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“No one calls you that.”

“I do. In the mirror.”

She laughed. “This is amazing, though. Congratulations on the score.” She was beaming, which made this all the better. “I look forward to getting to toss to the piece.Yourpiece. I will try not to exude overt pride and scream and stomp like a cheerleader.”

“Definitely don’t applaud.”

“I’m considering it. I might need to.” She went back to her keyboard, paused, and turned back. “Yeah, I’m gonna.” Her blue eyes sparkled with amusement, and my heart filled with intense emotion from having her in my corner, the person who was quickly coming to mean more to me than anyone I’d ever been with, dated, or been attracted to. And yet, it was early. That was the scary part, trying to imagine what my feelings would be as time went on. Was there even room? I trembled a little through my smiling. Everything would be just fine, I told myself.Enjoy the journey and today’s victory.

With Kristin’s help, I prepped for the meeting with the mayor. I was shocked later when he told me that the face-punching only bolstered his appreciation for my work, and that it had been the story on the police cruisers that first snagged his attention. I was ten feet tall about it.

I watched the story Ty and I edited in record time from the back wall of the chilly studio as it aired. “What are you doing with your hands on your head like that?” Davonte asked, squinting from his spot between cameras one and two. “Do you have horns?”

“I’m nervous,” I whispered. “So I’m being a moose. And they’re antlers, not horns. It’s a thing I do. You should try it sometime.”

“Gotcha,” he said slowly.

The antlers were something I’d relied on since I was a kid, and I wasn’t embarrassed to trot them out when I needed them. They never let me down, though they did pull some strange looks. In fact, I’d received one from Carrie just moments before when she’d caught sight of my hand-antlers in her eye line. She still hadn’t missed a beat while on camera, and that polish made me want to do naked things with her, and soon.

“You had no reason for antlers. The story killed,” she said as we walked to the parking lot after the ten. “You did a great job.”

“All Kristin. I just showed up.”

“I didn’t see her anywhere on that footage.”

“Huh. Strange.”

“Nope. That was you sitting with our mayor. You were appropriate, warm but hard-hitting. That’s the kind of journalism people areinterested in. No one wants a jerk, or someone too afraid to ask the uncomfortable stuff.” She opened her car door and paused. “You were neither. You held him to the fire with respect and even some humor. See? No antlers required.”

“Thank you for saying that. It helps a lot.” I exhaled. “I’ll keep the antlers on standby. Send them home for the night.”

“Perfect. Grab Micky and come over? We can veg out and stare at the wall.”

“That’s my favorite. I’m sick of myself.”

She perked up. “I’msick ofmyself! So we’ll focus on each other.”

“And the wall.”

“Don’t I know it. See you in twenty.”

I grinned. “I’ll be there. With antlers on.”

I didn’t knock anymore upon arrival at her place and liked the informality we’d established. I found her staring at a legal pad when I followed Micky’s jaunty trot into the kitchen.

“That’s not a wall,” I said, my brow furrowed. “We had a wall pact, and you’re working. Flag on the play. I will storm the hell out of here.”

She turned. “You better not. I just didn’t want to start without you.”

“Oh.” I relaxed. “Well, that’s much better.”

She dropped the pad. “Just making some notes for a presentation I’m giving at the PSJ conference.”

Ah, yes. The Professional Society of Journalists was hosting their annual conference later that month in Denver. I’d seen photos from the conference each year but had never attended. It was a big deal, and my little station had never been willing to fork over the money. “I didn’t know you were speaking.”

“Giving a talk for aspiring anchors on breaking into the business.” She raised a finger. “And before you say anything, I’m aware of the irony, given how I treated you on your arrival. But you’re different. You were under my skin and taking me wildly out of my comfort zone in under sixty seconds.”

“You crushed on me.” I rocked back on my proud heels.

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