Page 100 of At the Heart of It
But deep down, she knew she couldn’t say no to a few precious hours alone with him before this whole thing blew up.
“Come on,” she said, stepping forward to slide her key card into the slot. “For the record, I can always be bribed with food.”
Kate sat across from him at her little hotel table, each of them shoveling up spoonful after spoonful of fragrant chili. She reached out, and for a second Jonah thought she was trying to hold his hand. But no, she was just grabbing another piece of cornbread.
It was the first time in Jonah’s life he’d felt jealous of food.
“So what did you think?” Kate asked, nodding at the laptop. “It’s still a little choppy around the forty-second mark, and obviously we’ll have to cut a lot in the shorter clips for TV. But that should play great with the YouTube crowd.”
Jonah set down his beer, wrapping both hands around the bottle as he looked at Kate. “That was terrific. You’re really talented.”
“Please. I hardly did anything. It was all Pete and the guys in post-production. And you and Jossy, of course.”
“You, too. It’s your vision, Kate. Don’t sell that short.”
“It’s a team effort,” she conceded.
He watched as she broke off another big hunk of cornbread and swirled it around in her big bowl of chili. She put the whole thing in her mouth and chewed, closing her eyes in bliss.
“This is so good.”
“Jossy does that,” he said, and watched as she opened her eyes again. “She can’t eat any kind of soup without dipping something in it.”
Kate grinned and broke off another piece of cornbread. “I think your sister and I are kindred spirits.”
“Actually, I think you’re onto something.” He took another sip of beer, enjoying the cool tart of the ale and the warm sweetness of Kate’s company and the pleasant way those two things mingled. “She hasn’t stopped talking about you.”
“Your sister?”
“Yeah. She asked if it was too late to trade me in and have you as a sibling instead.”
Kate laughed. “That’s sweet.”
“That’s Jossy. She either loves you or hates you. There’s not much in between.”
He watched as Kate seemed to hesitate. She sat poised with her cornbread above the bowl, but didn’t take a bite. “Did she and Viv get along well?”
“They didn’t fight, if that’s what you mean.”
“It wasn’t exactly what I meant. I guess I was just curious if they were close.”
“Not close,” he said. “I know you’re the president of the Dr. Vivienne Brandt fan club, but my sister?—”
“Not so much?” Kate took a bite of cornbread.
“She used to call her Snobby McBitcherson.”
Kate laughed, then started choking on cornbread crumbs. Jonah stood up and whacked her on the back a few times, grateful for any excuse to touch her.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine. God, I’m such a jerk. I shouldn’t laugh at other people’s expense. That’s karma right there.”
“Cornbread karma?”
“Exactly.” She set the cornbread down and picked up her bottle of beer.
Jonah watched her drink, relishing the pleasure on her face. He flashed on a memory of that same look in a different setting. Kate naked and arching beneath him, crying out as he drove into her.
