He crossed his arms. The classic Julia seduction move. In the past, she’d employ it to distract him when he started asking questions, or speaking his mind, or otherwise asserted that he had a say in their relationship.
Luckily, he’d become immune to her moves.
“And…”
She snapped out of her temptress-trance and cleared her throat. “They want you to come home, back to the station. The evening desk.” Julia smiled, a little bit sincere and a lot of forced. “Prime time, baby. It’s yours.”
“What about ‘Riders in the Storm’?”
“Oh it’s a fun little piece of reality TV, but we can turn that over to someone else. New, dispensable.”
Seth braced himself against the back of the van. This was it, the highest spot he could reach on-air at the Forecast Channel. A nice, cushy job in a safe, dry studio under the glare of fluorescent lights, reading someone else’s words from a teleprompter. A human ventriloquist dummy.
If he took this promotion, he’d have Julia’s hand firmly up his ass.
“When?”
She leaned next to him, her shoulder touching his.
Once upon a time, he’d felt a little spark, now it felt like an inanimate object.
“As soon as possible. We could probably get on the first flight out tomorrow, before the weather kicks up.”
“And cancel this week’s show?”
She looked him in the eye. “You’re asking an awful lot of questions.”
He squared his shoulders. “And you’re pushing awfully hard to get me on a plane tomorrow. What gives?”
“Opportunities like this are like diamonds. You sit and stare at it too long without grabbing it, someone else will.”
Feels like a blood diamond.
Seth shook his head. “What’s in it for you?” She wouldn’t invite him back into the spotlight, where the glare from his rising star could risk blinding her.
“Why do you always think I’m out for something?”
“Because it’s your MO.”
Julia sighed and dropped her arms to her sides. “I was offered Vice President of Programming.”
Even though she stopped with that statement, Seth could hear the ellipses that followed. He quirked an eyebrow.
“If I make amends with you,” she said with an eye roll.
He snorted, but that turned into snickering, which morphed into a full-fledge guffaw. “So you’re telling me you need me?” He wiped amused tears from his eyes.
“The irony isn’t lost on me.” She blanched and looked away. “So you in, or what?” Her Long Island accent sliced through like a bandsaw.
Taking that job would get him out of the field.
Away from the heart of the action. Away from the people who mattered most, those who lived in the paths of these destructive storms. Families who risked losing their homes, children who risked losing their parents. First responders who risked their own lives to save others.
Taking that job would also move him away from Elaina. He wasn’t ready to run away from her.
Maybe Gram’s right.
“No,” Seth said. The word had never felt so right on his lips. “I’m happy where I am.”
“Name your number, we’ll pay it.” Her voice had taken on that harsh tone, a step away from being a nasally whine.
“It’s not the money.”
“Okay, wardrobe allowance, car, someone to come over and floss your teeth for you.” Julia paced and rubbed her temples.
“No.” He was really enjoying saying that word. “There’s nothing you could offer me. I like it out here.”
She stopped abusing the pavement with her stilettos. Realization settled in her blue eyes and she pursed her lips. “It’s her, isn’t it?” Julia hitched her thumb over her shoulder, in the direction of where Elaina had escaped.
Where Seth wanted to go.
“You’re going to give up your career for someone you barely know?” His ex demanded.
“How is that different than giving up my career for someone I supposedly knew? Intimately.” He spit out the words with more poison than he thought he had. Maybe he wasn’t as over it after all.
Julia winced. “You can’t punish me forever, Seth.”
“Punishing you would indicate I think about you, which I don’t. Tell the suits I appreciate their confidence in me, but my place is here.” Rather than take off in the direction of Elaina’s hotel, Seth went toward the stairs to his room. His gut told him he’d made the right decision he just needed to spend some time convincing his brain.
“You’re making a huge mistake,” she called. “You think your on-air tantrum was bad, just wait until this gets back to the station.”
“Go to Hell, Julia.” His voice echoed around the nearly empty parking lot.
35
The sunlight filtered through her hotel window too soon. Once Elaina had made it back to her room, she’d crawled into bed with Nim, crying into his soft, yellow fur until it was sopping wet.
Her dog had rested his large head on top of hers and sighed.
This was why she didn’t do relationships.
The men she dated never seemed to live up to her dog. An unfair comparison for sure, but at this point, she preferred the strong, silent types who walked on four legs.
She’d drifted off to sleep at some point, but woke in the middle of the night flushed with sweat and her mouth filled with cotton. The vise on her head had tightened as she stumbled into the bathroom to take an aspirin, washing it down with her mouth under the faucet.
Seth was right. Nothing good did come after doing shots. Despite her best, or worst, intentions.
Nothing good came before the shots either.
Her mom’s stroke and coma, Pierce stealing their research, working for Tuck. The visions.
Like getting a glimpse of the wizard behind the curtain, were the visions telling her that everything she knew, the life she’d lived was nothing but smoke and cleverly positioned mirrors? Was it worth peeking behind it? What if she hated what she saw?
Or worse. What if she liked it?
What if the life she was meant to live was better than the one Connie had given her? It would be too easy, too convenient, if she came from a broken, abusive home. But…what if the little girl found in the rubble had come from a family who loved her and mourned her?
What if the scared little girl in the hospital room wasn’t afraid of where she’d come from, but was terrified of where she was going?
Her phone buzzed with a text message, the sound a hive of angry bees to her hungover brain.
A quick glance told her it was the last person she wanted to see.
Or, was he the second to last? Maybe third?
Elaina needed to work on prioritizing the people she was pissed off at.
Buy you a cup of coffee if you promise not to throw it at me, Seth texted.
She tossed her phone back on the bed and covered her eyes. Somehow it didn’t surprise her that she wasn’t the first he’d seduced in the back of a news van. She probably wasn’t even second. Or, twentieth.
Fine. Coffee AND breakfast. He followed up to her non-response.
Her stomach rolled at the thought of food. Part nausea and part hunger. Despite her body’s inclination, she wanted no part of Seth.
Sure, maybe the night before she wanted some part of Seth. Maybe all of him, but it was for her own benefit. Not his. It was to regain that last bit of control over her life that had slowly been slipping away from her.
Right?
How in-control was she?
She’d jumped his bones in the back of his company vehicle. Which was loaded down with cameras. And, recording devices.
It had to be the tequila.
And, Seth’s blue eyes.
Ugh.
The siren of her ringing phone drilled into her skull.
“I don’t want coffee and I don’t want food,” Elaina barked into the phone, not even bothering to open her eyes to see who it was.
The person on the other end hesitated, but she could hear breathing. “Well, that’s good, princess. What I do hope you want is to chase some storms.” Tuck’s words were laced with amusement and excitement. “Gonna be a good day. You and Heathcliff might even be able to finish your homework.”
She exhaled. Was she really holding her breath, hoping it was someone else?
“It’s not just homework.” She stopped. It was really not worth arguing especially if this could be the last time she’d have to work with him. “So will we be able to get any actual data? Between taking pictures of people with a tornado behind them?”
“Yeah, Moo-Moo, there’s gonna be none of that today.” His voice took on a serious tone. “The atmosphere’s wound up tight. So tight; all hell’s gonna break loose. The clients are going to stay well out of harm’s way.”
Elaina sat up, holding her breath. “What about us?”
“I’ll get y’all in a better position than you geeks have ever seen. No one else will be out there crowding the road. Storm will be yours for the taking.”
She hopped out of bed, ignoring her brain bouncing around the inside of her skull. Elaina pulled back the yellowed, paper thin shade. If she squinted, she could almost make out the frontal boundary line sitting on the northern horizon.
Waiting for her.
“You looking at it?” he asked, as if he was watching her.
“Yeah,” she breathed. The sky was sliced in half. The part above her was blue with thick white clouds. The horizon was a roiling gray-green. A meteorological yin-yang.
“We’re hitting the road in thirty minutes.”
Elaina tossed her phone back on her bed. “All right Nim, this is it.”
He thumped his tail twice.
She showered fast, not taking time to fully rinse the conditioner out of her hair. The reflection staring back at her through the fogged mirror looked like a ghost, even more so when she wiped the layer of steam away, exposing the dark circles under her eyes.
I bet that redhead looks nice and refreshed after romping all night with Seth.
She yanked a comb through her wet curls with one hand while brushing her teeth with the other. “What does it matter.” She spit in the sink. “Finish the project. Get home to Mom.” She switched the comb to the other hand and rolled deodorant one with her now free one. “Finish project. Home to Mom.” She repeated it like a mantra.
Excited voices from the parking lot floated up through the thin motel room walls. The tour group was gathering, and if she didn’t get a move-on, she’d make them late.
Elaina twirled her wet hair up into a bun and grabbed her jeans off the chair, hoping this was the clean clothes chair; not the dirty clothes chair.
She grabbed her oversized Tuck’s Tours T-shirt when a fist pounded at her door.
She pulled the door open with her head still lost inside the cotton, expecting it to be Heath sent to fetch her.
The maroon fabric gave way to Seth’s smirking face.
“Okay, coffee, breakfast and dinner. That’s my final offer.” He was braced against the door frame. His smile didn’t reach his eyes; instead they were the dull blue of a flat, cloudy sea.
Her treasonous dog hopped off the bed and slid between them, looking up with Elaina with a big, panting smile.
Et tu, Nimbus?
“Didn’t you get my response?” Elaina backed away from the door and searched the floor of her room for her sneakers.
Seth pulled his phone out of his pocket. “No…”
“Exactly.” She popped up from the floor and balanced on one foot while pulling the shoes on. “What, the redhead doesn’t eat?” Elaina grabbed her laptop and shoved in her backpack with other supplies, anything to keep her eyes off the man scratching her dog’s ears in her doorway. “Then again, judging by those tight pants she probably subsists on air alone.”
“She’s not here anymore.” His tone was tight. As if he was swallowing back heartburn. “I figured I could explain while you’re chewing.”
“That’s not necessary.” She glanced around her room. Camera. Check. Road maps. Check. Nim’s helmet. “Come here, Nim, let’s get you ready.”
Her dog glanced up at Seth with big, sad, sorry-my-mom-is-calling-me eyes.
“Oh,” he said, his voice climbing, as if it dropped a lead weight. “It’s not?”
Elaina knelt down to fasten the bicycle helmet under her dog’s chin. “Nope, she saved us—me—from making a huge, drunken mistake.” She stood and pulled her backpack over her shoulders, taking the few steps to the door. “So, you have nothing to explain. You do you. Have a good chase.”
Seth crossed his arms and filled the door. “Come on, Elaina. You know you don’t mean that.” He glanced down at her, his eyes warming, growing serious. “Sure, we were tipsy, but we both know it wouldn’t have been a mistake. At least not for me.”
Her heart somersaulted. She shouldn’t have looked at him, because doing so told her the truth. That he’d wanted her last night. That if they hadn’t been interrupted she would’ve still woken up hungover, but hungover with Seth. That if she’d woken up with Seth, there was a really good chance she’d skip storm chasing to stay in bed with him. Permanently.
There were already too many distractions in her life. Despite how he made her laugh, how she felt like she’d always known him, and even how much she wanted to hit him, there was simply no room in her life for him.
Elaina shook her head and closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, his face was pleading.
“I’m sorry, Seth. I was really drunk last night. She really did save us from making an uncomfortable situation out in the field.” She pushed past him and locked her door.
Nimbus whined between them, as if apologizing for her callous behavior.
Seth looked at her, his mouth slightly open and his eyes blinking, absorbing her lie.
Absorbing it, but not believing it.
Elaina gulped and prayed she was wrong about that.
Tuck’s clients were gathered around the vans. An excited murmur bounced around them.
She speed-walked across the lot, her dog in his silly pink helmet trotting beside her and the Forecast Channel reporter, in a bright-blue jacket, jogging behind her.
“Elaina, wait,” he called. “Come on, talk to me.”
The group looked up, but went back to their chatter.
Heath was hunched over his computer, and Tuck pointed at something on the screen.
Biscuit worked the crowd, offering an open box of donuts in one arm and pouring from a cardboard carafe of coffee from the other.
If the crowd wasn’t hyped up with storm adrenalin, they’d be soaring on a sugar high.
“There’s nothing to talk about.” She skidded to a stop.
If Tuck caught wind of any confrontation between them, he’d swoop down on Seth like a vulture on prey.
Elaina glanced up at the sky. The humidity tangled with the cool wind, stirring the atmospheric cauldron. “Have you checked the models today?”
He cocked his head. “Yeah, should be a busy day.”
She smiled weakly. “Be careful out there.”
A giant hand crashed down on Seth’s shoulder. “Hey there, Sethster. How’s it hanging?” Tuck shook him, part good-natured jostling, part sinister putting-him-in-his-place. “You two kids okay? You sure were pounding the shots last night.”
“We’re great, just comparing puke stories.” Elaina pulled her smile up higher so it would graze her eyes.
The toothpick in her boss’s lips twitched and he stared into her, silently calling bullshit. “Well, Sethster, we gotta get on the road.” He released her from his gaze and shifted it to Seth. “Remember what I said. Watch your back out there.”
The reporter whitened and stilled, as if forcing his body to hold back a shudder.
It was the same feeling she sometimes got around Tuck. As if there were two men hiding deep inside there. The good-natured, semi-scam artist
would quickly slip into a dangerous, watch-your-back filcher.
Which was the real Tuck? Both? Neither?
“I need to get moving, too.” Seth’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “Promise me you’ll be careful, Elaina.”
An inner voice whispered his warning was less about the impending storms and more about the man standing next to her.
36
Elaina watched Seth and his cameraman ready their vans from the corner of her eye.
The redhead was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he’d been telling the truth. It wasn’t what she’d thought—assumed. Had she been wrong about him, too?
Regardless, those notions had no place in her mind, in her life. The woman really had saved her from crossing a threshold she couldn’t walk back across again.
“What’s he doing here?” Tuck nodded to her dog.
Nim sat by her truck, patiently waiting for her to open the door. He’d been smile-panting, but with Tuck’s question, he closed his mouth and side-eyed him.
Even Nim didn’t trust Tuck.
“He’s coming with me.” She didn’t wait for his response before opening the door.
“No, he’s not.”
They were a team.
He told her what to expect, where to go. With her dog beside her, she could face anything. Even what terrified her the most.
“Yes, he is. He’s always with me on the chase.”
“As long as you’re working for me, he’s not coming.” The older man jingled the change in his pocket. “Elaina, he’s an animal, he’s going to react like an animal, and that’s to get the hell away from danger. You can’t focus on the storm if you’re worried about your dog.” He softened his expression. “It’s for the best for both of you. The motel’s well on the backside of the frontal boundary.”
Elaina glanced at Heath.
He looked up over the top of his glasses. “This is going to be a really active day. We need to be focused. He’ll be fine here.”
Nim whined next to her, pleading his case.
What would she do without him? Not just on the chase, but if something did happen.
An argument bubbled from her gut, but it was quickly snuffed out by the reminder that she’d been wrong about Seth and that woman. Maybe she was wrong about needing Nim? Maybe having him out in the field was only good for her?
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