“A guy like Barry Millner will eat you alive if you don’t know the details.”
“So I’d better learn the details.”
“See? You’re already getting the hang of it.” She strode toward the door. “Welcome to the news division.”
“Thanks.” Alec swallowed hard, then closed the door and unmuted his call with Brooklyn. “Sorry about that.” No response came. “Brooklyn? Are you there?”
That was when he saw the text from her.So sorry. Had to run. Another work emergency. See you Tuesday. xoxo
And to think that a few minutes earlier, Alec and Brooklyn had managed to have a mostly fun phone call. They’d flirted even. There was talk of horniness. And now he had the Mt. Everest of file folders to scale, an interview to prepare for, and an uncertain but hopeful opportunity before him. He and Brooklyn never quite got the timing right, and this moment was the perfect illustration of that.
It’s okay. I’m busy too. See you next week. Xo
Chapter Eleven
Much like thefirst time Brooklyn made an appearance during the marshmallow factory hour ofGood Day USA, she had to convince herself this was a good idea. Today, it wasn’t the thought of taping a segment that had her nervous. It was her mouth. Specifically, what had come out of it when she’d talked to Alec days ago. She’d lost her compass during their phone conversation, getting stupidly flirtatious. Good God, she’d used the wordhorniness, and argued a case for Miss Piggy being hot. What in the hell was wrong with her?
Of course, she knew the answer. Alec had taken a moment out of his day to shine a light on something good she’d done. He’d been generous with his kindness. She’d never had a defense for that. She’d only ever wanted to gobble up every minute of positive reinforcement he could give her. But she was a woman in her forties who needed to stop putting so much stock in the opinion of others. Even though that wasn’t as simple as it sounded.
Fortunately, when the topic of their date night came up, she’d done a decent job of dismissing what had been driving her enthusiasm. Yes, she’d had the physical urge to kiss Alec into oblivion and destroy his shirt. She’d already been planning to push him down on the bed once they got to his room. But it wasn’t mere horniness. It wasn’t her sex drive gone wild. She’d fallen prey to thezap. The elusive spark. Whenever it materialized, it felt like magic. It just never managed to stick around for very long. Something always got in the way.
Despite her trepidation about seeing Alec today, knowing she’d get to see Lela was enough to get her butt out of bed. She showered, dressed in a cute deep teal jumpsuit with fluttery sleeves, did her hair, and headed downstairs to meet her driver Tony. As soon as she reached the lobby, she was greeted by a smiling Cy in his dapper black uniform with the gold braided trim, stepping out from behind his desk.
“Morning, Ms. Monroe.” He tipped his hat. “If I’d known you were up and at ‘em, I would’ve buzzed you. More flowers came. Must be from one of your gentlemen admirers.”
“Oh. Can you hold on to them? I’m actually on my way out. I’m going to be on TV again.”
“You’re always on the move. Somedays I wish I could be as busy as you.”
“Aren’t you plenty busy as a doorman?”
A corner of his mouth quirked up as if he had to think on that. “It’s not as challenging as my former career, but I do like taking care of the residents and making sure everything’s running smoothly.”
“What did you do before this?” As close as Brooklyn and Cy had become, their chats frequently revolved around her, and when she got him to talk about himself, the topic was most often his family.
“Logistics and warehouse management. Up in the garment district. I did that for twenty-one years before I switched to this.”
“Why the change?”
“The hours were terrible. I worked sixty or seventy hours some weeks. It paid well. It bought me a house. But I never saw my wife and kids. Once our first grandchild arrived, I had to make a change.”
“This seems like a more sensible way to stay busy until retirement.”
“Oh, I’m not retiring any time soon. I’ve got at least another eight or nine years in me. I can work until I’m seventy, no problem.” He rapped the side of his head with his knuckle. “Knock wood.”
“I hope you’re going to stay here. I’d miss you if you left.”
“That’s the plan. It can get a little slow, but that’s why I like you, Ms. Monroe. You always have something exciting going on. It’s never dull when you’re around.” He walked alongside her as they headed for the door, but he stopped. “Would you like me to bring the flowers upstairs to your apartment?”
Brooklyn glanced at the arrangement. It was beautiful, with deep pink roses, purple iris, and pops of chartreuse foliage. She’d received a fair number of these over the last few weeks, and although she loved flowers, these deliveries failed to make her feel wanted or needed or appreciated. If anything, she was creeped out that so many men had figured out where she lived. “Why don’t you take them home for your wife?”
“You don’t want them?”
“They’re just from someone who saw me on TV. I don’t need the illusion of romance, Cy. I want the real thing. You and your wife have the real thing, right?”
“We do.”
“There you go.”
