A/N: Hey guys, long time no write :) Just wanted to give y'all a little taste of the next book. I am currently writing the last installment of HIS though I am having a harder time writing it than I thought I would. So, just fair warning that I don't know when it'll be finished or posted, or even what will happen, just know that I am trying hard to write it. Writers block is so not fun to have. But I hope you guys enjoy this book. You get a glimpse into the life of Brandi. Enjoy! :) I appreciate everyone of you that reads my stories.

Brandi

I was feeling good about tonight. My hair was laid, my dress was oh so sensuous, and my heels were poppin'!

I spritzed on some BlackBerry Vanilla perfume from Bath and Body Works, grabbed my silver clutch and was leaving my bedroom when my roommates Jack, Evan, and Amber walked out to greet me first.

"Okay, so where are you going?" Jack asked me

Ah Jack, always the overbearing but still caring brother I had come to know and love. He was always trying to look out for you, no matter how much you told him you didn't need his help.

"On my date with Caine. And I'll be late if you guys don't let me leave."

"Finally, the man is taking you on a date instead of calling you up at 2 am for some booty. You better not put out tonight." Jack scolded

"We're adults, Jackson. What me and Caine do isn't your concern. But I will be telling you all the juicy details once I get back. If Ellie calls while I'm gone, send her my love." I commented, walking backwards towards the front door.

"I know you did not just call me Jackson, we discussed this! That name is never to be uttered in this house."

"You'll live. Now can you guys please let me go? I'll be late."

"Just be safe and have fun. Call us if you need anything, don't drink too much, an-"

"Evan, I'll be fine. I've been on a date before, I'll be fine."

In the last few months, I noticed Jack was starting to rub off on Evan as well. He never used to worry and usually refrained from saying anything. Now, he made sure to join his fiance in terrorizing me and poor Amber, although Jack always took the cake.

"Look, don't listen to these two. You go on over there and you show Caine just what he's missing if he doesn't cut the player act. Remember, you are the prize. Don't take anything less than you are worth." Amber smiled

"I'll try. Now guys, I really gotta go-"

"Group hug and then we'll let you leave." Jack suggested

And before I could say anything, they all surrounded me and squeezed me tight. I loved my roommates, I never wanted to be away from them. They finally let me go.

I finally walked out of the apartment without another word. I thought I'd never get to leave.

I got into my little Honda Accord, started it up and started the drive to Caine's house. Honestly, I was nervous. All Caine and I had done within the last few years was shack up in his office, his car, my car.

That one time at the Holiday Inn...

The list goes on. I thought all this time that it would just be a sexual relationship and that was that. But then, six months into it, stupid me had actually caught feelings for him and I knew I wanted more. But I didn't dare tell Caine that. For starters, the man was much older than I was. He was about twenty years my senior at forty five years old. I knew older men saw a younger woman as just someone to show off as a trophy and some young thing to warm up their bed at night.

But Caine always reassured me that I was much more than that. He talked about marrying me, being with me and only me and that alone made me hopeful. Maybe tonight was the night we'd actually talk about our relationship and actually make things official. 

Just thinking about it made my cheeks as red as my dress.

After driving twenty minutes to the other side of town, I was finally at Caine's house and parked in his driveway as usual. I decided to check my make up one last time, put on some more gloss and took some deep breaths. I couldn't walk in there nervous, I had to act like I was the girl I knew he wanted: Someone strong, confident, and unbothered. And I was her.

Let's do this.

I got out of my car, locked it, and strutted up the walkway towards his door. While walking I noticed a car that looked very familiar to me parked in front of Caine's house, but I couldn't place my finger on where I had seen it before. But none the less, who had time to think about that? I had my man to go get.

I poofed my hair, pushed up the girls, took another deep breath and then rang the doorbell and silently waited on his porch. I faintly heard giggling....a woman's giggle. No, it couldn't be, I had to be hearing things right?

I waited a few more minutes before ringing the doorbell again. This time,the giggling stopped and I heard movement getting closer to the door. 

Maybe it was just the TV and I was being paranoid. I needed to stop trippin', I probably had nothing to even worry about. When the door opened and I saw him staring at me, eyes racking over my frame and a coy smile slowly coming over his face, I knew there were some things missing and grossly out of place-- like his lack of a shirt and his pants being unbuttoned. Don't ask why, but I felt my heart in my throat.

"Hi Brandi, my you look ravishing tonight." He growled

Oop, there went my cool demeanor. But It quickly wore off when I noticed that his body was trying to hide something. I saw raven hair peeking slightly over his shoulder as the figure walked into the kitchen and I struggled to see if what I was seeing was real.

So...there was a woman in there. I couldn't believe how stupid I was.

"Who's that?" I asked, trying to walk in once more.

"Nobody she's my-"

"Papi! When are you coming back to bed? The ice cream is melting!"

That voice sounded awfully familiar....

I looked at him and he looked visibly nervous.

"Papi!? Who's at the door? I'll be in the bedroom when you're finished."

And then the footsteps retreated from the room.

"Wow Caine, wow!" I strained,turning from the door.

"Brandi wait." He said as I strutted towards my car.

I walked down the passageway and towards my car as his voice followed behind me.

"Brandi, where you going? Please, let me explain!"

I was filled with so much hurt and rage that I didn't even answer him,I just opened the door to my car.

"Brandi, let's talk about this!"

"I have nothing to say to you. Besides, wouldn't wanna steal anymore time from you and your girlfriend in there. Have fun with the bitch!"

Okay, so maybe calling the girl a bitch was wrong, but damn it, I was furious!

"Brandi-"

I got into my car and slammed the door shut. Now, I wasn't the type of girl to cry over some bastard, no matter how into him I was, and I wasn't about to now.

"BRANDI!" He yelled as I started up the car

I back out of the driveway quickly and burn rubber down the street. But before I hit the end, I saw the woman standing at his door with nothing but his tee-shirt on as he walked towards it. I was so done with him.

When my roommates saw me back just a shy thirty minutes later, they already knew what happened. 

"Let me guess, someone else had a date with him tonight too?" Jack asked

Evan smacked him on his shoulder hard.

"Ow! What was that for?" Jack said 

"What the hell is wrong with you? See, that's your problem..."

I said nothing else as I walked to my room and shut my door behind me. The drama could wait until morning.

****

When I awoke at six am sharp the next morning, I went down the hall to the bathroom to get showered and ready for my day. Last night still had me annoyed, but I did my best to just put it to the back of my mind. If Caine wanted other women, I really wish he would've just said that instead of leading me on and creating false promises like wanting to be with me. But then again, I should've been smart enough to know that men like him never change.

But whatever, his loss.

After showering and dressing into my work uniform, I quietly left the house to go to work at my parents restaurant. I had worked up from the bottom all the way to a chef and I was pretty proud of myself. Of course, being the owner's daughter, I know they would've given me the chef job outright, but I wanted to work my way to the top. That, and I didn't want the other workers giving me more of a hard time than I already got from my sisters Cecilia and Maria

Ah yes, the Wonder Twins. They were the shining stars of the Montenegro family and I was constantly in their shadow. I had always wanted to be a chef and own my own restaurant, but I would never tell my sisters that, because they'd think I was even more pathetic. I swear, since I was the youngest, I was always ganged up on. Cecilia had her own line of cookbooks, and Maria had her own five star restaurant on the rich side of town that people often frequented. She was very well off and lived in a townhouse on the rich side of town as well. Cecilia often traveled the world promoting her cookbooks and even cooked with the greats like Emeril Lagasse, Giada and even Bobby Flay. All of them just raved about her and I had to watch her on TV sickened that they didn't really know how she was. 

Just thinking about those two was enough to make me upset all over again. But I wouldn't let them win, not anymore. They had done that enough in my life. It was time I took control of what I wanted.

When I pulled up towards the restaurant, I parked in the back where the other employees parked and walked in through the back entrance and immediately entered my zone. Salsa music was playing and I heard hoops and hollers coming from the kitchen area along with laughs. I already knew it was the other kitchen hands warming up for the day with their morning dances.

When I entered after putting my things in my locker, immediately I was grabbed by Jonathan, another chef that worked along side with me. He was Afro-Latino, just like Evan, and was pretty nice to be around. He was the one person in this whole place that didn't give me a hard time for being the owner's daughter.

"'Bout time you got here! Come on, put some life into it!"

He started shaking his hips fluidly and twirling me around making me laugh and cheering me up.

"That's it, now you got it!" He smirked

I was aware of everyone else watching us, but I didn't care, I was having fun. When the song was over, I out of breath, walked to get my chef's jacket and chef's hat.

"Man I needed that. How are you this morning Jonathan?"

"Me? I'm great. Any morning I get to see your shining smile is a good one."

"I'm glad my presence makes someone happy here." I muttered, so the others couldn't hear me.

"Remember what I told you: Don't pay them any mind. You worked your ass off to get here, you deserve to be a chef. I'm proud to work alongside you. Hell, you even taught me a few things and I'm the best thing in here!" He smirked

I playfully bumped him with my hip and he chuckled. Jonathan was like my best friend here outside of the gang back home.

"That's very nice of you." I smiled

Just then I heard the familiar murmurs of good mornings to my parents as they themselves walked into the kitchen. My mom and dad had been married for over thirty years, but you'd think they were still in the honeymoon stage. The years hadn't made their marriage sour, only grow stronger and their love grow deeper. I tell you, the way my dad looked at my mom was so beautiful. Every time he did, I always noticed a blush on my mother's caramel skin. It made me so happy to see them so in love after all these years.

It also made me wish I had a man who looked at me that way. But hey, a girl can dream right?

"Good morning, Mi bella flor, how are you?" My dad asked, giving me a side hug and kissing the side of my head.

"Papi," I groaned, giving an embarrassed side glance to see if anyone else noticed.

Thankfully, no one did. Now don't get me wrong, I loved my dad, but him kissing his grown daughter in front of workers that already hated me made it even harder on myself.

"What? I can't tell my beautiful daughter good morning?"

"Of course you can."

"I get it, you're too cool to hug your old man anymore, I understand."

Then he did that fake frown like he always did knowing it made me feel guilty.

"Oh papi, you know that'll never happen. And you're not even old, don't look a day over twenty." I smiled 

"That's my girl." He chuckled, rumbling his bulbous belly

I loved hearing my dad laugh, It made me happy to see him happy.

"Well I'm going to go get everything set up. You okay here?"

"Dad I'm fine, I'll see you later." I smiled

He kissed my head once more and left the kitchen. 

"Come on girl we gotta get cooking. I bet my Mole is better than yours." Jonathan suddenly said

"I bet twenty dollars mine beats yours." I teased back

"You're on! We'll see what the customers think, and when you give me that twenty dollars, I'll use it to buy your sauce since no one will eat it after tasting mine." He smirked

"Don't be so sure of yourself." I chuckled, going over to the fridge to grab ingredients.

**********

After a long day at work and being on my feet over twenty hours, I was so ready to go home. It was almost one am by time the last utensil was washed and put away. Johnathan and I went to the locker room to put our uniforms away and grab our belongings.

"So, where's my twenty dollars?" I asked him with a smirk

"You'll get it tomorrow. Man, I can't believe how good that sauce tastes. You gotta give me the recipe."

"No can do, it's my little secret."

"Brandi I'm telling you, your food is great. Why don't you open your own restaurant? You'd probably be more successful than your sisters."

"Oh please, I am more than happy working here in the kitchen with you. Besides, my parents are retiring in a few months, we all know someone will be getting this restaurant, and I hope it's you." I admitted, closing my locker door and hitching my backpack on my right shoulder.

"Why not you? Girl, you could make some serious cash if you took over."

"You know why, I'd never hear the end of it from everyone else. And I want the chance to make my own brand, not piggyback off of my parents brand you know? This is a dream I want to start from the ground up."

"I understand chica, but still, think about it. Why do you let everyone get to you anyway? They're just jealous."

"Because it's us two against ten other people. I definitely don't want my parents to pick me because that just proves I didn't earn it."

"But you did earn it. I know your roommates agree with me. You worked from waitressing and then went up, you earned this just as much as anyone."

We walked through the back doors towards the parking lot and walked towards our cars.

"Maybe. Look, I'll catch you later. I got some serious bubble bathing to do."

"See you in the morning. And think about what I said."

"Alright Jonathan. I'll see you tomorrow"

I got into my car and drove off down the street. 

I was only twenty minutes away from home when all of a sudden, I heard a pop and the car started wobbling. I pulled over quickly and turned the car off, knowing that a tire had blew.

Great, just great.

It's dark and I'm out here alone. I didn't have AAA, Evan, the only one of us who was great at cars was at the Firefighter Academy and was doing night training, Jack was a heavy ass sleeper, and Amber I know was at some modeling gig for the next few hours.

And of course, Ellie wasn't in the country. Man, I really could use her right now.

Guess I would have to change this tire myself.