Dazzle?He didn’t dazzle.“I’ll do my absolute best. Thank you for the chance.”
Alec said goodbye and hung up, then placed his phone on the counter in front of the mirror. He raised his head and forced a smile—a small one, so as not to make the crinkles around his eyes too pronounced. Georgia’s call was his best-case scenario. He was finally getting the opportunity he’d chased for years.
But this hadn’t been entirely his doing. A big chunk of credit had to go to Brooklyn. She’d made this possible, at a time when she’d had every reason in the world to say no. He’d messed up royally at the end of their date, too caught up in his own head about expectations, the past, the future, and fate.
He reached out for his phone, sliding it across the counter, and pulling up her number on speed dial. Each unanswered ring made him more paranoid. Was she busy falling in love? Getting pregnant? Fending off men with a stick?
“Alec,” Brooklyn gasped. “What’s up?” she strained to ask, huffing and puffing.
Oh, God. Why is she answering the phone? She really is getting pregnant.“Bad time?”
“No. It’s fine.” She was still struggling to get the words out. “The elevator at work broke and I had to run downstairs to the mail room because a vendor sent twenty cases of eye cream and the tubes all exploded. I’m on my way back up to my office. What’s up?”
He breathed a small sigh of relief. “I wanted to call and say thank you for coming on the show. It’s paying big dividends for me at work. The network is in love with you, but somehow I get the credit. They’ve given me a major assignment. The sort of thing I’ve been trying for years to get. So, thank you.”
“That’s so wonderful. Congratulations. I’m really proud of you.”
“It’s really all your doing. If you hadn’t said yes to being on the show, we might not be having this conversation right now.” Or talking at all. There was so much happenstance at play here, it made Alec’s head spin. If any of this was meant to be, he had to wonder where it was all going.Nowhere. That’s where. She wants a baby. And you’re not sure.
“Speaking of being on the show, they’ve invited me to come back next Tuesday. Lela and I are doing a segment together. We’re doing makeovers for new moms.”
Capitalize, straight out of Georgia’s mouth moments ago, sprang to mind. The thought of the network taking advantage of Brooklyn made him sick to his stomach, but this was what they did. They took a commodity and blew it up. “I heard rumblings about it. I hope you know that you are in no way obligated to say yes. You can say no if you want to.”
“Do you not want me to be there?”
“No, no, no. That’s not it at all. I’m just trying to look out for your best interests.”
“Okay. Because it sounded like you don’t want me to come on the show.”
How was he bungling this so quickly? “I talked to Lela and she said that the whole situation with the emails has gotten out of control. I worry you’ll only get more unwanted attention if you’re on again. Do you want that?”
“It’s notallunwanted. I actually heard from a fertility doctor today. Someone in his office showed him a replay of my segment with you, but then he figured out that we know each other in a roundabout way. He’s friends with Virginia’s husband.”
“He called to help you find a sperm donor?”
“No. He asked me out.”
“Oh. Didn’t see that coming. Did you say yes?”
“Wouldn’t it be funny if I ended up falling in love with a fertility doctor? He could help me get pregnant two ways.”
“I hope you can appreciate the awkward turn this conversation has just taken.”
Brooklyn laughed. “Yeah. Sorry. You know I get carried away. But to answer your question, I’m not sure if I’m going to go out with him. We had a nice enough conversation, but there’s no spark there. And as much as I’m interested in learning about what he does, he’s pretty dull otherwise.”
No spark.He and Brooklyn had a spark sometimes. Other times, it got snuffed out.
“I’m still hoping one perfect guy will turn up and rise above everyone else,” Brooklyn continued. “Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes.”
One perfect guy. Alec had once thought of himself for the position, but he wasn’t a phoenix. Or, at least, he didn’t see himself that way. “And nobody has filled that bill yet?”
“Not exactly, but you know me. I’m not a quitter.”
“Keep me posted.” He sucked in a deep breath, needing to return to the original reason for the call. “I’m serious about what I said earlier, Brooklyn. My break with news wouldn’t have happened without you. And after the way things ended when we went out to eat, you had a dozen reasons to tell me to go to hell when I asked you to do the interview. But you didn’t. And I want you to know how much I appreciate it.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. I wasn’t exactly on my best behavior that night, either. I should have done a better job of listening. Extreme horniness does that to a woman. Also, a lack of sex.”
“I thought the men of the world were beating down your door.”
