Worth the Fall (Brew Ha Ha #2)

WORTH THE FALL 
Brew Ha Ha #2

Kasey Lane is having a bad week.

Understatement.

Her idea of success never involved losing her job, man, and apartment in 24-hours. Now, with nowhere to go and no way to pay for it anyway, Kasey decides it’s time for a fresh start, which means a new apartment, a new career, and…no men.

But as a magnet for ridiculousness and absurd brushes with the law, her start goes from fresh to stale in record time. It doesn’t help that Mr. Wrong keeps showing up during her adventures gone awry and taking over. Now, as Kasey plans her way to independence she has to decide if the only path to success is going it alone…or if maybe a partner in crime can make the journey sweeter

~*~

ONE

“You’re dumping me?”

I could not believe this was happening. Every time. Every time I thought this week couldn’t get worse—BAM! It did.

“Come on, Kasey. You can’t be shocked by this.” Jason looked at me over the very nice, very expensive dinner he’d invited me to, pity shining through those narrowed eyes.

I sucked in a deep breath, glancing away to focus because this just didn’t make sense.

“You’re really doing this tonight? Seriously?” At the moment, I was more shocked than heartbroken. Although, as I pondered it, heartbreak would probably attack as soon as I was home alone in my apartment…my very, very empty apartment.

I’d have to sit on the floor to have a good cry.

“I’m sorry you’re so surprised,” Jason said, although he didn’t sound the least bit sorry.

“Surprised? I was supposed to move in with you this weekend.”

He tipped his head to the side and looked at me like he might be humoring a child. “You can’t really move in now, right?”

“Well, not if you’re breaking up with me I can’t, can I?” My voice shot up. It sounded a bit hysterical even to my own ears. In the back of my mind, I realized people were beginning to look our way. Jason was going to hate that.

He reached across the table and wrapped his hand around mine, giving it a harsh squeeze. Even his fake comfort was…well, fake.

“If you moved, how were you going to pay your half of the rent? How would you be able to carry your weight?”

Carry my weight? We’d been dating for almost three years and now he was dumping me because I might not be able to pay rent for a couple months on a condo he already owned?

“Give me a break, Jason. I lost my freaking job yesterday. Do you think I have nothing in the bank? You pick the day after I got laid-off to do this?” The hysteria was gone. In its place my emotional cup was filled to the brim with near-blinding rage.

“The economy is tight.” He shrugged as if none of this really mattered. “Who’s to say you’ll find something right away?”

I could not believe this. Could. Not. Believe it. Just last week we’d finished selling all my furniture on Craigslist because his already “fit” in his place. I’d canceled my lease, paid the fine to break it, and was homeless as of the end of the month—which conveniently happened in two days.

“Here.” He handed me a card.

A card. I looked at the lavender sealed envelope. Was I supposed to open it? Did Hallmark really make an I’m-Dumping-Your-Ass-But-Good-Luck-With-Everything card?

“What’s this?”

“That’s the first month’s rent and half of the security you’d paid. I figured it was only fair to give it back.”

You think? I looked down at the card again, wondering what he’d written in it, tempted to open it right then. In retrospect, giving him the security deposit should have been the first sign.

Okay, maybe not the first.

“So, where exactly do you think I’m going to live?”

Scorn. I’d moved from rage to scorn. I was now officially a woman scorned.

No wonder men weren’t supposed to cross us. If hell had no fury like me at that moment, it still had a lot of leash to run on. I could have gutted him with the fancy fish knife resting against my plate.

“Well, I don’t want to sound heartless,” Jason continued studying his plate before looking up with the least empathic expression I’d ever seen, “but that’s not really my problem now, is it?”

The woman at the next table gasped and that’s when I realized most of the tables had fallen silent to the melodrama playing out that was my life.

“No. I guess not. I guess when you dump your girlfriend because she lost her job, you think just about nothing is your problem.” I pushed my chair out, wrapped myself in my Ann Taylor jacket, and picked up my purse. “Oh, wait. You know what your problem is?”

He shook his head, a small smirk yanking his mouth up into cruel tips on each side.

“Getting Bordeaux out of cashmere.” I picked up our half empty bottle of wine and dumped it out on his head. “Good luck with that.”

I stormed away, a smattering of applause following me in my wake. Angry tears nearly blinded me by the time I reached the lobby.

“Please. Allow me.” The host pushed the door open and held it for me as I marched into the cool, spring night. “Good luck, miss.”

Yeah. I was going to need it.

~*~

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