“Oh.” She crossed her arms and scowled, like she was working something out. “I wish you’d told me. I was so nervous myself, worried about Lauren breathing down my neck, and I don’t know. I looked up at the monitor and saw you there, and I just forgot where I was. I can’t explain it.”
I understood. “It might be because of what happened before…” I glanced up at the monitor, remembering.
“Did Lauren say anything?” Her nose wrinkled, like she smelled something sour. I was glad it wasn’t just me the producer had that effect on.
I blew out a breath. This only proved it was a bad idea to get mixed up with coworkers. “No. I didn’t have a chance to talk to her, to convince her it wasn’t what it looked like. ”
“Wasn’t it?” Her head cocked. “Should I doubt it as well?”
“Of course not.” I didn’t know how to navigate this. This was such new territory for me, I wasn’t sure what to say. Except. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t fair to send mixed signals.”
“There were two of us involved, Evan.” She stepped closer, into the danger zone. “Are you using the job as an excuse? If you’re not interested, just say so.”
If only… She was making me rethink my own rules. “It’s not an excuse.” I waved toward the door. “Did you not see Lauren earlier? I’ve already lost one job over false allegations. Whether or not I want to act on my attraction to you, I can’t. We shouldn’t. It’s too big a risk.”
“So you’re not willing to advise me on the job anymore?”
I sighed. “I will, but maybe somewhere more neutral.”
She bit her lower lip, looking suddenly shy. “I’m planning to walk over to the library in the morning to do some editing. I don’t think you’ve seen it since they finished the remodel, have you?”
“No, I haven’t.” Was this a loophole? “I’ve been wanting to. I saw an article about it, but I’d love to peek inside.”
“Why don’t you come with me. We can talk shop on the way.” She took a step toward the door.
It would be playing with fire, but my heart warmed at the prospect of hanging out with her again. “I would love to.”
Chapter Twenty-one
Elizabeth
“Boldness be my friend! Arm me, audacity, from head to foot!”
Cymbaline
I dropped into my chair and kicked off my shoes to stretch my poor feet, ready to hammer out the rundown for the eleven o’clock newscast. This job was seriously unrelenting, but at least I had something to look forward to. I couldn’t believe Evan had agreed to walk me to the library in the morning. I’d pierced his no-socializing-with-coworkers rule, even if we could only be friends.
Lauren came in hot, talking at me from across the room. “There’s a gunman on the loose. We need to break in live right now.”
Chaos ensued as everyone raced around the newsroom. Lauren set up a live feed to a field reporter, but I simply froze in place, waiting for someone to tell me where to go. I’d only been at this job a little over a week, and while I could pick things up, most of the time I was just faking it as best I could. I couldn’t learn emergency protocol from a vacuum, and there was no way I was going to try to wing it.
After Gigi nearly collided with me, I ducked through the control room to get out of everyone’s way, ending up in the weather office, an oasis of calm.
“What’s going on?” Evan asked, peering over his laptop. “Do they need me to jump on air?”
I didn’t know. “It’s possible? There’s some breaking news, and they’re scrambling.”
“Oh.” He scratched his jaw, glanced once more at his computer, then closed the lid. “I don’t usually get involved with that. Are they bringing Kent or—”
“There you are,” Lauren said, interrupting whatever Evan was about to ask.
“What do you need me to do?” I asked, ready to take instruction. Icouldlearn new things, but a mind reader I was not.
“What you could do is stay at your post instead of hiding out back here doing fuck all.”
“Well, I just thought—”
“Don’t.” She huffed out a breath. “I don’t need you thinking. I just need you to come and stand in the control room, where I expected you to be, until I can get everyone in their places. Act like a professional for once.”
