Page 47 of At the Heart of It
This time, the kiss was soft. She didn’t open her eyes. Just slid her free hand into his hair and kissed him back, savoring the taste of cloves and cinnamon and something forbidden.
When she opened her eyes, his amber-green ones locked with hers. He hadn’t drawn back yet, but his expression held a hint of finality.
“I had to do that,” he murmured. “Just one last time.”
“I’m glad.”
“But that’s really it,” he said. “We have to stop now.”
Kate nodded and took another sip of beer. “Okay,” she said, and lifted her glass again.
Jonah half expected Kate to leave right after the second kiss. He wouldn’t blame her. What the hell was he thinking planting one on her like that when they’d already agreed that was a horrible idea?
Maybe she was sticking around for the beer.
That seemed unlikely, since she wasn’t exactly chugging it. But she did sip it slowly as she answered all of his questions about the television show. The ones he hadn’t thought to ask before.
“It’s called an airable pilot,” Kate explained, shifting a little on the sofa. “All the color correction and sound mixing will be up to broadcast standards. That way, if the network says go, we’re ready to roll.”
“So they’d put it on the air just like that?”
“More or less. Amy’s making sure all our ducks are in a row as far as releases and legal clearances. We’ve got a good head start already on the paperwork side of things.”
“So what happens after they air it?”
“We cross our fingers for a series order from the network.” Kate shifted again, bumping his knee with hers. Jonah didn’t think it was on purpose, but part of him wished it was. “We’re hoping for fourteen episodes to start.”
“Fourteen?” He stroked a hand down Marilyn’s back, glancing over to see the cat looked as surprised as he felt. “I can’t believe you have that many victims lined up.”
“Victims?”
“Contestants—subjects—what are we calling the people whose relationships we’re supposed to fix?”
“Oh—I’m not sure yet. Viv wants to call them patients, but the network guys think that’s too clinical.”
“It sounds like we’re treating them for venereal disease.”
Kate laughed. “Exactly. I think for now it’s safe to say couples. And yes, casting has about four dozen of them pre-screened and ready to go in case we do get picked up.”
Jonah leaned back against the sofa and took another sip of beer. His glass was almost empty, but he didn’t want to leave this spot, this conversation, to get up and grab a refill.
“What do you think the odds are?” he asked.
“That the network will pick us up?”
Jonah nodded and Kate tipped her head to the side, considering. “Above average,” she said. “Obviously we don’t even have a pilot yet, but I can see it in my head.”
“And how is it?”
She grinned. “Very good. Excellent. I have a pretty nice track record.”
“I’m glad.”
Jonah glanced down at his glass, not sure he was telling her the truth. Did he want the show to get picked up? He thought so, but his reasons for it had nothing to do with helping troubled couples. They were selfish reasons. Or maybe selfish wasn’t the right word. He was doing it for Jossy, but wasn’t that still selfish?
Or maybe he was trying to make up for the selfishness in the first place. That seemed like a better story.
“Can I ask you something?” Kate said.
