Page 38 of Built to Last

He’s silent for a moment. He waits until I’m about to walk into the hallway. “I do, and I always get my way.”

I turn, ready to flay the man, but he’s gone.

Jeremiah points to the door. “He fled. That was…shockingly childish of him.”

Coward. “And this surprises you?”

“Yes,” Jeremiah admits. “Reid is the most mature person I know. He’s kind of known for being a stickler for rules and behaving professionally. Many people we’ve worked with comment on the stick up his backside.”

“Well, he must have changed then because that man is quite an asshole.”

“Yeah, I wonder what happened to make him change,” Jeremiah murmurs, glancing back to where Patrick is standing, checking over some equipment. “What’s his story?”

I should walk away. Jeremiah belongs to Reid, and I am attempting to stay away from all things Reid adjacent. I can tell the man I have work to do. Which is the truth. I still have to stop by the office at some point in time today to make sure everything is running smoothly. But do I use that valid excuse? No. Because despite everything, I’m curious. There’s a weird vibe around those two. “You don’t know? He’s pretty much the reason Ani and Luca got married. I mean, they would have anyway, but what happened with the director sped things along. Now, there was a man who didn’t faint when he heard the word penis.”

Jeremiah’s eyes go wide. “Patrick was the production assistant the director was harassing? The one Luca caught on tape admitting to it? They kept his name out of the press pretty well.”

“That’s him. He and Ani became friends, and she offered him this job,” I explain with a long sigh as I think about what I should have been thinking about a few minutes before. “So he’s got his reasons for being uncomfortable about what happened. I need to go apologize.”

“What did happen?” Jeremiah asks.

I don’t even know. “He pushes my buttons. He claims I push his.”

“My brother is always calm. He’s a freaking oasis of calm. I’ve seen him face tragedies and accidents and not once lose his cool, but you walk in a room and he loses his damn mind.” Jeremiah looks me up and down. “I’m not sure if this is a good development or a bad one.”

“It’s no development at all. We don’t mix well. It’s like that with some people.” I start moving toward Patrick.

“Not with my brother,” Jeremiah calls out. “He gets along with everyone. Everyone except you. I wonder why.”

“Just lucky I guess,” I retort and move to stand in front of Patrick. “I am very sorry.”

He glances up from his clipboard. “For?”

“That whole scene back there. I’m sorry. It was juvenile of us, and it won’t happen again.”

“Hopefully the you talking like an actual person on camera will happen again.” Patrick checks something off, proving he can multitask. He can work and make me feel like crap at the same time.

“Okay. I’ll figure it out.” I’m about to turn around and do what I should have done the first time. Get to work.

“Harper,” Patrick calls out with a long-suffering sigh. He’s good at those. “He was doing it to help you.”

“Doing what? Insulting me?”

“He was trying to turn it into a challenge. You can’t resist those, and the man knows it. I don’t care about the inappropriate remarks. Trust me. I know when someone is being inappropriate. You two are fighting a big attraction, and I salute you for it. I mean it. Keep it up. Do not fall into bed with that man.”

“I have no intention of sleeping with him.”

“Good.” Patrick gets back to work. “Because the last thing we need is big drama on set. But he wasn’t trying to be an asshole. I watched him watching you, and he was worried. He didn’t jump in to harass you. He thought he could help, and he did. You’ll be better next time because you got through this time.”

Because Reid pushed me, and when he walks into my space, nothing matters except him. “I should get going on the demo. Is the other unit thingee ready?”

“The other unit thingee is Bill with a handheld. So yes, he’s probably ready,” Patrick agrees. “Think about what I said and maybe go easier on Reid.”

“I’m not the only one with a Dorsey brother problem,” I point out. “You and Jeremiah seem to be hitting it off.”

Now the clipboard lowers. “Oh, that’s not happening. That man is hiding something. I’m not sure what it is, but he’s wound tight. We went to dinner a couple of times, but I can’t shake the feeling that something’s off in his life. I’ll admit he’s exactly my type, but I’m going to keep it professional.”

I was unaware they went out. “He asked me about you. I was surprised he didn’t know how you and Anika met.”

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