Page 14 of Brandt's Rule

Tempest turned to see who Bailey was staring at.

A tall man with dark hair, dark piercing eyes, and sharp cheekbones walked in. He smiled almost bashfully as he peeked at Bailey through downcast long lashes framing his partially lowered lids. His tall frame was clearly layered with muscle, but his muscles were long and fluid, rather than bulky. His skin was a beautiful olive complected tone, enhanced by time spent in the sun. “Morning’, Bailey,” his deep voice resonated with his morning greeting as he smiled at her.

“Hi, Remi. How are you?”

“Doing alright. You?”

“Just plugging right along. What can I get you?”

“The usual.”

“Twelve large coffees. You want burritos or sandwiches with it?”

“Burritos. And can you add two bags of donuts instead of one? My uncle is supposed to be there today and he always hogs all the donuts.”

“Sure. I’ll get that right away.” Bailey said, turning away from the counter to start putting Remi’s order together.

A few minutes later Bailey looked up from her task and noticed Remi standing there watching her unwaveringly. Suddenly feeling on edge and clutsy, she gestured to Tempest to try to steer the attention away from herself. “Have you met my friend, Tempest?”

Remi turned to glance in the direction Bailey indicated and smiled briefly before recognition crossed his features. “Yes, I have. Well, not exactly. I saw you when you came to the work site yesterday, but didn’t actually meet you. Hi, I’m Remi.” Remi reached out his hand to shake Tempest’s.

Tempest took his hand and shook it firmly. “Hello, Remi. I’m Tempest.”

“So, you know Bailey,” Remi said, holding her gaze as they both acknowledged the recognition that passed between them. Neither was completely human, and the dragon blood running through their veins sat up and took notice of the other.

Tempest didn’t have time to answer before Bailey answered for her.

“She does. She’s my bestie. Yes, I know it’s hard to believe, but I do have friends.”

Remi had been looking curiously at Tempest, but his attention shifted to Bailey again as he dropped Tempest’s hand. “I’m sure you have many friends,” Remi said softly, not sure how he’d managed to make Bailey defensive.

Bailey hesitated as she was wrapping the last burrito, but then seemed to recover herself and finished packaging the food Remi had ordered. She put the bag of burritos with the already bagged two dozen donuts, and filled twelve to go cups with hot coffee and capped them with lids. She put the coffee cups into cardboard formed carrying trays and presented it all to Remi. “There you go.”

“What do I owe you?” Remi asked.

“Oh, yeah. Hold on,” Bailey said, ringing up the food to give Remi a total. She’d been so shaken up at Remi walking into the shop that she’d forgotten to even ring up his order after she’d prepared it for him.

Remi handed her a few bills, waiting patiently while she put it in the register and counted out his change.

Tempest watched Remi, while Remi watched Bailey as she counted out his change. He watched every move she made, every movement of her lips as she counted silently to herself, every blink of her eyes, even the pulse in her throat. Tempest noticed Bailey’s hands shaking as she counted out change and placed it in Remi’s hand, being very careful not to touch Remi at all. Suddenly, she understood. This was the male that Bailey had hoped for years would notice her. And he completely unnerved her.

“I’ll put the coffees in the truck and come back for the food,” Remi said, smiling shyly at Bailey.

Bailey nodded and flashed a quick half-smile.

The moment Remi was outside, Tempest scolded Bailey. “I thought you said that he didn’t notice you.”

Bailey looked over at her quickly. “He doesn’t!”

“He walked in, spoke your name, inquired of your wellbeing, and spent time watching every movement you made, every breath you took. He’s noticed.”

Bailey looked hopefully at Tempest, then flicked her gaze toward Remi who was just stepping away from his truck to return for his food.

“Be kind, he’s noticed. You haven’t,” Tempest said quickly.

Bailey smiled as Remi stepped back into the shop.

“I’m back,” he announced unnecessarily.

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