Page 25 of Breaking News

Jill could hardly contain herself. “Oh my God,” she said, giggling against the back of her hand. Her eyes twinkled in amusement at my new predicament. “I’m sorry, I’m just imagining the damage control it’s going to take to recover from that.”

“Yep,” I said, dragging the word out with a slow nod of resignation. I cleared my throat, deciding I’d have to worry about this later. First, I needed to do damage control with the woman standing in front of me now. “Jillian, I didn’t voice concern to Meghan and Xander because I cared about how it looked. I brought it up because I was worried aboutyou.”

Her teasing smile slowly faded, and she stared down at her coffee mug, holding it close to her chest. “Oh. Then… thank you. Meghan’s making me go to the doctor.”

“That’s good to hear. I hope you get some answers.”

“Yeah,” she said, but she wouldn’t look at my face. It was almost like she didn’t mean it. There was something else worrying her, but we weren’t close enough for me to ask what it was.

I decided to change the subject entirely, wanting to put an end to her discomfort. “Anyway, I guess you know my daughter’s starting today?”

“Yes, and I’m absolutely thrilled,” she said, the light returning to her eyes. “I can’t wait to corrupt her.”

“Great, that’s just what a father wants to hear,” I said with a chuckle. “I’m far more concerned about how Meghan and Xander are going to treat the poor kid who was assigned to them.”

“I’ll pray for him.”

I picked up my coffee and took a step back. “Tell Xander to be on his best behavior, or HR is going to have a field day trying to—”

“Xander’s not my problem anymore,” she interrupted.

“Oh.” I stared at the floor. Everything about me suddenly felt unnatural; the way I was standing, the way I was holding my coffee mug, how my tie felt around my neck. I just felt… awkward and wrong. Could she notice? “I didn’t know.”

“Now you do,” she said with a grin, gathering up her torn sugar packets. And then she winked before turning to the trash can. My brain was still too busy trying to catch up to the revelation that she and Xander were over to react to the wink. It wasn’t unlike Jill to be playful like that, so I knew not to read anything into the gesture.

As she pushed the kitchen door open with her hip, both hands clutching her mug, she turned around and said, “Before I go teach your daughter all kinds of bad things, I might tell Elaine you said you hope this place burns to the ground.”

“Don’t you dare,” I said, catching her playful smirk just before the door swung shut behind her.

I stared down into my coffee cup, smiling like an idiot.

Jillian Taylor was single again.

Logically, I knew there were about a dozen other reasons she was still very much off limits. Her singleness should have meant nothing to me.

But that didn’t change the fact that I wanted her.

And it didn’t stop my mind from remembering the way that red dress hugged her curves, or the maddening urge to know what she looked like underneath it.

chapter nine

Jillian

Jill:Graham looks so sexy today

Meghan:First of all, NO.

Meghan:And second, I’m screenshotting this and printing it on the front page of the Sunday edition.

Jill:Do it. I said what I said

I slipped my phone into the pocket of my dress, smiling because Meghan didn’t scare me at all.

Well, maybe a little.

Sliding onto my stool behind the news desk, I opened my laptop, wondering if Olivia would be back from lunch soon. After sitting through orientation all morning, she let her dad take her to Moretti’s to celebrate her first day on the job. It was kind of cute, watching the two of them leave together. I couldn’t help butnotice the way she tried to duck out as quickly as possible, like she was embarrassed to be associated with the CEO.

Sighing, I pulled up my doctor’s website, navigating to the appointment scheduling page. With Meghan’s words in the back of my mind, I scrolled through the available times, almost wishing Dr. Boyd didn’t have openings.

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