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After Kenna rushes out of the control room, I force myself not to follow her. Instead, my eyes stay glued to the video footage of our date. It’s everything I remembered and then some. Kenna is incredibly adorable, and our date was way more fun than I ever thought it would be, but seeing how the cameraman zoomed in on our very intimate conversation and the kiss makes my insides tighten. I wish our first kiss hadn’t been in front of a camera crew for all the world to see.
Kenna returns to the control room with a red face and puffy eyes. She stands next to Frankie and juts her chin high as she taps something on her tablet. Finally, after what seems like forever, she glances my way. I wave her to come over to me. Frankie nudges her in my direction. She scolds him then inches my way, slower than a sloth.
“Are you okay?”
Kenna shrugs and places a renegade strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s weird.”
“Yeah.”
She shows me the comments coming in on the show’s social media accounts.
They look good together.
Perfect pair.
They act like they’ve met before.
I point to the last comment. “What do you make of that?”
“There are several comments like that. Apparently, we were… too comfortable together. One said we acted like we were already a couple.” She scoffs. “If they only knew.” Her bashful smile is crazy cute.
“We must be really good actors because we are definitely not a real couple.”
Her smile fades. I’m a jerk. That was totally uncalled for and not how I feel about her. “Kenna, what I meant was—”
She holds up a shaky hand and says, “Don’t. It’s okay. I understand. I know someone like you would never go for someone like me.” The muscles in her jaw flex. “Excuse me. I need to help Phoebe with something.”
“Wait,” I call after her. I follow her down the hallway, but her steps get quicker as she heads for the women’s restroom. “Kenna, let’s talk.”
Before Kenna can open the door, Jacobs walks toward us with a smile on his face. “Good job, Pryce. Very convincing. Kenna, you played your part nicely too.”
I touch Kenna’s arm. She slips away. “I think Phoebe needs my help. Please excuse me.”
“Oh, wait,” Jacobs says. “There is one more thing.”
Kenna turns, hugging her tablet to her chest. My gaze ping-pongs from Kenna to Jacobs.
“Pryce, as promised, I am promoting you to director. You’ve earned it.” He turns to Kenna and with no emotion at all says, “I am afraid we can’t have you working for Pryce any more. It wouldn’t look good, especially if the FCC puts two and two together.” He chuckles. “Can’t have that now, can we? But the ratings…” He gives a thumbs-up.
She stumbles backward and bumps into the wall. Her lip quivers as her mouth opens and closes with no words coming out.
I shake my head to process the words. “Wait a second. You forced her to do this and now you are firing her? She is my employee. Don’t I get a say in this?”
“She is not being fired. She’s being…” He waves a hand through the air as he searches for his next words. “She’s being let go. And unless your ‘say’ is that you also want to be let go, you have nothing to add to this conversation.”
The chaos around me fades away. The only thing I can concentrate on is the way my heart beats so loudly, it’s exploding in my ears. Kenna’s complexion is a ghostly white.
She swallows then hands me the tablet. “Thank you for this opportunity, Mr. Hatfield. I’ll gather my things and be gone within the hour.” She covers her mouth with her hand and racewalks down the hallway.
“Kenna, wait.”
Jacobs latches on to my arm. “Let her go. Frankie will fill in as your assistant until you hire another assistant.”
Through gritted teeth, I say, “I don’t want another assistant. I want her.”
With a sneer, he says, “Careful, Pryce. Mixing business with pleasure is never a good thing.”
I nod while I process his words. He may be able to compartmentalize relationships, but I can’t anymore, especially when it comes to her. Giving him what he wants to hear, I say, “You know what? I have to agree with you.”
