Mabel:WHOSE IS??
He snorted and rolled out of bed, ready to start his day. Okay, ready to start his day after a quick jack off in the shower. That night after the Moo Daddies show, he’d stumbled back to his hotel room, almost dizzy with lust and desperate for the release he’d walked away from when he’d tucked a drunk Mabel into her bed alone, then fucked out his frustrations with his own hand. But that night he’d had the promise of a relationship with Mabel as he pictured her wrapping her lips around his dick while he worked himself. Now he was that creepy guy obsessing over a woman who didn’t want to be with him.
Still, he was getting by as best as he could these days, and if that’s what it took to sand down his Mabel-related rough edges and keep itprofessional—a word he was truly coming to hate—then he’d do what he had to do.
Twenty-Seven
Thea was Dave’s new cohost, and Mabel felt like vomitingall the time.
She was being replaced. It was actually happening.
“The thing is, she’s notthatgood,” she grumbled to Aiden the Monday of Thanksgiving week. “She’s just better than anybody else who tried out.”
With Dave off doing who knew what and her treacherous mind constantly threatening her with thoughts of Jake, she’d welcomed the distraction of Aiden’s laid-back company when he offered to bring lunch to the station that day.
“They definitely don’t have the same timing you and Dave did,” he agreed.
“Yeah, that wedid.” She speared a tomato with unnecessary force, showering her spinach with a spray of pulp.
“Easy there, tiger.” Then his amused expression vanished when his phone exploded with a series of text messages.
“Trouble?”
“Maybe. They need me at a job site.” He wolfed down the rest of his sandwich in three quick bites and grabbed his Murdoch Construction coat from the back of the chair, mouth tight. “Dinner tomorrow?”
“Sure. Text me.”
He left without further explanation, and once she’d cleaned up their lunch trash, she headed to the recording studio. But instead of working on a new commercial for a local dentist, she imagined Brandon falling to his knees and begging her to come back to mornings. It was the most satisfying non-Jake fantasy she’d had in ages.
“Oh! I’m sorry! I didn’t know anyone was in here!”
She snapped back to reality to find Thea hovering in the doorway, wringing her hands.
“Yeah, I’ve got some ads to record.” She gestured at the ad copy on her desk and asked stiffly, “Did you need something?”
Thea bit her lip and did a little fidget-dance. God, did that woman ever just hold still for fifteen seconds? “I was going to, you know, practice.”
“Practice?” Did she mean practice stealing Mabel’s life?
“On the board,” Thea clarified. “It just seems like I’d be a little more useful to Dave if I knew how to do all that stuff. I can’t even spell him when he has to run to the bathroom.” She edged out the door. “I’ll just come back some other time.”
Mabel swallowed hard. Thea actuallywaspracticing to replace Mabel in her own life. And yet the words spilled out unbidden. “Actually, do you want to stay?”
Thea stopped, hand gripping the edge of the door. “Why?”
Inwardly, she agreed. Helping train Mabel 2.0 wasn’t smart. In fact, she wanted Thea to fail spectacularly. But at the same time, she wasn’t a supervillain.
“Want some lessons on running the board? I can walk you through the basics. We could even toss some banter back and forth to give you a little more practice.”
Thea’s eyes widened. “Really?”
Mabel shrugged. “Sure. Everybody starts somewhere.” She wasn’t doing it for the station or Brandon or the ratings. She was doing it for Dave and his drawn, tired face. Whatever was up with him these days, he looked like he could use some help.
“Oh. Okay,” Thea said. “I didn’t think you’d want to, um…”
She shifted uncomfortably, and all Mabel could do was shrug again. “Yeah, I know. It’s kind of like talking to your ex’s new wife. Not a comfortable situation.”
“The new wife isn’t comfortable either.”
