Fortunately, Hound and Deal were off somewhere else, and the others were doing their own thing and not paying attention to what he and Fox were discussing. At least that was the impression they were giving, but Jag wouldn’t be surprised if they were aware of what was going on.
Fox’s lips stretched into a wide smile. “I do. She’s fun, and we have a lot in common. It’s rare to meet a girl who is as into sports as Cynthia is.”
“Considering she worked the entertainment beat with Steff, it’s not too much of a stretch to think there wouldn’t be interest. Sports stars hit the red carpet for movie premieres and other stuff.” Honestly, Jag had no idea if what he was talking about was true, but it sounded reasonable to him.
“That’s the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever heard.” Deal laughed, as he popped his ass on the corner of Jag’s desk.
“What are we talking about?” Hound sauntered up with a cup of coffee in his hand. So much for believing they weren’t around to listen in.
“Jag sprouting some shit about how Cynthia and Steff would’ve been exposed to sports stars on the red carpet when they were working for the entertainment section of the paper.”
Hound took a sip, and Jag could tell he was thinking things over. “It’s not actually an unreasonable assumption; there’s a bit of crossover now between sports stars and music stars. Plus actresses.”
Jag smiled smugly at Deal. “See? I do know stuff.”
A second later the four of them burst out laughing at the absurdity of their conversation. “Since when did we talk about shit like this?” Deal wheezed out between laughs.
“Since these two buffoons became besotted with two certain entertainment reporters.” Hound shook his head as if the very idea of being smitten was a deadly sin.
“Just you wait.” Jag pointed a finger at him. “I’ll remember this when you’re looking forlorn and wistful.”
“If I ever look that way, put me out of my misery,” Hound grumbled. “But I am happy for you guys.”
Fox held up his hands. “Hey, I’m not living with Cynthia, like Jag is with Steff. We’ve gone on a couple of dates. Nothing more.”
“If it’s not serious, then why did you ask me for a pair of earrings for Cynthia to wear after your first date?” Cass looked over the top of her glasses at Fox, a huge smile on her face.
Geez, now everyone was coming in on the conversation.
“You didn’t say you’d done that.” Jag looked incredulously at his friend.
“Made sense considering everything that was going on, and she was more than happy to wear them,” Fox said casually, as if it was an everyday occurrence for him to give someone he’d seen twice a tracker.
Jag absorbed the information that had been shared in the last few seconds. If Cynthia didn’t mean anything to Fox, then he wouldn’t have worried about having her wear a tracker, even though the threat hadn’t been directed at Cynthia.
“Can’t believe that’s two,” Hound muttered before looking at Deal. “You got anything to tell us?”
Deal shook his head. “Nope, footloose and fancy free at the moment. Plan to keep it that way for a while.”
“Now you’ve jinxed yourself,” Jag joked.
“Whatever.” Deal tossed some balled-up paper at Jag, who caught it with a snatch of his hand.
“Anyway, I’m going to head back to my desk, and you girls can continue your gossip session,” Cass sassed them.
Jag leaped up. “Let me walk you there. Wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”
The fact Cass only had to walk about fifty meters to get to her office, made his reasoning a little out there, and the way everyone in the office snorted, even Irish, they all knew it too.
“I’m not doing it.” Cass crossed her arms, her expression serious.
“Doing what?” he asked innocently, now wishing he’d been a bit more subtle in getting what he wanted.
“I’m not checking up on Steff and Cynthia. You know how hard it was to get Steff to wear them, if she found out you were checking up on her all the time, she wouldn’t wear them anymore, and how would that make you feel?”
His friends moved away quickly, leaving him alone with Cass, although not really alone, seeing as they’d congregated to where the others were—all of them looking at him while trying to keep smiles off their faces.
Some friends they were.
