“We’ve gotten fifty-two online subscriptions since I logged off last night. And I haven’t checked the hard copy delivery subscriptions yet.”
“Fifty-two new subscriptions?” Jess echoed in disbelief.
“Well.” Mariel sat back in her chair. “That answers that, I guess.”
“You want her to keep doing this?” Lauren asked in disbelief.
“We do what works. I’ve been looking for inventive new ways to increase our readership. Looks like we’ve found one, however distasteful I might find it personally.”
“So you want me to keep it up?” Somehow, miraculously, she didn’t seem to be in trouble. For the first time since she’d walked into Mariel’s office, Jess exhaled.
“Don’t go nuclear on ClickNews, but yes. Jess, you seem to have a knack for... Hassan, what did you call it?”
“A Twitter feud.”
“Right. You seem to be adept at these Twitter feuds. And, although I have no intention of emulating anything about ClickNews, the fact of the matter is, they court a much younger demographic. A demographic we’re going to need if we want a hope of turning this paper around. So yes, go forth and tweet with my blessing.”
Lauren huffed. “But, Mariel—”
“Lauren, Jess has done more to improve the paper’s circulation in the past twenty-four hours than anyone has since the restructuring. While I wish it was our hard-hitting and insightful reporting responsible for the numbers, I’ll take success any way I can get it. Good job, Jess. Just try to talk about our headlines once in a while, too, so we’re at least attempting to make this about journalism.”
“I will. Thanks, Mariel.” This time, she couldn’t help but throw a smug smile in Lauren’s direction before she left.
Apparently having the discussion in Mariel’s office hadn’t been the least bit effective in keeping it private. As Jess started back toward her desk, the newsroom broke out in scattered applause and whistles. Everybody had found their way to the Urbanist post and were calling out their favorite comments as she passed.
“‘Whoever is manning the Daily Post Twitter feed is my new hero.’ Kick ass, Jess.” Caleb gave her a thumbs-up.
“‘I’ve been refreshing my Twitter feed all day, just waiting to see what they say next,’” Dana read off her monitor.
“‘New Yorkers haven’t had this much fun watching two titans go head-to-head since Macy’s took on Gimbels in Miracle on 34th Street,’” Marc shouted.
“Hey, look at that!” Natalie laughed. “We’re a titan now!”
Jess spun in a little circle and gave a silly curtsy to her clapping, cheering coworkers. Like Mariel, she’d have preferred it if it was her kick-ass reporting and incendiary writing that was bringing the accolades, but she’d take success anywhere she could find it, and right now, this success felt great.
Chapter Thirteen
It was too cold to go out for lunch, Alex thought, as he walked headfirst into the brutal wind blowing off the East River. But Chase and Andy had been trying to drag him out to lunch, and he just wasn’t in the mood for it today. Frankly, he was never in the mood to listen to Chase brag about his latest sexual conquest, and that was pretty much all he ever talked about. How had he once found the guy fun to hang out with? It was a mystery.
Samaira, one of the ragtag team of writers euphemistically referred to as ClickNews’s “reporting pool,” had mentioned a new sandwich place around the corner, so Alex seized the opening and escaped. Now here he was, freezing his ass off instead of ordering in, all to avoid Chase. He should really figure out a way to shed the friendship. Then again, he hadn’t heard from Chase in ages before they started seeing each other every day at work, and soon enough, he’d be moving on from ClickNews, so the Chase problem would likely take care of itself.
The Jessica problem, however, wasn’t going away. In fact, it seemed to dog his every step. Inside the sandwich place, there she stood, blowing on her hands to warm them up, cheeks pink from the cold and hair tousled from the wind. It always amazed him that someone so prickly and hostile could still manage to look so cute. Like an adorable woodland creature who would claw your face off when you reached a hand out to pet it. He’d developed a healthy respect for Jess’s face-clawing abilities long ago.
Alex stepped up silently behind her. “First the coffee place and now you’re stalking me in my favorite lunch place, Jess?” So maybe he’d never stepped foot in the place before today, but he’d never waste an opportunity to provoke Jess Romano. It was way too much fun.
She jumped and let out a small gasp of surprise. Something thumped in his chest at the sound. It did it again when she turned those large, dark brown eyes on him.
“I was here first,” she pointed out tartly. “Which means you’re stalking me. What are you doing here, anyway?”
“I’m here to see the new Avengers movie. Is this the right place?”
She rolled her eyes before turning her attention back to the menu board. Her teeth dug into her bottom lip as she considered. Those teeth. That lip. Annoyed with himself, Alex dragged his eyes away from her mouth and focused on the menu board, too. He could do without getting his face clawed off today.
* * *
When Jess learned ClickNews had moved into the neighborhood, she’d never dreamed it would mean crossing paths—and crossing swords—with Alex this often. It seemed everywhere she turned, there he was, impossible to avoid or ignore.
Now they were both examining their phones like it was their job, pointedly not interacting, but that hardly meant she was unaware of him. How could she not be aware of him, standing a foot to her left, being all impossibly tall and handsome? Nobody should look so good in a winter coat. No shapeless puffy coat, flattened hat-hair, and dripping red nose, like the rest of the New Yorkers. Nope. With his hair freshly tousled by the wind whipping off the East River, he looked like a model advertising winter instead of an ordinary human enduring it.
When it was her turn to place her order, she hurriedly stepped forward, happy to escape Alex’s nerve-jangling presence. After she ordered, she moved down the counter to wait, perusing last night’s text exchange with Peabody. They texted every day, sometimes stupid stuff, sometimes long, heartfelt exchanges. They were still no closer to a face-to-face meeting, but he was still the first person she talked to in the morning and the last one she talked to at night.
Next, she popped over to Twitter to check in. Not her own Twitter, of course. In the weeks since her Urbanist triumph, she’d abandoned that to focus all her energy on the Daily Post Twitter. Last night, she’d had another dustup with ClickNews, a rapid-fire series of tweets and replies that left her heart pounding with adrenaline. This morning, her mentions were full of fan replies. Excellent. Jess fired off a pithy response to ClickNews’s most recent tweet—just moments ago—to set the tone for today’s battle.
“Good news?”
Alex had placed his order, too, and instead of waiting in the opposite corner and ignoring her, like a proper New Yorker, he’d followed her. “What?”
“You’re grinning at your phone like a Disney villain. Is your evil plan for world domination finally falling into place?”
Feeling triumphant and magnanimous, she gave him a broad, genuine smile. “You could say that.”
Alex blinked at her in consternation. It was a delight throwing him off his game. In her opinion, the world didn’t throw Alex enough curveballs. Being confused was good for him.
“Speaking of world domination and evil plans, how are things at ClickNews?”
Was it wrong, striking up an idle conversation with her sworn enemy hoping he’d drop a tidbit about the Twitter feud? It would make her day, her week, her year, to hear him bitch about it, all the while hugging to herself the secret knowledge that she was the one behind it all.
He raked a hand through his hair. It fell into a disordered, cinnamon-highlighted, per
fect mess. “Great. Page views are skyrocketing. Ad revenues are through the roof.”
“Oh.” Not exactly what she wanted to hear. “Good for you. Bet your dad is thrilled.”
“And the Daily Post? You guys changing the world yet?”
“Our subscriptions are up forty percent over this period last year.” And all due to her, although she couldn’t share that part.
“Wow. Forty percent. So that means another sixteen subscribers? The New York Times better watch its back.”
“Hey—”
“Sir? Your order’s ready.”
Somehow, even though she’d ordered before him, he’d managed to get served first. How very Alex Drake.
“Hold that nasty thought,” he said with a wink, striding away to pick up his food.
Fine, let him take his lunch and go. When she looked back down, intending to text Peabody, she saw Alex had left his phone on the counter where he’d been standing. She picked it up and stepped forward, intending to call out to him, but then she saw what was still glowing on his unlocked screen.
He had his Twitter app open to his mentions. And there, at the top of the column, was her last Daily Post tweet from just a few minutes ago. But...how... That would mean...
The dots connected with swift and stunning certainty. This could not be happening.
The only way Alex could be seeing her tweets in his mentions was if he was the one logged into the ClickNews Twitter account.
No. No!
She snatched up his phone and scrolled down. There were all the same mentions from the fans that she got, and when she swiped back to his timeline, there was ClickNews’s tweet from just a few minutes ago, when Alex had been standing next to her in line—on his phone.
“What are you doing with my phone?”
She looked up. “It’s you!”
“Excuse me?” He held out his hand. “Are you finished invading my privacy? Can I have my phone back?”
She spun it around, shoving it in his face. “ClickNews’s Twitter account is on your phone. It’s you!”
With an annoyed scowl, he snatched the phone out of her hand. “So what if I’m logged into the site’s Twitter? Why do you care?”
“But...it’s you! I can’t believe this!”
Slowly, he looked up at her with dawning horror. “Wait...is it... Tell me you’re not...”
She turned her own phone to face him, their exchange from last night glowing on her screen.
“It’s you.” Color tinted the tops of his cheekbones, a dead giveaway that he was rattled.
“What the hell are you doing manning ClickNews’s Twitter feed? Aren’t you like the Editor in Chief or something?”
“I was unhappy with what the PR firm was doing with our social media so I gave it a go myself.”
She would never, ever admit to him how impressed she’d been by those tweets. Or that she was impressed he did the work himself rather than paying someone to do it for him. It was so annoying when Alex turned out to be good at stuff.
“Why are you doing it?” he challenged. “I thought you were a reporter.”
That was embarrassing to admit, too, but she had no choice. “The paper couldn’t afford a social media manager this year.”
“That’s too bad. Must be driving you crazy not to be tackling the real news.” With a falsely sympathetic frown, he air-quoted “real news.”
It was all she could do not to smack that arrogant, taunting, beautiful face of his. Ugh, how dare he throw her own words back at her? How dare he be right about that?
“Yeah, maybe I won’t win a Pulitzer on Twitter, but the paper’s subscription rates are through the roof because of me, which helps everybody, including our staff reporting on the real news.”
He shook his head sadly. “Be careful, Jess. Sounds an awful lot like rationalizing.”
“Says the guy using his journalism degree to write tweets for a gossip website.”
Now it was his turn to look furious, and she reveled in it. That incendiary glint in his eyes made her every last nerve ending stand at attention. Electricity crackled through her bloodstream. What was it about baiting Alex that was so exciting...dangerous...fun?
“Yeah, well, those tweets caught the attention of the Urbanist, in case you missed it.” He was practically swaggering with pride as he took a step closer, all tall and loose-limbed, towering over her.
“You think your tweets did it? I’m the popular one here. I own you on Twitter.”
Alex scoffed. “In your dreams.”
Jess thrust her phone in his face. “I smell a challenge. You ready for me?”
He startled, leaning back. “What, here? Now?”
“What’s the matter? Can’t come up with a good tweet without twenty-four hours and four drafts?”
“Brace yourself, Romano.” He furiously typed something out on his phone.
She glanced down to see what he’d tweeted.
Witty, succinct, and biting. Not that she’d ever tell him so. “Not bad.”
A wicked smile spread across his face, and Jess felt it in her toes. “So?”
“So, what?”
“Are you going to show me what you’ve got?”
* * *
Jess wasn’t quite sure how it happened. Before she knew it, she and Alex were across from one another in a corner of the cafe, the remains of their lunch scattered between them, as they sat, phones in hand, and slammed each other on Twitter.
She hit send on her last tweet, glancing up to gauge his reaction as she polished off her chips. One sharply angled eyebrow hiked up in a perfect inverted V and he tipped his head to the side. “Decent.”
“That was brilliant and you know it.”
His brows furrowed as he leaned forward, typing furiously. “Sweetheart, you haven’t seen brilliant yet.”
He was just poking at her, she told herself. That sweetheart was completely sarcastic, an insult, not an endearment. Apparently her heart didn’t receive that message, though, because when he looked up at her, green eyes flashing and a grin lighting up his face, it did a totally unexpected somersault in her chest.
It was just...hormones...pheromones...whatever. Some primordial lizard brain response to a hot guy smiling at her. A hot guy whose devastatingly good kiss she could still remember like it was yesterday. A hot guy she’d once had a complicated, reluctant crush on. No matter how ruthlessly she’d squashed that crush all these years, some of the wiring remained in place, and when Alex was this close to her, smiling at her like that, the switch got flipped on those ancient, forgotten feelings.
A prickling heat was spreading up her neck that had nothing to do with the radiator clanking out steam heat in the corner. He was still grinning at her, waiting for her to read his tweet and respond. The air seemed to contract around her and suddenly, it was hard to draw a deep breath. Alex’s expression shifted, his smile sliding away, the gleeful glint in his eyes turning into something else altogether.
Just when it felt one of them was going to have to say something to dispel this unbearable tension, someone else did it for them.
“Well, this is interesting.”
Jess startled and turned to see Lauren looming over their table. “Lauren...”
“Taking a meeting with ClickNews? I’m sure Mariel will find this fascinating.”
She and Alex started speaking in unison.
“It’s not—”
“I didn’t... This isn’t a meeting,” Jess stammered helplessly. But it sure would look like one to Lauren, wouldn’t it? Her stomach twisted into knots as she reached for some sort of reasonable explanation.
To her surprise, Alex stepped in to save her. “Jess and I went to college together. We ran into each other getting lunch and we were just catching up.”
Lauren’s frosty blue gaze swiveled back to Jess, pin
ning her like a butterfly to a board. “You have a friend at ClickNews?”
“We’re not friends.”
“Not at all,” Alex helpfully chimed in. “In fact, I’m pretty sure she hates me.”
“I do. And he hates me, so—”
“You hate each other so much you’re having lunch together?”
“What can I say?” Alex said, throwing out a practiced, gorgeous grin. “Even my enemies can’t resist me.”
Lauren’s eyes raked scathingly over Alex, then landed back on Jess. “Jess, is that Twitter on your phone?”
Jess fought down the urge to hide it. “Um, yes, I was just—”
Lauren glanced at Alex. “It’s him, isn’t it? This stupid little Twitter feud you’ve got going with ClickNews. It’s with him.”
“I—”
“We didn’t know at first,” Alex interjected. “Isn’t that crazy?”
“Crazy. What a coincidence.” As she turned toward the counter to order, she tossed over her shoulder, “See you back at the newsroom, Jess.”
What a disaster.
Jess scrambled to wrap up her trash. “I gotta go.”
“Hey.” Alex reached out and dropped his hand over her wrist to still her, and it was like a hot iron had just branded her. Her eyes flew to that point of contact and she couldn’t drag them up to look at Alex if she tried. “Are you okay?”
Sliding her hand out from under his, she busied herself with shrugging into her coat. “Lauren doesn’t like me, that’s all.” At least, she hoped that was all.
Alex leaned back in his chair, watching her as she buttoned up. “Okay, well... I guess I’ll see you soon.”
Her fingers fumbled with the last button. She looked up at him in confusion.
He waved his phone in the air. “Twitter.”
“Oh. Right.” She now had a standing arrangement with Alex Drake. Seemed she’d had one for a while now, she just hadn’t known it.
Regaining a bit of her equilibrium, she slung her bag over her shoulder and grinned at him. “Brace yourself. I’m just getting started with you.”
The One I Love to Hate Page 10
