shock like in a novel, but more a heated need to keep the contact, as if they had been sealed in place. Like a drum roll that needed a cymbal crash after. Reva’s own reaction surprised her. It had been a strange few days, so when Brent wandered into Reva’s office at the end of the day on Thursday, she anticipated nothing less than drama. She was right. “First of all, I don’t have a problem working for a woman, if that’s what you think,” Brent said as he dropped into the chair opposite Reva’s desk. Funny, the guy was so positive with the other staff yet the scowl that had ingrained itself in his features was the only expression she had seen in several months. His words, or that thought, had never entered her mind until that moment.

  “Well, you certainly have my attention. Hello to you, too.” Reva offered a smile that Brent ignored. She glanced at the clock, four minutes to five. “Don’t shoot me if I ask you to cut this short. My neighbor signed me up for a softball team and we have practice in forty-five minutes.”

  Another scowl, followed by a shrug. “Understood.” Brent had blondish-brown hair, which sported a cut so short portions of his scalp showed through. If she hadn’t known otherwise, she might have thought him an armed services veteran. Six years her junior, the look added age to his appearance, which proved deceptive to the company’s staff. Many thought him older than she, when in truth he had only been out of college four and a half years. “Still, do you have a minute to talk?” he asked, not leaving her much choice. She nodded. “I have about twenty. After that, I have to go.” “Good. Listen, after our discussion the other day, I thought maybe I should just lay everything on the table. Let you know what’s going on with me.” He lifted a slightly shaky hand to his head and scrubbed it across the back of his neck before continuing. “I’ve had a lot of trouble with how you speak to me on my projects. Maybe you don’t mean it bad, but I’m not taking it well.”

  “How I speak to you on your projects?” she repeated. In the past, this type of talk would have caused Reva to erupt. Exactly, who’s the boss here? The old Reva would have gotten right in his face and let him have it with both barrels. That woman would have reminded him that though he had been disrespectful and almost combative in some of their meetings, she had waited until they met one-on-one to discuss his behavior and the lack of progress on his projects. But that was the pre-Nick Reva. That woman had been completely confident in herself, and willing to stand up when challenged. And willing to challenge right back if necessary. Post-Nick Reva no longer had that confidence. It had been pummeled out of her. A quick glance to her fingers, which she’d entwined on the desk, showed the slight tremble she knew well. It came before the stillness. Brent continued. “Yeah, I can’t help but feel like I’ve gotten off on a wrong foot with you. A lot of the things I say, you take—well, wrong. Not like I mean them.” Brent went on to list a string of situations where he felt their discussions had either belittled or diminished him. He then explained how he felt in each of those situations. Many of the incidents she remembered completely different or had no recollection of at all. In her recollection, his comments had been tinged with disrespect and challenge. Regardless, she thought his words seemed to display an extreme sensitivity that signified deeper issues. Holy Moses, do I look like a shrink? Reva’s brothers would have laughed this man off the planet for his sensitivity just as they had done her on more than one occasion when she showed her feminine side a bit too much. They had no concept of empathy. She realized her family had used humor and teasing like some used therapists. In some situations, that worked. But she learned that it could backfire also.

  “You with me?” Brent asked. His brows lifted as if he noted her thoughts.

  “Sure. I was just trying to remember the conversations you’re referencing, as they obviously didn’t make the same impression on me they did with you. I have to admit that with a staff of eighteen, I sometimes lose track of every word that’s been said, and I probably say things in haste and assume we’re on the same page. Still, if you have concerns, you should voice them, so let’s hear it.” She followed the statement with a smile. It prided Reva that the main thing she had learned from the fiasco with Nick was how to maintain her composure, and diffuse a potential blow-up. “That’s what I’m doing right now,” Brent answered. “So, are we good now? Do you have questions about what I said?” Only one, do you realize you’re lying about not having a problem working for a woman? She held her tongue, took four slow breaths and kept her eyes down. This had been a residual trait of her past relationship. She had learned to keep her head down and not challenge Nick by meeting his eyes. She knew Nick’s behavior well and this seemed much like it—an effort to control a person and get a desired result. Challenging it verbally, or even in a subtle way, had sometimes led to a raised hand against her cheekbone…or locking her into the closet so that she couldn’t storm out. That had been in the past though. Brent wasn’t Nick, she reminded herself.

  Reva pasted a smile on her dry lips. “No questions, just a few suggestions. First of all, I appreciate you taking the time to come into my office and express your concerns. I have no way of knowing there’s an issue if it’s not brought to my attention.” She reminded herself to use inclusive words, rather than exclusive to share the responsibility and keep it work-focused. “Going forward, to make sure that we meet the project’s goals, the company’s deadline, and not have any further miscommunication, I think we should meet more regularly. I’ve said this before but we haven’t implemented anything. We will meet Tuesdays from now until it becomes unnecessary.” She glanced at her calendar on the computer and blocked off times. “Four to five p.m. seems to be a good time for you, so let’s do it then. Bring the project plan, plus any other things that need to be discussed. We’ll concentrate on progress and issues that may or may not have prevented such progress. Sound good?”

  “Yeah sure.” He seemed more relaxed.

  In truth, Reva had let him talk way too long. The time on her watch glared at her as if to remind her of her tardiness. “Thanks a lot. I’m glad we had this talk,” he said. “Sure, no problem. Brent, in the future, don’t wait so long. If it’s bothering you, it’s best to get it out in the open rather than let it boil.”

  “I will.”

  As soon as he left, she bolted for home and then softball practice. The thought that she had missed a key detail during the interaction nagged her the rest of the evening.

  ***

  Brent sauntered back to his office, pleased with himself. He had taken the bull (or in this case bitch) by the horns and won. She had sat there quietly as he told her exactly what he thought of her actions and words. She’d said very little and when he finished, she seemed reasonably pleasant about it. She even smiled and thanked him for coming in. It was unlike their past discussions where she had been abrupt and unyielding.

  Sure, his project was delayed but it had taken time to figure out all the details associated with the software. It was a pretty intricate program. He was smarter than most though, and co
nfident he could get things back on track very quickly. She just needed to stop being so impatient. It was damned irritating the way she nagged. It wasn’t her responsibility to babysit him. He was more than capable of handling it. His ex-wife had been like that. Constantly nagging. When are you coming home? Why do you always have to work late? When are you going to get the tests done? She wanted kids and had taken the last of her birth control pills more than a year earlier but it didn’t seem to “take”. Her mood disintegrated over time and he became less and less interested in children—and sex too. Sex for procreation wasn’t near as enjoyable as the fun kind. He missed when her focus had been on pleasing him. As far as working late, he didn’t. He had just tired of her questions so he started hanging out at the club near the house rather than hurry home. He’d even asked a couple of his teammates at work out for drinks sometimes just to avoid the stark reality of disappointing her. When his wife had finally given up and packed her bags, it had been a relief. Reva Zamora seemed a genetic mutation of his ex-wife. Bossy, selfish, and totally self-absorbed. All she seemed interested in was how the project reflected on her. Yeah, she always said the right words—“we” and “us”—and she talked about how their actions reflected on the team and department. Still, he knew that all she really cared about was whether it made her look bad. Reva was all about…Reva. Their conversation merely dampened the flames of his animosity. It gave him hope though. Perhaps if he kept talking to her on a regular basis, she’d get off his ass and let him do the project the way he wanted to. He was sick of her interfering. He didn’t need an entire team of people sticking their noses into this. He could handle it himself. Hell, he enjoyed handling it. Plus, it gave him a chance to communicate with their entire company.

  People sought him out. Lately, they’d sought him out even more than boss lady and that gave some smug satisfaction. Back in his office, he stuffed his laptop into the bag behind his chair. Brent slipped his fingers into his pocket and jingled his keys to make sure he hadn’t left them in his desk and headed downstairs. He whistled as he took the stairs to the back exit. Taking the stairs had been one of the few attempts to improve his health that stuck. Much of that had been attributed to the slowness of the building’s elevators. Was Reva’s newfound patience and kindness a ruse? Perhaps, he speculated, but regardless it gave him a little more distance. With that, he could continue to stay on top of the requests from the rest of the company and not worry. Yeah, she had criticized his announcement to staff that they were starting earlier than she wanted on the project. That was just her way of maintaining control. Why do women always want to have control over you?

  Brent pressed the button to unlock the door to his new truck. New was subjective. He’d bought it from the dealership down the road but it had 20,000 miles on it when he took possession. Still, he liked the color, a nice light brown with dark tinted windows that kept the heat out in the summer. He’d had it for six months. A rushed purchase when the lawyers made him turn over the car to his ex as part of the settlement.

  Why does everything have to be such a fight?

  The battle over the car had taken three months and ended in a compromise: the car for his golf clubs and boat. He wasn’t about to let the baby-hungry bitch take everything. The house was hers to begin with. Brent suspected she would have preferred to keep everything simply to take it away from him, but common sense got the best of her. She knew she required transportation to and from work and her job was her life. Or at least it was her biggest priority now that she’d given up on children with him.

  Brent turned the key in the truck’s ignition and it coughed and sputtered. He growled. Okay. It was a nice looking truck but he still had to take it back and get the engine checked out. It had backfired since the day they delivered it to him. Damned irritating, but he wasn’t about to take off work with Reva breathing down his neck.

  Reva Zamora is a lunatic. He shouldn’t have said that to Gavin a while back. Still, she wasn’t exactly the sharpest stick in the pile. Admittedly, she was coming around though. He expected if he continued to talk to her she’d be on his side. She improved almost every time and seemed to understand him better now. Perhaps Gavin’s suggestion to talk to her had manifested positive rewards. Time would tell. He mulled over the situation as his cell phone chirped at him. “This is Brent,” he answered in his usual tone. He’d shared his phone number with a lot of staff lately and took great pride in the fact that they called him directly rather than the support number. In fact, he surmised that he’d successfully convinced much of the staff to call him, rather than Reva. He listened smugly as the person on the other phone just changed his plans to go home on time. “Sure, I can help you. I’ll be there shortly. Have you called support yet?” It pleased him that he would likely have to bypass her password again to do what was asked. Maybe she wasn’t a lunatic, but she sure as hell was an idiot when it came to security. Her password had taken him less than twenty minutes to hack with his software and he doubted she’d changed it in the past thirty days.

  9 CHAPTER NINE

  On the way to practice, Reva shook the discussion with Brent out of her head and reminded herself that tonight she’d see Todd for the first time since her brothers accosted him. What a disaster. It had not been a pretty sight and she feared he wouldn’t speak with her. She had attempted to call him twice without answer. At first, she hoped the kiss had been as interesting for him as for her. When he hadn’t answered the phone, she assumed that wasn’t the case. Still, as much as she wanted to deny it, she needed a repeat. Of the kiss, not her brothers’ antics. Was she really getting that desperate?

  Reva ran to the ball field. A quick glance at her watch reinforced that she was late and they had likely already warmed up. Still, she managed to maintain her usual routine caution. Cars cruised by and she avoided them. A few neighbors were out walking their pets after the animals had spent a day penned up. The ballpark lights were on but dusk hadn’t fully swallowed the sun yet. The shadows were deep over the field of players.

  Reva scanned the group, searching each figure. He wasn’t there. Of course not, she reprimanded herself. Why would he show up after what happened? He probably had a hellacious bruised face and ego. Not to mention that she now qualified as a crazy woman with equally crazy family. “You’re late.” Todd’s voice? Jeff, their team captain posted a line up for their scrimmage on the fence. When he moved away, there on the bench sat Todd. He had bent over tying his cleats before gathering his glove from beside him. “Yeah. Someone stopped by my office for a chat just as I started to leave. I tried to rush him to finish but no such luck.” She squinted at Todd’s face. Yellow and gray marks showed faintly on the swollen cheekbone below his eye. Reva felt a stab of regret and squelched an urge to touch it. “How are you doing?”

  “Sheesh, who won?” Jeff asked as he noticed Reva’s bandaged arm and Todd’s bruised face. He laughed and anticipated they would join him in the humor. They didn’t. “Uh, sorry.” He shuffled to the field and gathered everyone up to start batting practice.

  “I’m good. You?” Todd answered. He pounded his fist into the supple baseball leather on his hand. Well, he showed up. That had to be a good sign. Right? The bruise proved less severe than expected. She wondered if it felt tender to the touch. The urge surfaced again to stroke a finger across the lump and she sighed.

  “Fine. Guess I’d better get out there.” Reva grabbed a bat and rushed out to take first hits. A quick glance over her shoulder as she exited the dugout caught Todd’s eyes firmly planted on her pockets as he sauntered to his position in the field. She moved to home plate suppressing a grin. Okay, the conversation was awkward but maybe there was still hope. She had no idea what for, but she’d figure that out later. After all, she had no interest in men at the moment. Although it had become a bit harder to convince herself after kissing him.

  Wolf whistles from the stands caught her attention. Great. Some sleaze ball intended to make a scene. Really? “Knock the hell out of it, Rev!” T
im’s voice. It had to be. She turned to look just as the pitch flew past her.

  “Strike,” Jeff called. “Good thing this is just practice. That pitch was served up perfectly and you let it go. Pay attention.”

  What the hell is Tim doing here? Had he become so protective that he intended to follow her around as if she were twelve? Reva frowned and burrowed her head in

  DISGRUNTLED

  concentration as the next pitch approached. She nailed it. It was a nice line drive right down the third base line and she made it to second.

  “Woo! Way to go, sis!” And that was Ben. Unbelievable. They both had showed up? Obviously, they hadn’t believed her story about Todd and intended to make their protective presence known.

  Todd had been assigned to take shortstop and he grinned her way. “Looks like you have a cheering squad.” “Don’t you mean bodyguards?” She snorted.

  “Basically the same thing, isn’t it?”

  Jeff was second up and hit a fly ball to the outfield, sending Reva around the remaining bases before George in the outfield made a diving catch, then rolled and sailed the ball back to the pitcher. The guy had a great arm but seriously, who names their kid George nowadays? Reva rationalized it had to be a family name. They continued until everyone had a chance to bat twice. Another team showed up to scrimmage and they took the field. The game lasted about an hour with Tim and Ben whistling and cheering like it was the minor leagues. They laughed and carried on like kids. Reva stepped closer to the fence at one point and shushed them. “Quit acting like idiots. It’s just a scrimmage.” She narrowed her eyes and took in the beer cans under the bleachers. “Oh. No wonder. You two are seriously buzzed. Time to go home—both of you.” She wiggled a finger from one to the other.