Page 98 of At the Heart of It
Amy’s gasp made Kate’s heart jump, and she edged sideways to see what elicited such surprise. She let her eyes scan the room, taking in the familiar artwork, the spotless desk, the blood-colored sofa with a tall, beefy figure planted squarely in the center.
Chase Whitfield looked up from his phone and regarded them with a calculated nod. “Ladies.” He smiled, showing way too many teeth and making Kate think of sharks. “This is some solid-gold shit right here.”
Kate blinked. “Pardon me?”
Someone touched her arm, and Kate looked up to see Viv sweeping past her, an ethereal look on her face. “You must not have heard the good news yet.”
“Good news?” Relief sluiced through her, but Kate remained on edge. “What’s the good news?”
Viv looked at Chase, her smile widening as she tossed her hair over one shoulder and turned back to Kate and Amy.
“We’re still married,” she trilled. “Jonah and I are still married.”
Chapter 16
“Fucking lawyers,” Kate muttered as she pulled the rental car into her parking space at the hotel. She switched off the engine, but made no move to get out yet.
“I’m really sorry,” Amy said. “I don’t know how that happened.”
Kate turned to see Amy frowning in the passenger seat. Her blond curls looked like she’d pulled Viv’s Zen garden rake through them, and the twin creases between her brows seemed deeper than normal.
“It’s not your fault,” Kate said. “We both agreed that involving legal was the right way to go. There’s no way you could have predicted Rick would go straight to Chase.”
Amy shook her head and looked down at her lap. “I thought with client privilege?—”
“We’re not the client,” she said. “Chase is. Well, Chase and the network. Not us.”
Amy sighed and looked up again. “I don’t know why, but I guess I expected a little bit of decency.”
“I don’t know why either. You’ve been in this business long enough to know better.”
Amy snorted. “Reality TV isn’t the place to go looking for decency.”
“That’s ‘unscripted television’ to you, missy.”
Amy gave an undignified growl and reached for the door handle. “At least Pete wasn’t there to film it. Chase breaking it to Viv, I mean. Just an intern with a handheld. Maybe it’ll turn out lousy. Maybe we won’t have to see it.”
“I doubt that’ll happen,” Kate murmured, knowing she’d have to watch the rough footage over and over during edits, not to mention on the inside of her eyelids when she couldn’t sleep. God, Viv had seemed so happy. It almost made Kate wish the feelings were reciprocated. That Jonah really did still love his ex-wife.
No, you don’t, her subconscious reminded her. You don’t wish that at all.
Kate swallowed, trying to dislodge the guilty lump in her throat.
“Maybe Chase will change his mind,” Amy said as she pushed open the car door.
Kate shook her head and stooped down to grab her things out of the backseat.
Amy kept going, afloat on her own stream of wishful thinking. “Maybe Chase will realize it’s a terrible idea.”
“For Viv to declare her love on national television?” Kate slung her bag over her shoulder and followed Amy through the front doors of the hotel.
“That, too,” Amy said. “But also to blindside him with the news that they’re still married. Chase has to know that’s an awful plan.”
“It’s an awful plan for Viv, and an awful plan for Jonah,” Kate pointed out. “It’s not an awful plan for ratings. That’s all Chase cares about.”
Amy pushed the button for the elevator, then turned to Kate with eyes so wide they reminded Kate of Amy’s first day on the job. She’d spoken up during a meeting when the production team was plotting out how to edit the season to make one participant look like a villain.
“But isn’t that a little dishonest?” Amy had piped up.
