That pillar of fire in her neck travelled down her spine to heat her body, but it wasn’t a sharp pain. Just the delicious warmth that often accompanied being in the same space with Eden.
“Alden just sent me a text,” Eden said. “He wants to see us in his office.”
“A text?” Jos reached out and gripped the doorframe. Her heels suddenly felt far too high. She wished she could kick them off. “He has your number?”
Eden shook her head. “No. Work phone.” She gave Jos a questioning look. Of course it was her work phone.
“Right. That’s strange, he didn’t send me a message.”
“He didn’t?”
Jos pulled her phone out of the pocket of her blazer. “No.”
“Oh. Well, I…do you think it’s about choosing something for next week? Because I was thinking that a feature on mental health would be a perfect follow up to the show tomorrow.”
Jos wanted to shake her head, but stranger things had happened. “How was it today?” She felt like an asshole for not asking before.
Eden’s dark eyes lit up with that fire that Jos so easily recognized as the flames of passion. Not bedroom kind of passion. Life passion. Even still, it was sexy as hell and Jos’ tired body came to life, reviving instantly.
“It was amazing. Oh my God, everyone was so good. I was worried they’d be nervous being on camera because the people who are giving interviews tomorrow on the show are the ones who usually do that kind of thing, and everyone is just a regular person. A lot of them are volunteers. Everyone was great, though. No nervousness. I think peoples’ passions really came through. I can’t wait to do the interviews tomorrow. I gave Alden my questions this afternoon when I got back here and I—”
“Your questions?” Not only was Eden picking her stories and basically doing the job of the talent finder, the show’s coordinators, and the producers, she was also designing her own questions, basically directing the whole flow of the entire hour. It made Jos’ head swim to think about how much Eden had taken on. She probably should have been jealous about the crazy amount of extras Eden was getting, just because of who her parents were, but Jos wasn’t jealous. She was so far from jealous that it scared her. If anything, she was freaking impressed. The warmth in her chest was something new to her and only reinforced the fact that she needed to get her act together.
“Yeah. For tomorrow.” Eden nodded like it was a completely natural thing to come in as a green as grass journalist and host a major show in a prime spot, and not just stop there, but do everyone else’s jobs as well and do it all with a genuine, effortless smile.
It would be incredibly silly to develop feelings for a woman half her age, the very same woman who should be her rival, Jos told herself. She’d been telling herself that since last night. They’d slept together twice, but that’s all it was. Neither time had been planned, and that made it kind of an accident. They could move on from that. Feelings were another thing altogether. Jos was not going there. She wasn’t.
“I guess we should go and see what Alden wants,” Jos said quietly.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been called to Alden’s office with a co-worker. Then again, it had been a long time since she’d actually had a cohost.
“It’s probably to go over last-minute stuff for tomorrow.”
Eden moved away from the door, giving Jos room to step out. She was smiling to naturally that it dazzled something in Jos, nearly blinding her. It made her chest ache too, but she refused to think about that.
She had her doubts about what Alden wanted. None of this was normal, but then, nothing about what Eden was doing was normal either. They said they wanted to shake things up. And they’d done just that by bringing Eden on. Jos would make sure that no one, including Eden, ever knew it had shaken her up too.
She had to put a stop to whatever was going on with her.
The sooner the better, because nothing was going to happen between them. Nothing could happen between them. There were rules that couldn’t be broken and lines that couldn’t be crossed. Jos was sticking with that. She had to.
Rules were there for a reason. Society’s rules. The invisible and unwritten rules and codes of conduct of their jobs. Her personal rules. Rules kept things orderly. Rules protected herself and everyone else.
No, she wouldn’t be breaking them anytime soon.
Chapter 17
Eden
“There aren’t any rules against it,” Eden said flatly, careful to keep any emotion from her voice even though she was slightly shocked and taken aback.
They’d walked into Alden’s office together and sat down in the chairs in front of his desk. The air felt glacial in there and it was more than just the air conditioning. It was the man himself, one of her bosses, giving off the chilly vibes.
He’d set down a series of photos without saying a word. Photos of her and Jos eating burgers last night. Someone had taken them from outside, and since they were sitting by a window, they’d had a clear shot. That someone, Eden knew, had to have had a good camera. She was experienced enough with this kind of spying to know those weren’t cell phone shots. Who would be walking down the street, in the dark, carrying a camera with a telephoto lens?
This is my fault. I’m dragging Jos into this. It’s me they want. Me and my family.
“We were having dinner,” Jos said, her tone flat, almost like she was bored. It was carefully measured, and Eden had a feeling that underneath it Jos was anything but calm and controlled. She could see how rigid she was, how she’d sat up straight and drawn up into herself all at once. On the outside, she was once again flawless, but Eden knew her better now. She knew there was other stuff going on beneath the surface.