Page 85 of Exclusive

I smiled warmly to let her know I was fine with her presence. No big deal. Just Thursday. A Thursday that turned my world on its head. “I heard someone has a new show.”

She nodded. “I imagine that’s unexpected, huh?”

“You could say that.” It was the most conservative answer I could come up with.

“Hey, Carrie. We’re ready for you.” It was that Sherry woman, one of the producers.

Carrie glanced over her shoulder. “I better go.”

As she turned, I had to ask. “Um, who’s anchoring the Seattle news tonight?”

She didn’t hesitate. “Got me. My last day was Friday.”

“How?” It wasn’t my most eloquent of sentences. I’d have to work on my prose.

“I had a sixty-day opt out written into my contract. No questions asked. And I exercised it.” A pause. “The bigger question iswhy.”

“Okay. Why?”

“You,” she said simply, with the softest smile ever. Everything in me went still.

“Carrie, you ready?” Sherry asked.

She snapped out of it, widening her eyes. “Yes, coming. Bye, Skyler.” And she was off, stalking away briskly, leaving me stunned and at a loss.

Huh.

Maybe she wasn’t dating anyone after all. And what was I supposed to do with this exactly?

“What in the world just happened there?” Carlos asked, sidling up next to me with his hands in his pockets.

“You saw that, too, huh?” My gaze was still trained on the hallway.

“Everyone saw it.”

I looked around the normally bustling newsroom that had gone noticeably quiet. Lots of eyes were trained directly on me. I offered them a shoo sign. “Nothing to see here, folks.”

Mila raised an eyebrow at me in amused challenge and answered her phone. Devante whistled his way back to his office, and Kristin smothered a smile as she approached my desk.

“Want to go over the running order?”

“I do.”

And just like that, I went back to work. But the ground beneath my feet felt changed with Carrie in town. The sun landed differently on my skin. At first, I found it all a little exhilarating, but that quickly shifted to annoyance at her ability to waltz in and out of my orbit whenever she wanted and still have a noticeable effect. In my mind, she didn’t deserve that kind of power, and I wanted to snatch it away. In fact, I would.

“Oh, I saw a billboard of your girlfr—I mean, Carrie,” Grace said. “From the news.” I’d come over for dinner, and Grace, who was supposed to be heading out for a date with Bobby, had announced she’d be joining us for cheeseburgers and truffle fries instead.

“I know. I saw it, too.” I shrugged. “Apparently, she’s back in town to host a new show. No big deal.”

I saw Emory and Sarah exchange a glance over the sizzling pan. I planned to call them on it later. Assure them that I was steady on my feet.

“That’s so great. Do you think you’ll get back together?” Grace asked unabashedly.

I stared at her, forgetting momentarily the ask-you-anything quality of teenagers. “No. I don’t think that’s very likely.”

“Oh.” She seemed confused. “Really? Why? I thought it was a geography issue or something.”

“Yes, but it goes a little deeper.” I decided to change the subject. “Anyway, what happened to your date?”

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