Chapter 3
Sunday morning workout complete, Cassie walked up to the outdoor area of the coffee place she’d picked out simply because it was close to where she lived and trained. Since she didn’t really consider meeting a guy for coffee as a real date, she’d just paired her workout pants with a loose sweater she’d pulled on after finishing with Anna’s Vinyasa yoga. Sheer vanity had Cassie at least adding on a coat of mascara and lip gloss, but she wasn’t making a special effort for a guy she planned to blow off anyway. Cassie would keep her word for coffee and one hour, but anything beyond that was impossible.
Brody seemed to have the same thought, since he’d gone for the casual look as well. A black hoodie with jeans completed the look, only this time it was the jeans carrying the very worn and faded look. The chipped Texas Tech lettering on the hoodie confirmed her suspicions about where he was from. He’d thrown on a ball cap for added measure, looked tired and just as good looking. Still ridiculously tall too, Cassie noted when he stood to greet her. She barely came to his shoulder without the heels. They went inside to get in line.
“Thanks for meeting so early.” She smiled. “I’m up at the crack of dawn usually.”
“Morning person, huh?” Brody asked, handing her a menu.
“Irritatingly so, I’m afraid.”
“I like mornings. Mornings in bed are even better.”
Cassidy looked up from the menu to find Brody’s eyes fixed on his menu. A sneaky twitch on his lips was trying to get out. She felt her own lips mimicking the response. His eyes flicked over to hers, and he winked.
Cassie rolled her eyes at him and the obvious innuendo.
“We agreed to coffee, but I haven’t eaten yet, so I’m snagging breakfast while I’m here. Join me?” he asked.
“Why not?” Anna’s class had left her drained and needing refueling.
“Look at that. Already we’re past coffee and sharing a meal.”
This time Cassie’s smile flashed out. Damn, he was sneaky. In a fun, teasing kind of way.
Brody gestured her forward to go first.
“I’ll have the Greek omelet and fruit. Mint Moroccan tea. Hot. Thanks.”
When she handed over her card, Brody’s hand came down over hers. He gave the guy his instead. “We’re together and it’s my treat. Veggie omelet, extra veggies, hash browns, and same with the fruit. Coffee black, extra shot of espresso.”
The last item made Cassie’s eyes almost water. “Need to wake up, do you?”
“Late shoot on set last night. Didn’t go to bed until two a.m.,” Brody said with a shrug, signing the check and taking the number for their table. “Eat outside?”
Mid-fall in the South meant it wasn’t too cold out yet. Unlike the upper Midwest where her family was already pulling out cooler weather gear.
“Sure.” Leading the way, Cassie walked out. “You didn’t have to pay, by the way. This is just a casual meet for coffee, not a date.”
“Correction — it’s coffee and food now, which hedges it almost toward being a date but not quite.” Brody held out her chair.
The move surprised Cassie. Did guys actually do old-world chivalry anymore? Apparently one still did.
“And while I appreciate and admire your whole independent woman thing, call me old-fashioned, but I’m not going to bicker with you over who gets to pay for what when you’re with me.”
After a moment, Cassie acknowledged his gesture a bit grudgingly. She was so used to paying her own way, it was difficult sometimes to remember to just be gracious. “Fine. Thank you for breakfast.”
Brody sat there staring at Cassie. His face might have looked tired, but the expression in his emerald eyes sparkled with deep interest, suppressed humor, and that quiet, steady, unrelenting assessment.
Cassie merely arched a brow at him. “So you wanted to plead your case, Mr. Brody No-Last-Name, who works in the film industry.”
“It’s Brody Miller.” He studied her once more. “Tell me, did you come here with an open mind or just to pretend to listen and blow me off afterward? Cause if it’s the latter, I’ll just get my food to-go so we don’t waste our time.”
Cassie sat there a moment, flushing at the question. He’d jerked the rug out from under her feet. Such perception was rare in anyone. What was it with this guy, and how did he see through her?
Uncomfortable, she stared at one of the garden terrace pots spilling late summer flowers and trailing ivy for a minute before looking back at him. “Okay, truth. I did come to do exactly that. I have no intention of going out with you or starting something I have no time to fully commit to.”
“Least you’re honest about it. Why are you here then? Why even show up?” Brody sat back with his arms crossed as their drinks came out.
“You caught me in a sentimental weak moment with something you said, so I said yes. I don’t break my word once I give it.” Stirring the tea leaves carefully in her teapot, Cassie judged by the smell that it had steeped long enough. She poured a cup while remembering a simpler time in life with Nathan.
There was something more there than she was ready to say. Honor and integrity were important to Cassie, it seemed, like she’d been betrayed before. Brody took a drink of his coffee and closed his eyes in gratitude of finally having some caffeine to latch on to. He loved what he did for a living, but sometimes the hours sucked, especially coming off of three days of sixteen-hour shoots.
“No one’s making you stay,” he offered, leaning forward again. “But I’d appreciate the chance to try. Might be I could change your mind.”
Something close to a wry smile drifted across her face. “I doubt that. But you’re right. I didn’t walk into this with an open mind or even remotely open ears, so I’ll apologize for that. It was rude and unfair of me. So tell me, Brody Miller, what exactly do you do in the film industry? I understand it’s a booming piece of business in Atlanta.”
Confident that he at least had Cassie listening openly now, Brody decided on being open and honest himself. “I’m an actor. I work right now on a series that they produce and film here on location.”
“Really?” Cassie said, intrigued despite her intentions to not take things any further. “I’ve never known an actor before. What’s it like? Do you enjoy it?”
People and the professions they chose always fascinated her. It was what made social media branding and marketing so fascinating.
“I do. It’s fun to learn new things all the time for the different characters I play, get to meet new people, and learn about the different time periods I get to represent. Then there’re the places I get to travel to.”
“Where are some good ones you’ve been to?” Cassidy asked and was duly impressed with some of the locations Brody named off. She had dreamed of traveling to most of them when her business reached a higher level of success. “How long have you been acting? That’s a fair bit of travel.”
“Pretty much since college. Chase and I went to Juilliard on scholarships and never looked back. I fell in love with film and stage. He went into the producing and directing end of things.”
“I don’t recognize you, but then I don’t really follow the whole Hollywood scene. What show is it you’re here to do?”
Brody named the series. It was one that her staff had raved about and she told him so. Cassidy had never so much as peeked at the show herself, since it was considered serious drama.
“Glad they like it,” Brody said just as their meals were served. “It’s been a really great experience working here, and the character I play is a complicated guy. Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever get him totally figured out all the way.”
“I don’t really watch a lot of TV, and when I do, it’s pretty limited. I stick to comedy since I like to laugh,” Cassie said. The genre helped to ease the constant stress she put herself under with her tight schedule.
“I’ll make you laugh a lot if you agree to date number two.” Brody grinned at her.
“Which brings up an interesting point, given what you do.” She pointed at him with her fork. “Why are you so interested in me? Surely you must have other ladies in your path. Not to stroke your ego or anything, but you’re a good-looking guy.”
“Thanks, and you can stroke anything you want anytime.” Tossing her another wink as he forked up a bite.
Damn him, Cassie thought trying not to smile. He did make her want to laugh. No one she’d ever known had flirted so outrageously with her before. He went from fun and teasing to serious and thoughtful as he responded.
“To answer your question, it’s harder than you think to meet someone, much less get serious with them. I meet women all the time, but finding someone who doesn’t want to go out with me just because of who I am, or worse, some character they’re in love with that I played— that makes for an interesting hurdle. I like that you have no clue who I am. Right now, you’re only seeing me. Which is a really nice change.”
The look on his face was charming and softened Cassie’s heart. It seemed Brody was lonely even if he was completely happy with his life the way it was. As if to prove the whole popularity thing, one of the waitresses came over at that moment, stammering, and asked for an autograph and picture. Brody chatted with the girl for a few minutes and posed for pictures before she left, walking about two feet higher off the ground because he’d spent a few brief minutes asking the woman about herself and her family.
“That was cute. Does it get old?” Cassie asked.
“No. Well, sometimes. The press can be a pain in the ass when they want, and I avoid them like the plague. But since I never do anything interesting, like have sex affairs with my costars or do the party scene, they got bored years ago and stopped following me. I don’t get recognized that much. Thank God. Most films I do, I look like someone else entirely, so that keeps it easy when I’m out. Personally, I think I look pretty boring in person.”
“Well, she didn’t think so, and I’m sure she’d much rather you be taking her out. I’d like to also point out that she’s more in line with your direct height ratio than I am.”
Brody choked out a laugh. “Is that why you’re saying no? My height?” Leaning back with his hands behind his head, he gave her another cocky grin. “I’ll make sure you have a box to stand on when we get around to kissing. Works on set.”
“Ha ha ha. Funny. You have to admit there’s a huge difference.”
And double-damn Brody Miller and his cocky confidence — now Cassie was thinking about kissing those really sexy full lips he had. It had been a long time since she’d allowed herself to think about anything physical with a man, and the memory of why sneaked in. Cassie ruthlessly buried the pain back where it belonged — in the past.
“You didn’t seem to mind my height the other night. And I liked holding you when you almost fell. I admit, I think you’re a pretty sexy package wrapped up in all those boundaries and the back-off wall you have around you. The fact that your mind is as sharp as your tongue doesn’t make you any less attractive. I don’t care about the difference in our vertical statuses. It’s not really an issue to me. I want to get to know you better. Both our schedules are crazy, but I bet we can find an hour or so, here and there, to see what the potential is.” Taking a sip of his coffee, Brody waited for her response.
The fact that Brody had been so blunt about what he wanted threw Cassie off. Her self-imposed moratorium on dating left her on rocky ground as to how to deal with him. She’d gotten used to handling her life, along with most of the people in it, just the way she wanted. She’d easily shoot down any other man, but Brody was a different story. He didn’t seem at all put off by her schedule, nor the boundaries Cassie guarded so carefully. And how easily Brody could read her was unnerving. Only one other person in her life had that ability, and that was Nathan. To some extent Anna at times, as well.
“Does anyone ever turn you down?” she asked.
“Of course. All the time. Rejection is part of my life given what I do. I have thick skin.”
“Persistence, I imagine, is another quality you have in spades.”
The answering look in his eyes said it all. Going out on a limb, Cassie might classify him as slightly pushy along with his extreme bluntness. She’d bet money those qualities saved Brody a lot of time wasted on people’s bullshit — something she fervently wished she could get away with sometimes in her own line of work.
Cassie thought it over, all of her crazy schedule and life as it was right now. In addition to his physical attraction, Brody was actually interesting. Their semi-coffee date had turned out to be one of the most enjoyable times she’d spent with a man in a long time. For the first time in a long while, part of her was curious beyond belief. The other, more familiar part of her was sure there was no possible way it could work out. Especially the part of her wounded by the past. Cassie squelched that like the bug it was. The past wasn’t part of this decision.
She had learned, through the years, that the number one priority in a professional career was that distractions didn’t make for success. There was no doubt in her mind that Brody Miller would be a very big distraction.
She eyed him over her cup. “I’m pretty sure things would never work out between us.”
“One way to find out. Is that a yes or a no?” Brody asked, cocking his head.
“It’s sadly a no. I’m tempted to say yes, but reality is that I’m selfish with my spare time. Dating just isn’t something I want to do right now while I’m building this next phase of our business.”
Brody shook his head. The corner of his mouth lifted in a wry half smile. “Can’t say I’m not disappointed. What do you say to keeping me in mind if things change or lighten up?”
Cassie gave a sincere smile. “I can do that.”
He took the let-down well, making her almost wish she had said yes. For the first time in a long time, she had actually wanted to say yes. To take a hesitant step in that direction again.
“Good. Now that we’re all casual-friends-like, tell me more about this business of yours and what you’re building. I still have a good twenty minutes of our hour left,” Brody said.
Cassie found herself sharing with him the what and why she was dreaming big, and if their hour turned into twenty minutes past the limit, it was only because she forgot to keep a sharp eye on her watch. At least, that was what she told herself when they said good-bye and parted ways.