Today was not the day for the hard drive in her laptop to fry. Sure, the files were backed up on her external drive, but she had a meeting in less than thirty minutes and needed the first half of a manuscript.

Blythe took a deep breath as the back of her eyes began to burn. This week had not gone her way, and now the computer was dead. She was overwhelmed by her emotions and could feel her anxiety taking over. She was the youngest senior editor at the small publishing house where many thought she was over her head. A technology failure wasn’t a good enough reason to not have that manuscript for the meeting.

A light knock on her door pulled her attention.

The familiar male voice entering her office belonged to her brother’s best friend, Dane Hawksley. His penetrating hazel-blue eyes met hers.

He rushed into the office and set down her coffee and breakfast order he brought her every morning from his cafe. He took her hands into his as he knelt before her.

At his question, a traitorous tear slipped down her cheek. Blythe took several deep breaths to gain control of her emotions. Dane was here. If anyone could fix this, it was him.

She motioned to the machine in front of her.

Dane rubbed his thumbs over the tops of her hands, which was both soothing and arousing. This man had always had this effect on her. He oozed raw masculinity, and never seemed to be affected by the sexual tension Blythe felt whenever he was around.

Dane stood and grabbed the food and coffee he had brought.

Relief flooded Blythe. If she hadn’t been having the week from hell, she probably would have thought of it, but everything was too much. She grabbed her bag and the hard drive and followed Dane out of her building. She hopped into his delivery van and they took off for the cafe a few blocks away.

Once he parked, Dane ushered her in through the private entrance and made a beeline for his office. He unlocked his computer for her, plugged in her external drive, and pulled up the web browser.

Blythe sat down and began the process of copying the manuscript and sending it to everyone. She pulled up her email and the Zoom app, before turning to Dane.

He had her white chocolate mocha to her left and was setting up her scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast.

Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Dane smiled and her heart stopped for a moment before it began pounding in her chest. He looked down at the watch on his wrist to check the time.

Dane stood and kissed her on top of her head.

Blythe just nodded as she started eating. She savored the moment for as long as she could. At 26 years old, she was six years younger than Dane. She was the baby of her four siblings, and he was her oldest brother’s best friend. She had had a crush on Dane since her 7th-grade year of middle school; meanwhile, she was the annoying kid sister.

She often wondered if Dane viewed her as an adult, or as a helpless child with anxiety-related depression who needed to be handled with kid gloves at times when the medication didn’t cut it and the stress was overwhelming.

Faces appearing on the screen pulled Blythe back to the present. She polished off the last of the toast and chased it with her coffee before making small talk with those on the remote call. Once the author and publisher were on the video call, they got down to business, and it was her time to shine.