Page 24 of Breaking News

“But sometimes, it’s the little guys like us who make a big splash. It’s not unheard of for a hometown newspaper to break a major story. A friend of mine in a town with a population half the size of Woodvale won a Pulitzer for his editorial on lake pollution. And,” I said, making my way around the table. I lightly touched the back of Olivia’s chair. “Just a few weeks ago, a woman sitting in this very chair authored an exposé that led to the arrest of a corrupt CEO who might otherwise have gotten away with it.”

They all knew what I was talking about, or at the very least, they’d heard their parents gossiping about it. Every single one of them was staring at me with wide eyes now. Even Elaine seemed a little stunned I’d brought this up. I doubted this wasn’t part of the little speech she’d prepared for me.

“Small town media. Big impact,” I said, letting those words settle for a few seconds as I made my way back to the head of the table. “Some of the people who started here have gone on to write for theChicago Tribuneor produce segments forGood Morning America. I hope some of you will look back onyour summer here as the place where your career in journalism started.”

I let my gaze sweep the table one last time before landing on Olivia. “Good luck,” I said. This was for all of them, but mostly, it was for her. “I’m so glad you’re here, and I hope you learn a lot.”

For the briefest moment, Olivia met my eyes. Then, just as quickly, she looked down at the table, a small grin tugging at the corners of her lips.

Elaine directed the kids to go ahead and work on their paperwork, and that was it. As I started to leave, I noticed Olivia squinting at her W-4 form. Beside her, the anxious boy with the unfortunate acne problem adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat. “Where’d you get assigned?” he asked my daughter.

“I get to assist Jillian Taylor,” Olivia answered with a smug grin. She sat up a little straighter. “What about you?”

“Uhh, the newspaper,” the boy said, his knee bouncing violently beneath the table. His nervous energy reminded me of Reese. “I’m with Meghan Dobson and some guy named Xander, I think.”

Oh, Jesus.I ducked out of the conference room as quickly as possible so they couldn’t hear me laugh.

Meghan and Xander were going to eat that poor kid alive.

“It’s not every day you hear a CEO giggle,” a bright voice said behind me as I strolled through the WWTV studio. I turned around to face Jillian, who was standing with one hand on her hip and the other holding an empty coffee mug.

“What? I’m sure Silas giggled all the time,” I said, stealing a quick—and hopefully unnoticeable—glance at her toned, tan legs.

A smile stretched across her face as she caught up with me, and we both continued walking in the direction of the kitchen. Was that where I was originally headed? No. But I could pretend I needed another cup of coffee for the sake of having a longerconversation with her. “Silas laughed like a Bond villain,” she said as we entered the hallway.

I chuckled, preparing to respond with some dumb joke about Silas having an underground lair, but Jillian spoke again before I could even open my mouth.

“Speaking of James Bond, you’re looking pretty sharp today, boss.”

I blinked, momentarily speechless. Jill grinned, clearly pleased with herself. My brain scrambled for something clever to say, but all I could think about was how effortlessly she’d just knocked me off my game. I wasn’t sure I couldn’t exactly return the compliment without my remarks bordering on sexual harassment.

An awkward chuckle was all I could manage at first. As I held open the kitchen door for her, I ran my fingers down my tie, saying, “Thanks, my kids got me this tie for Father’s Day.”

Jill flashed a toothy grin. “Wasn’t talking about your tie,” she giggled, making her way toward the coffee pot.

Then what was she talking about?

My coffee was all the way across the building, sitting untouched on my desk, so I grabbed a fresh mug from the cabinet and waited as Jillian filled her own cup.

She tucked her hair behind her ear as she reached for a sugar packet. “By the way, I know what you did,” she said, her tone teasingly ominous.

I froze. “Uh oh.” Sliding my mug down the counter, I moved closer to her. “You could be talking about any number of things, so that’s concerning.”

Jillian ripped open a second sugar packet. “You told Xander and Meghan I looked like I was in pain on-air.”

“Oh, right. Guilty,” I said, smiling sheepishly as I poured my coffee. Until that moment, it hadn’t even occurred to me that I might have handled it the wrong way. “Yeah, I may haveexpressed some concern. I’m sorry I went to them instead of speaking to you directly.”

“No, I really appreciate the concern. I’m going to try harder to save my grimacing for when the cameras are off. Sorry about that.”

My jaw dropped. “Is that why you think I said something?”

“I mean, I just assumed…” Her words trailed off as she brought her coffee to her lips to blow on it. “If I keep it up, you’ll start getting complaints from viewers.”

“What? I don’t give ashitabout what our viewers think,” I blurted, setting my mug down on the countertop with a loud thud. When I realized what I’d said, I glanced around the kitchen to make sure we were alone. Unfortunately, Elaine chose that very second to enter the kitchen from the school gym at the other side of the kitchen. There was no doubt in my mind she’d heard what I just said.

“Sorry,” she muttered, turning on her heel and exiting as quickly as she could.

I slapped my forehead. “Fuck.”

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