Page 68 of A Cozy Kind of Christmas
Johanna glanced at the clock. Matt’s birthday party was starting in an hour.
They weren’t getting anywhere.
They were going round and round in endless circles.
She needed to finish this once and for all with Connor and move on.
“I don’t get it. Why are you acting like this?” she snapped. “You’re obviously scared to come clean. The only thing I can come up with is that I already know the truth, and you’re scrambling to create an alternate reality that paints you in a better light. You know how bad this looks. You always have to be the good guy, don’t you? That’s your thing—play the hero on TV and in real life.”
Connor stopped pacing. His shoulders sagged like a deflated balloon. “No, that’s not it. I just don’t want to have to be theperson to tell you the truth, Johanna.” His voice was thick with emotion and tenderness. He sank into the rocking chair next to the fireplace and pulled out his phone. He stared at the screen for a minute, like it had the answers, but he couldn’t say them out loud. “I wish I wasn’t part of this,” he said with a small gulp. “It sucks.”
“Try having the guy you’ve been hooking up with steal your promotion,” she said.
That hit hard.
He winced, like she’d injured him.
Good.
“We’re more than a hookup, aren’t we?” he asked, his voice cracking.
Her heart sped up, but she didn’t flinch.
“I have a party to get to.” She pointed to the clock. “I don’t have time for your games.”
“This isn’t a game.” He blew out a long breath, making the strands of his hair fly up. “I did go in for an interview, but it was supposed to be for head newscaster. The interview went well. I thought I had a decent shot at the job and then they called me back in for a second round. I didn’t think much about it because I knew there were at least three other anchors vying for the position, but when I went in for the follow-up interview, they threw me a curveball. You’ve heard the rumors about restarting—they’re all true. They offered me your job.”
“My current job?”
Connor pursed his lips and sighed. “No, well, yeah, sort of.”
Johanna could feel her blood boiling.
Why was he dragging this out?
“They’re letting you go, Jo.” His voice was barely audible as he ran his tongue over his lips and glanced at her from the side of his eye.
“What?” Her heart thudded against her chest. He had to be lying.
Letting her go? Why?
“It’s the worst. They have no idea about our connection.”
Connection—ha!
“They’re doing a massive restructuring and letting about half the current staff go. They’re rolling out AI-enhanced storytelling and reporting and cutting the entire extreme sports department. They’re moving away from human interest pieces—and fluff, as they called it.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I’m deadly serious, Jo.” He used his pet name for her again, looking at her with those eyes that made their female and some of their male viewership go weak in the knees. “Your current role and the new position are being combined. Same for a few other VPs. They want to cut middle management, and then they’re planning to fire a big chunk of the reporting staff. That’s all moving to an AI model—they think the algorithms can better predict sports trends and gather data on stats. It’s a major shift.”
Johanna’s throat felt dry. She forced her face to remain neutral as she poured herself a glass of water and tried to process what Connor was saying. “So not only are you taking my dream job, but you’re also forcing me out of my current role?”
“No, that’s why I’m here. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I didn’t just turn them down, Jo. I quit. I walked out. I’m done. If they’re cutting you, they’re losing me, too.”
FORTY-FIVE
MEG
