Page 14 of Personal Disaster

He glares down at me. Then he looks around, swearing under his breath. Finally, he looks back at me. “I’m going to kissyou.”

“What?”

“Fair warning.”

“I…uh…okay—” No sooner does the last word jerk out of my mouth than his lips are on mine, his hands in my hair, and there’s a hungry desperation in the embrace.

Like he knows this is a terribleidea.

Terriblygood.

Terribly confusing.

Terribly…nice.

Oh.

His lips soften as I kiss him back, because fuck it, I’ve already screwed the interview. I might as well save the connection.

So what if he’s a secret Twitter resistance fighter? I can find another story to write.

“I’m not your Twitter guy,” he growls.

“Stop reading mymind.”

“Is that what you were just thinking about?” He brushes his lips against mine. “I clearly wasn’t doing my job, then.”

“I was…” I exhale as I push up on my toes. “It doesn’t matter.”

He kisses me again, deeper this time. I’m totally ready for him to get handsy, too, but no suchluck.

Instead, he eases back and gives me an unexpectedly tender smile. “This is not how I expected my day to go when I wokeup.”

“That makes two of us.” I bite the corner of mylip.

“I’m really not the guy you’re looking for,” he says softly. “I should have been straight up with you about that earlier. I probably agree with him, whoever he is. But I’d also bet ten bucks he’s not actually a park ranger.”

“He, or she, gets an awful lot right. One of the tech reporters did an analysis of all the active alt twitter accounts, and the Alt Park Service account—”

Marcus holds up his hands. “And if I wanted to, I could run you an alternate analysis that showed that account to be following the news, not making it. But I don’t, because it doesn’t matter. There’s a resistance movement online, and there are real people behind it. Sure. But the people are almost certainly not who they are pretending tobe.”

“I knowthat.”

“Then why are youhere?”

“Because you’re a fascinating guy,” I blurt out. And it’s true. He’s the reason I’m here. Ever since I read hisbio—

Damn it. I repeat the curse out loud, then I stop my feet and spin away from him. “Holy crap, how could I be so stupid?” I’m burning up inside as I move toward my hotel, my legs whipping beneath me. Faster, faster.

This time, it’s Marcus calling my name, Marcus getting in front of me and setting his hands on my shoulders. “Poppy, what the hell just happened?”

“I flew all the way out here because I have a crush on you!” I yell in his face. “Which is the worst kind of journalism ever, by the way. And I’m smarter than that. I blew you up in my head to be some kind of hero of the people, and I was so focused on being right about that, I didn’t see that I was distracted by your…your…”

He gives me a wary look, his eyebrows raised. “My… what?”

“Mountain man appeal,” I mutter.

He grins. “Ah.”

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