Jesus Christ. He couldn’t be more domestic or happier right this minute.
And who the hell had ever imagined that would happen?
“Are you a CNN guy?”
Brooke’s voice pulled his gaze. The sight of her knocked all his thoughts out of alignment. She was wearing a sleeveless little black dress that fit her curves perfectly and ended at least four inches above the knee. And her black heels made her legs look like they went on forever.
“Whoa.” He made a full turn and looked her up and down. “Hell-o, gorgeous.”
Her makeup was soft, but it made her beautiful blue eyes pop and added color to her cheeks and lips. All that gorgeous brown hair had been straightened, parted on one side, and smoothed into a sleek knot at the base of her neck.
Smiling, she came to him, wrapped her arms around his waist. “Hell-o to you too, handsome.” And she rose on tiptoe to kiss him. “Thanks for the coffee.”
She turned, pulled two mugs from the cabinets, and poured, repeating her question. “Are you a CNN guy?”
He glanced at the television and shrugged. “I don’t know, why?”
“Because I’m a FOX girl. I thought we might have finally found something to argue about.”
Keaton laughed.
“How do you like your coffee?”
“Black is fine.”
She handed him a mug, then slipped into a cropped taupe blazer with black piping. Damn, she looked stylish. She looked fuckin’ New York City stylish.
Shit, he couldn’t get used to this; Keaton was already used to this. “Those are some seriously hot work clothes.”
She giggled and sipped her coffee. “Well, thank you.”
“You have to dress up for this gig?” he asked, just holding his cup.
“Yes,” she said, sounding less than pleased. “Especially when we’re meeting a crew for the first time. Only after that will she let me dress down. Lately, she’s been easing up. Even said I could do casual Friday.”
She took another sip, then reverted to holding her cup as well. Their gazes held. And the gorilla that had been hanging on the chandelier all night, the one they’d successfully ignored until now, finally jumped down and faced them. It was time to say good-bye. And Keaton felt the physical drain of happiness as it slowly leaked from the room.
“You don’t want to say it any more than I do,” he finally said.
She pushed her mouth into a cardboard smile that lasted two seconds. Then glanced down at her coffee. “Sometimes we have to do things—”
Her phone rang. Again.
Brooke clenched her teeth and closed her eyes.
But Keaton’s frustration spilled over. “You don’t have to live like this, Brooke. Why don’t you find another job?”
“It’s not that easy. I—”
His phone rang. It was the first time the damn thing had made a sound since they’d been together, but it was still shitty timing.
“Sonofabitch.” He set his coffee down on a side table, rubbed his eyes, and drew out his phone. “I’m sorry.”
She shook her
head. “No, go ahead.”
He glanced at his phone with his hopes of seeing Brooke again plummeting and found Jax’s name on the display. “Guess it’s call-the-employee morning.” And answered, “Hey, boss.”