Page 82 of A Bossy Surprise

“About another month or so. I hate that I wasted all this time here hiding from all of you, but I didn’t feel right heading back to California with the way things were between us and I didn’t know how to approach you to apologize.”

“It’s all good.” I pat my friend on the back, and we start walking in the direction of his hotel.

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of me. Being on the outs with Lucas threw my whole life out of a balance.He’s the person I ran every idea through. So not having his counsel during arguably the most challenging time of my life was difficult.

But, that’s all in the past now. I’m ready to move forward and see what the future has in store for all of us.

Life is about to get good and I can’t wait to see what that looks like.

23

KAYLA

When I walk into my office, I let the smile I’ve been holding back all day finally come to the surface. I pump my fist in the air and jump up and down, giddy as all hell.

Thanks to the efforts of my team, GNN was the first to break a news story of national importance.

About two weeks ago, I got reports that Senator Vernon Moorhead has been taking bribes from international political groups to sway his vote in the Senate.

Whispers about this had made the rounds, but I was the only one who took it seriously. I dispatched my reporters and called around. Eventually, we were able to connect some dots and find a paper trail leading from the senator to his accomplices.

We ran that story during last night’s news broadcast, and threw it up online immediately after.

I knew the story would get traction, but there’s no way I could have predicted the virality that followed. In 12 hours that video has gotten 10 million views across all our social media platforms.

Not only that, the authorities have been in touch to ask for our cooperation. They’ve asked us to hand over the evidence we were able to uncover to aid their investigation.

As a result, I heard we have a few more advertisers wanting to come on board. I’m not sure about that. I’ll have to ask Adam about it when I see him.

I haven’t wanted to show how pleased I am with myself around the office. Managing failure is hard, but sometimes managing success is even harder; it can be like walking a tight rope. So I’ve been acting like today is just like any other day.

However, now that I’m in my office, I can celebrate as much as I want.

I’m jumping up and down when the door opens behind me. I quickly compose myself and turn around.

Adam is standing there, smiling at me. “What are you doing?”

“Get in here and close the door,” I whisper.

He does as I ask. “What’s going on?”

“What do you mean what’s going on? Aren’t you seeing everything that’s going on with the Senator Moorhead story?”

“Yes, that was great work. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

I walk up to him and kiss him. My intention was for it to be a brief brush of the lips, but Adam’s arms go around my back, and he holds me in place as he deepens the kiss.

My hands go into his hair and the second I feel moisture on his scalp I pull back. “Gross, why are you all sweaty?”

He releases me with a chuckle. “Sorry, I should’ve warned you. I went for a run not long ago.”

I can feel my brow tense. “You went for a run?”

“Yeah.” He’s smiling wide.

“In the afternoon?”