Page 26 of At the Heart of It
“I’m browsing a fancy home furnishings gallery at the moment. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?”
He didn’t answer right away, and Kate glanced at Amy to see if she was following along. She was studying a mirror in the shape of a vagina, but Kate had a hunch she was listening.
“I’m not saying yes,” he said. “To the TV thing, I mean.”
“Okay.”
“I need to put that out there up front. But I’m rescinding my ‘fuck no’ and replacing it with an ‘I’d like to hear a little more about it.’ Is that still an option?”
Kate nodded, which was ridiculous. He couldn’t see her. But she was almost afraid to speak, not wanting to scare him away.
“Yes,” she said. “I’d be happy to tell you anything. What would you like to know?”
“Not on the phone,” he said, sending another ripple of excitement through her.
Kate gripped the phone a little tighter. “What did you have in mind?”
“I’d prefer to meet in person.”
She glanced toward Amy again, this time catching sight of her own face in the vagina mirror. Holy hell, that wasn’t the look of someone having a business call. That was something else entirely. She forced her features into a neutral expression and hoped Amy hadn’t noticed.
Kate straightened up and looked away from the mirror. “I’m sure that could be arranged,” she said. “My assistant producer and I would be happy to meet with you to go over?—”
“No,” he said. “Just you. Sorry, I’m sure she’s a lovely woman. But I want to keep this casual. And I want fewer people involved.”
“Any reason?”
She expected him not to answer, or to make up some bullshit story. His answer surprised her. “When I got railroaded into doing the Average Joe thing for the book, it was in a big committee meeting. Everyone started throwing out numbers and statistics and research and Viv was pleading and—I guess I just caved.”
“I appreciate your candor. I can’t promise I won’t throw out statistics and research, but I can promise I won’t beg and plead.”
Jonah laughed. “That’s unfortunate.”
A ripple rolled through her. Was he flirting? Kate licked her lips. “If you make a crack about wanting to see me on my knees, I’m hanging up right now.”
He burst out laughing, and she could picture his exact expression in her mind. The image made her smile again.
“No blow-job jokes, no one-night stands, no long-distance relationships,” he said. “I know what’s on your no-fly list now. What do you like to eat? Besides Thai food?”
“I’m not picky,” she said. “Let’s go someplace quiet so we can talk.”
“Oh, I already have the place picked out. Just wondering what sort of takeout food to order.”
“Where are we going?”
“You’re coming to my bookstore. How’s eight tomorrow evening?”
“I can do that,” she said. “I’m eager to see where you work.”
“I’ll text you the address. See you then.”
Kate clicked off and slid the phone into her purse, careful to wipe any trace of smile off her face. She looked up to see Amy studying her.
“Aren’t you at least going to pretend you weren’t eavesdropping?” Kate asked.
Amy shook her head and grinned. “Do you want me to?”
“Not really.”
