Page 56 of A Cozy Kind of Christmas
“Yeah, I mean, yes, the party is in honor of my birthday, but it’s just an excuse to throw a big corporate shindig. Her dad wants to make a big announcement tonight.”
Meg’s heart dropped to her stomach.
A big announcement, like their engagement.
“Were you thinking about coming to beer tasting this afternoon?” He looked at her hopefully.
Meg gulped. She wanted nothing more than to hang out with Matt, but she was here on assignment.
A deadline was a deadline.
She couldn’t let Johanna down.
She tapped her camera. “Sorry. I can’t. Deadlines and all. My story is due ASAP. In fact, I’ll probably hang out in the press tent and send it off from here. That is if I can figure out how to lean hard into Christmas.” She winced, dragging her teeth along her bottom lip. “Cozy and snocross are a conundrum.”
“I have faith. You have a way of making everything pretty cozy.” Matt’s tone held a touch of what sounded a lot like longing. “It’s cool. I think it might just be me and Lucinda anyway which is fine because we have a bunch of work stuff to go over.”
Meg was suddenly acutely aware of her body.
It was like Matt was a human magnet pulling her straight toward him.
She fumbled with her gear, packing it away and trying to recenter. “You mentioned earlier that you’re not sure if Blazen is your future. What else would you want to do?”
His cheeks turned even redder, splotching with color as he gave her a sheepish shrug. “You’ll laugh.”
“I’d never laugh,” she said seriously. “Tell me.”
He patted his face and shook his head. “It’s so cliché.”
“Matt, come on. What?”
“I want to start a podcast.”
“A podcast!” Meg scrunched her face.
Why would she laugh at that?
“What’s the big deal? You would be great at podcasting.”
Matt chuckled. Some of the redness retreated. “It’s not that easy. You know, the golden handcuffs and all, but I think I’ve saved enough to be able to get by for at least a year, maybe more.”
Meg was intrigued now.
“Give me your elevator pitch. What’s the pod about?”
Matt took in a small sip of air and nodded like he had already rehearsed it in his head. “I’ve never told anyone this, okay?”
“Okay. I’m not going to laugh. I promise.” She made an X over her heart and raised a hand in an oath. “I’m seriously addicted to podcasts. I think it’s a brilliant idea.”
“You don’t even know what it is yet,” he retorted with a playful scowl.
“But it’s you, so it has to be great.” Her fingers were starting to go numb, but she didn’t care.
Matt hadn’t shared this with anyone yet?
Not even Lucinda?
A familiar stutter returned to her heartbeat.
