Page 32 of Bride Games

Throat tightening, she scanned the darkened room. It was preseason for the NFL, so she and Zach hadn’t been on the road much except to scout out a few new rookies and tour a new football stadium. Sure, they occasionally spent the nightat each other’s house but were still in the early stages of their relationship. It was awkward since their relationship had to be kept on the downlow. The TV station always booked them in separate hotel rooms, which was fine since they were taking their time getting to know one another. Paige also wanted to respect her former fiancé’s privacy—for whatever reason—but mainly because Trent worked for a rival local television station. She told herself that neither of them needed bad press, plus Paige was loyal, even though the word had clearly never entered her former fiancé’s vocabulary.

Paige shook her head as if to clear her dark thoughts. She threw the covers back and clutched her cell, as if it might tell her any minute who was angry with her. Angry was putting it mildly. Someone wants to destroy me.She shuddered.Why? Who?

At breakfast, an always-cheerful Zach greeted her with a huge smile. “I already ordered coffee and juice. We need to get to the airport in an hour. You packed?”

“You’re the best. Thanks. Yep, all packed. My bags are being held by the concierge.”

“I think your middle name is organization.” Zach reached for a menu. “My bags are still in my room.”

Paige shrugged. “You’ve seen me at my best and worst, my friend.”

Zach clutched his heart in dramatic fashion. “Friend?”

Rolling her eyes, Paige said, “Silly, you know what I mean. We’re friends-plus.”

“Friends-plus. I like it. A newer version of friends with benefits.” Zach winked. “Speaking of which, the benefits have been sorely lacking since the station keeps putting us in separatehotel rooms.” Grinning, Zach said, “I’m getting a good night’s sleep, though.”

“You’re a nut. You know I broke my engagement to you-know-who so we can’t jump into anything. Not yet, anyway.”

Zach put a finger in his mouth as if he were gagging. “Please don’t say his name. I can’t stand that guy. Couldn’t stand Trent before I knew you two were an item. What a pompous ass.”

“You just said his name.” Paige blew out her breath. “By the way, he’s still sending me flowers. I’ve been giving bouquets to my neighbors and the receptionist at the station.” She paused. “Trent wants to get back together.”

Zach’s mouth fell open. “And you were going to tell me this…when?”

Paige shook her head. “I didn’t want to worry you with it. Hey, I don’t haveanyinterest in getting back together with Trent. None.”

A server appeared to take their order. Zach grimaced. “I just lost my appetite.”

Paige addressed the server. “We’ll both take oatmeal, crispy bacon, and rye toast. Sound okay?”

Zach stared at the table and mumbled, “Yeah, unless you have a voodoo doll on your menu.”

“Huh?” The server looked perplexed as she picked up their menus.

Zach took a swig of coffee. “Never mind.”

Paige wanted to tell Zach about the ominous text message she received on her cell but that seemed like a double whammy since he was already depressed about Trent.Maybe the text wasn’t even meant for me. Maybe someone dialed the wrong number.

30

Once home, Paige didn’t bother unpacking before going to the office. Instead, she went for a run to burn off calories—and nerves. She was adamant about staying fit. Maybe once she was no longer on television she wouldn’t have to worry about cameras.That would be nice—really nice to have a big cheeseburger, fries, or an entire pizza and not give a damn about the cameras adding ten pounds.Sighing loudly, Paige said aloud to no one, “Until I’m retired, I’ll run.”

In a better mood within minutes, Paige waved to neighbors, a dog walker, and a mom pushing a stroller. With each pounding step beneath pale blue skies, she felt more at ease about the anonymous text, deciding it was a wrong number. She felt as if a weight had been lifted as she rounded the corner toward her house.

After a quick two-mile run, she showered and changed into a navy suit with a red blouse and red heels, one of her favorite power suits. Paige drove to the station on autopilot, eager to see Zach again. Once inside, she chatted with coworkers and checked her email but noticed Zach wasn’t there. His office was dark.Darn it.Paige’s mind raced as she tried to remember if he had mentioned getting together that night.

Two hours later at the station, Paige had already checked the updated NFL schedule and new football draft picks’ social media profiles. After a little research, she found some incredibly heart-warming special-interest stories.These will be an audience favorite and probably go viral, just like last time. That’ll make Mr. Hales happy and keep ATV 10 in the number one position.She couldn’t keep from smirking when she thought of how exasperated Trent must be by being at the number two station. He had walked around like the cock of the walk for years and lorded the factoid that his station was number one over and over. Since they were no longer together, she didn’t get the satisfaction of knowing just how aggravated he was but knew him well enough that she could imagine his infuriation. That alone gave her great satisfaction after he cheated on her.

She checked her cellphone again, hoping there wasn’t another weird text. Thankfully, there wasn’t. She placed her cellphone on the desk and glanced up as coworkers for the evening news strolled down the hallway toward the studio. Still feeling a pang from not anchoring the evening news but loving her new role as a sideline sports reporter, Paige eagerly waved to Stan the Man, their on-air sports guy. “How goes it, Paige?”

“Good, Stan. And you?”

Stan gave her a thumbs up. “In a rush. I need to make some graphics for tonight’s show. Talk to you later.”

Paige nodded but the usually talkative sports anchor was already out of sight. She decided to go to the lobby for a cup of coffee. The receptionist was warm but not as chatty and perky as usual. Paige noticed the receptionist nodded toward Paige and whispered something to another colleague who gave a solemnnod, followed by a one-shouldered shrug. Both women gave Paige a half smile with a mix of puzzlement and sympathy as she filled her coffee mug emblazoned with an ATV 10 logo.What the hell? What’s up with them?

Bewildered, Paige returned to her office, still sipping her coffee for an afternoon energy burst. It was too late in the day to delve into a big project so she decided to scan her social media. Her eyes widened.Oh, no. What the hell is this?Before she could finish reading the damning comments splashed across her social media pages, an email popped up from Mr. Hales’ executive assistant.

---