She stretched out her legs and crossed her ankles, holding her smoothie loosely in her lap. “Nothing wrong with that. Without them, I wouldn’t be here talking to you. We wouldn’t have the show that we do.”
“What does SBN propose?”
“Oh, they have all kinds of proposals. But the one Ms. Roussos and Dan spent the most time on was the one where I pack up and move to New York.” She paused. “Like that’s going to happen.”
“New York? You mean, even if Dan got his wish and merged into the network, he wouldn’t get to keep you? Isn’t that counterproductive, from his point of view?”
“Maybe. Or maybe he’s dazzled at being invited to swim in the big boys’ pond. But if he gets the affiliation, he can attract some big names. Maybe even a news anchor or two. Big advertising, lots of resources. He wouldn’t need the revenue Just Between Us brings in. Everybody wins.”
“Except you. And the team.”
“Cole Crawford would probably lose his job,” she agreed. “But Zach and Jane and Nicole wouldn’t. Every show needs good freelance production people, and they’re already in place.”
“They could go to New York with you, in that case.”
“I don’t think so. They have people they love, and their plans might not include a big move like that. And that’s as it should be.”
“And what about you?” he asked. “How would you like New York?”
“I’d hate it,” she said flatly.
That pretty much answered that. The bright, fragile hope he’d had burned out.
9
ON WEDNESDAY, Mackenzie Roussos arrived for her seven-thirty meeting with Eve in a towering temper, brought on by the fact that a scout from CBS was waiting in the lobby for his eight o’clock.
“I thought we were scheduled to chat for an hour,” she said, her mouth stretching in a smile that Eve could tell was an effort for her.
“We were, and I’m sorry,” Eve told her. “My assistant is doing the best he can to accommodate everyone.”
“It feels like six-thirty New York time,” the other woman said.
“I’m glad there’s fresh coffee in the kitchen for you, then.”
And Mac the Knife was forced to be satisfied with only twenty-five minutes in which to try to convince Eve to go along with what both the network and Dan Phillips wanted.
The rep from CBS, at least, had a sense of humor and a nice delivery of the same proposal. He’d already met with Dan for dinner the night before.
There seemed to be a pattern developing here, and Eve didn’t like it much. In fact, the more network people who turned up in the lobby, the more she wanted to collar Mitchell Hayes and run away to the country with him. They could find a pretty inn and spend a week straight doing something about her lack of focus-or rather, her inability to focus on much else besides his mouth and his hands-and what he might be able to do with both.
When Dylan again suggested that a walk in the park might clear her head, she fled the station gratefully, and the sight of Mitch relaxing on the bench was like a glass of cold lemonade on a hot day.
“Hey, beautiful,” he greeted her, and slid over to make room. She toed off her sandals and, with a sigh, let her feet rest in the cool grass.
He handed her a wrapped sandwich and a smoothie. “Your guy at Scarlett’s says the watermelon is an experiment. If you like it, he’s going to call it ‘Eve-ning in Paradise.’”
Eve groaned at the pun and took a sip. “Hey, this is good. It ain’t lime, but it’s good.” She glanced at him. “Is there a bug on my feet? Why are you looking at them?”
He settled back on the bench and unwrapped his sandwich. “I have this theory about you and plant life.”
Turkey and cranberry with cream cheese spread. Eve sighed with satisfaction. “I think you need to get out more.”
He ignored her. “You just look good in the great outdoors. As if you belong there. Plants seem to like you.”
“I don’t have my Nana’s green thumb-you should have seen our place in Florida-but I’m most comfortable in the garden. It relaxes me. Plus I can see direct results of what I do. Sometimes in television that’s hard to estimate.”
“Nielsen ratings not good enough for you?”
“We don’t get those. We’re an independent. Fan mail is a better indicator anyway. Some of it’s good, some bad. By the way, both SBN and CBS are here now.”
“I knew it was only a matter of time. I’d keep a close watch on your boss, Dan Phillips. Those scouts are players, and they represent serious money. It’s going to be hard for him to stay out of the decision-making process. Harder still for him to resist putting pressure on you.”
“He knows how I feel. Besides, my career and where I go aren’t his decision, no matter what he thinks.” She savored the tart flavor of cranberry on her tongue and mentally waved the thought of Dan away. “I don’t want to talk about work anymore. Tell me about your life in New York.”
He exhaled sharply in place of a chuckle. “What life? I jet around the country scouting shows. The baristas in the Starbucks at JFK have more interesting stories to tell.”
“So are you happy doing what you do?”
He met her gaze and shrugged. “I get my joy in other ways, like Music on the Street. And lately, seeing you.”
“Charmer.”
“I meant it, Eve. I’m developing this amazing capacity for fooling myself. I have an ultimatum from my boss about getting your signature by close of business today, and I don’t even care. In fact, I’ve convinced my conscience that seeing you has nothing to do with work. That it’s a pleasure I savor every day with no ethical relation to the whole reason I’m here.”
There was none of his usual teasing in his eyes. In fact, his gaze on her was intense to the point of sheer eroticism. Words failed her, and she licked her lips.
“You make it sound like a bad thing.”
“It isn’t. And just so you know, there’s no one waiting at home. Like you, the care and feeding of a relationship is too much for me under normal circumstances. But I’m beginning to wonder exactly what ‘normal’ is. And whether I want to tolerate it anymore.”
What was he saying? Was he leading up to something? And more important, how did she feel about it?
It was one thing to have a few sexy interludes with an attractive man. To banter and touch, to enjoy the longing and hint at something more. Like a game-one that kept the attraction simmering on the surface because it helped to balance the stresses of a decision that was creeping up on her faster than she wanted. But what if he made her dip below the surface? To start something bigger?
Could she handle that? Did she want more than-let’s face it-a hot fling with a man who would fly out of her life in a few days?
Or was that even what he was talking about? Eve’s everyday honesty faltered-and that in itself should tell her something.
She had to think about this properly. Somewhere where he wasn’t sitting within touching distance, looking scrumptious and casual in an off-duty linen shirt and khakis.
A glance at her watch told her she was saved. She crumpled her paper and drained her smoothie. “Let’s put a bookmark there and talk more about this later, okay? I have to get back.”
“Sure.” He looked easy and relaxed, but if it had been her waiting for an answer and getting none, Eve wasn’t sure she’d handle it so well. Especially if she had the ultimatum he did. “Give me a call.”
Back at the station, Nicole slipped into Eve’s office with a doomsday look on her face. Once again, Eve put her wayward thoughts in their compartment in her brain and smiled in a way she hoped was encouraging. “What’s up, girlfriend?”
“I finally managed to get Dr. Birdsall to commit to Friday.” Nicole sounded out of breath, as if she’d run down the hall as soon as she’d hung up the phone. “But we can’t do Friday because that’s the town-hall show. And we still have a hole for tomorrow. Cole needs to run a teaser during the six o’clock news and I don’t know what to do.”