Page 18 of Breaking News

Xander’s brows furrowed. “She’s fine.”

“She’snotfine,” Meghan argued, giving him a severe look. “I keep telling her to go to the doctor about this, but she’s being a stubborn little bitch about it.”

I thought I caught Xander’s jaw twitching. He seemed puzzled, and maybe even a little embarrassed—a rarity for him. His eyes were laser-focused on Meghan. “What are you talking about?”

“Her chronic pain. It’s not normal,” Meghan said in exasperation.

“She said it was her old mattress causing it,” I said, crossing my arms. “But that doesn’t seem right.”

It was hard not to notice the paleness of Xander’s face, or the way his nostrils flared. He hadn’t been privy to this information, it seemed. Leaning forward in his chair, he looked down at the floor between his legs. “I knew she wasn’t feeling well Friday night, but she didn’t mention it again.”

“This has been going on for a while, Xan,” Meghan said, her tone unusually gentle, like she was delivering bad news. She nudged her laptop screen down to a 45-degree angle to see Xander’s face better. “It comes and goes.”

Xander stared at his twiddling thumbs and mumbled, “Well, she hasn’t talked to me about it. Obviously.”

I swallowed, almost feeling some sympathy for the guy. “I’m sure she just doesn’t want you to fuss over her.”

He brought his eyes up to mine, and his features almost seemed to darken. I’d only been trying to help, but apparently Xander didn’t want to hear it. I licked my lips and turned back to Meghan.

To cover up my interest in Jillian, I continued speaking as though I was simply a CEO concerned about the bottom line. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to see her wince in pain on live television. Maybe between the two of you, you could convince her to go to the doctor?”

“I’ll drag her there if I have to,” Meghan said, squinting at her computer screen. I watched her remove a word from a headline, feeling Xander’s eyes boring into my skin. Ignoring him, I rose to my feet and pushed in my chair, leaning over so I could get a better look at tomorrow’s layout.

“Have you considered—”

“I’ll consider stapling your mouth shut if you critique my layout, Graham.”

“Right,” I said, holding in a laugh as I backed away. I gave a little nod. “Keep up the good work, guys.”

Had to end this conversation on a positive note.

As I made my way back to the first floor, I felt a brooding presence behind me on the landing. Xander outpaced me, muttering under his breath as he passed, “Seems like you were watching her pretty damn closely.”

His words were quiet, almost inaudible. In fact, maybe I hadn’t even heard him correctly.

I stopped on the next step. “What?”

He tossed a glance over his shoulder. “Nothing. Just admiring your keen observation skills.”

The guy was embarrassed, that much was obvious. He’d just been blindsided, realizing he knew less about his own girlfriend than I did. That had to sting. If he needed to let off a little steam, fine. I wasn’t going to take it personally.

I held back the sarcastic response on the tip of my tongue, deciding to keep it professional as I walked down the stairs after him. “I guess all those years of investigative reporting taught me how to read people.”

I half-expected him to turn around and say, “Oh yeah? Read this!” before flipping me off. I’d set myself up for that, after all. But thankfully, he just ducked into the WWTV newsroom without acknowledging I’d said anything at all.

When I got to my office, I wandered over to the window, where Sarah Gardner and another Grissom employee were tending to the garden they’d planted with their students there in the spring. I absentmindedly stared until my eyes unfocused and the colors of the garden blurred together.

Why didn’t Jill tell him?

Why was I the one noticing, and not her own damn boyfriend?

chapter seven

Jillian

“We need to talk.”

“Are you breaking up with me?”

---