CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“This feels weird on so many levels,” Kate muttered to Amy in the elevator the next morning.
Amy gave her a sympathetic smile. “You mean attending a TV network meeting in the same building where you shagged the show’s star the night before?”
Kate grimaced as she watched the buttons on the elevator counting down to the awkward meeting. Five, four, three . . .
“God, I shouldn’t have slept with him again,” Kate whispered.
“Will you stop it? You’re both consenting adults. And don’t give me that bullshit again about how he’s technically still married. As far as he knows, he’s been divorced for a year.”
“Yes, but as far as I know—”
“Don’t.” The elevator doors swished open, but Amy put a hand on Kate’s shoulder to hold her back. With her free hand, she hit two more buttons and sent the doors sliding shut again. The buttons began to light up once more, this time in ascending order.
Kate looked at Amy. “We’re going back up? What did you forget?”
“Nothing, but this seems like one of the few places for a private conversation.”
Kate glanced around, half expecting to see hidden microphones in the walls. How did that little emergency-call button work, anyway?
“Look, Kate,” Amy continued. “Don’t turn this into a moral issue. You know as well as I do that the marriage only exists on paper. This is a technicality. One we can fix easily enough with a good lawyer and some hastily filed paperwork from the couple.”
“But that’s not what everyone wants,” she said. “Not Viv, anyway.”
“So? You can’t force someone to stay married to you. This is reality television, not Vatican City. Jonah wants to be divorced, right?”
Kate hesitated. “Right,” she said, hoping it was true. God, it felt true last night when he held her in his arms, murmuring about how he wished he could stay there in bed with her forever.
“Besides,” Amy continued. “If you hadn’t slept with him last night—”
“I shouldn’t have told you that,” Kate interrupted, prompting an eye roll from Amy. “I shouldn’t. I know better than to kiss and tell.”
“Please,” Amy said. “The man showed up with dinner and didn’t leave until two in the morning, which I know because I was up all night working on scheduling and heard him leave. You think I’m dumb enough to believe you ate cornbread for six hours?” She shook her head, not giving Kate a chance to retort. “Like I was saying, he would have just gotten suspicious if you’d eaten his dinner and sent him on his way home with a pat on the head.”
The elevator doors swished open again, this time on the eleventh floor. A man in black holding a room-service tray looked startled to see them. “Are you going down?”
Amy hovered a hand over the elevator buttons. “Which way are you going?”
“Down.”
“Sorry, we’re going up.”
She hit the close button and sent the elevator surging upward again. Kate looked at her. “I’m not sure whether to be more concerned that you just implied it would be suspicious for me not to sleep with a guy who brought me food, or more concerned that you’re treating the elevators as our private mobile confession booth.”
“There are plenty of things to be concerned about in this situation,” Amy said. “Those aren’t the most important ones.”
“What are the most important ones?”
“Keeping the show running smoothly,” Amy said. “And keeping Chase Whitfield from doing anything stupid.”
And keeping Jonah on the show so he can help Jossy, Kate amended in her mind. She hadn’t told Amy about the accident or Jonah’s role in it. Unless Amy remembered that brief line in On the Other Hand, she probably had no idea Jonah’s dad was dead, or how that had sparked Jonah’s urge to protect his sister.
That was Kate’s secret to hold. There were so few opportunities in this job for her to protect other people’s private stories. To protect their hearts. Something about that detail made Kate want to hold it tightly to her chest.
“I swear, Chase is like a bloodhound when he gets the scent of some juicy, heartbreaking story line,” Kate muttered.
“It makes me hate him as a person,” Amy agreed. “But as a network exec, it’s what’s made him successful.”
The doors swished open again, revealing a tall, beefy figure standing in front of them on the fifteenth floor.
Speak of the devil, Kate thought as she pasted on her most professional smile.
“Chase,” she said. “It’s great to see you. I didn’t realize you were staying here as well.”
“I normally wouldn’t, but they were all booked at the Four Seasons,” he said. “That’s why we’re in the conference room here this morning.”
“I wondered about that,” Amy said, shuffling through a stack of papers in her arms. “Here’s that post-production report you asked for. It’s coming along nicely.”
“Excellent work.” Chase took the folder as the doors opened into the lobby. He stepped out ahead of them and took off at a speedy clip, leaving Kate and Amy to exchange a covert glance.
The three of them trooped into the conference room with Chase barking orders at the concierge about coffee service and scones. Amy walked around the table, laying a briefing at each spot, and Kate checked her phone for any messages.
There was one from Jonah, sent just a few minutes before.
I miss you already. Last night was amazing. I wish we could—
“Kate!”
She looked up sharply to see Chase looming in front of her. She clicked off her phone and said a silent prayer he hadn’t seen anything.
“Yes, sir?”
“I’ve been thinking about how to do the big reveal.”
Kate set her phone facedown on the conference table. “The one where Viv tells Jonah—Joe—that she’s still in love with him?”
“That, but also when he discovers they’re still married. What do you think about sending him on some made-up errand to the courthouse, where he’ll realize he fucked up and never filed the papers?”
Kate swallowed hard and concentrated on keeping a steady expression. “I think we’d run the risk of making him feel stupid,” she said. “And that’s something we promised not to do.”
“Promises broken.” Chase snapped his fingers. “That’s brilliant! That’s a great title for the first episode, don’t you think?”
“Um—”
“Okay, how about this,” Chase continued, oblivious to Kate’s objections. “We get the two of them in the hot tub together—”
“The two of who?”
“Viv and Joe, of course.” Chase waved a hand as though to indicate the details were irrelevant. “We make up something about needing them to model some form of hydro therapy for couples or some shit like that. Anyway, they’re sitting there in the hot tub when the lawyer walks out—”
“Is the lawyer in a Speedo?” Amy pulled out her notepad, and Kate watched her starting to scribble words on the page.
“No, the lawyer isn’t in a Speedo.” Chase scoffed like it was the dumbest idea he’d ever heard. Dumber than getting two ex-spouses into a hot tub together or having one of them reveal her love for the other in front of millions of viewers. “Anyway, the lawyer comes in looking all official and says he has something important to tell them.”
“Cut to commercial break,” Kate said, hating that she could picture this so clearly in her mind. That she knew it would make great television.
“Exactly,” Chase said. “And then when we come back, he delivers the news about the divorce papers not being filed. Boom!”
“Boom,” Amy repeated with a lot less enthusiasm. “So are we setting this up for the season finale, or one of the earlier episodes?”
“That’s the beauty of this, isn’t it?” Chase said. “Post-production can edit to make it look like it happened at any point. We can splice it together so it seems like the big news came after months of filming, or we can do it early in the schedule so the whole season arc is about what happens next.”
It was on the tip of Kate’s tongue to echo Amy’s words from so long ago. Isn’t that a little dishonest?
But she knew better. And she could see Chase’s mind was already made up. “I say we do it fast.”
“What?” Kate took a steadying breath at his words. “But why? What’s the rush?”
“News spreads fast in this business,” he said. “I don’t want any leaks. I’d rather spring it on Jonah fast so we don’t risk someone else spilling the beans.”
Kate swallowed hard and nodded. “Right. There are bloggers who get off on spoiling shows months before they release.”
“I’ve already heard about Reality Steve sniffing around the camera crew,” Amy added, prompting a sour look from Chase. “Don’t worry—Pete wouldn’t do that. He’s one of the most honest guys I know.”
Chase nodded, though it occurred to Kate that wasn’t necessarily a plus in the boss’s book.
“So what are you thinking?” Kate asked Chase. “How soon?”
“Now. In the next couple days.” Chase folded his arms over his chest and leaned back against the table. “It seems smart, don’t you think? If he learns the divorce isn’t final after Viv’s been throwing herself at him for weeks, he’s going to react with suspicion, right?”
“Right,” Kate said slowly, knowing that was probably true.
“But if we do it now, when it’s truly coming from out of nowhere, we catch him on tape with shock that’s authentic. He’d be truly stunned.”
Kate nodded, knowing that was true as well, and also that she hated it.
“But is that really worth it?” Amy asked. “Like you said, we can edit in a shocked reaction from some other scene.”
She sent Kate a frantic look, and Kate recognized she was grasping at straws. Amy knew better than anyone the importance of continuity. The fact that she was even trying to convince Chase otherwise made Kate want to hug her.
“Nah, we need things to be authentic,” Chase argued. “We need footage to show Joe in the same outfit, sitting in the same setting, wearing the most genuine look of shock we’re ever going to get from the guy.” He snorted and leveled Amy with a look. “Come on, he’s no actor. Besides, how’s he going to react if he finds out at the end of the season that we knew all along about the divorce?”
“Pissed,” Amy said, and Kate felt grateful that she wasn’t the only one weighing in on Jonah’s emotional responses. That they weren’t counting on her to be the authority on Jonah Porter.
Still, it was Kate that Chase turned to when he spoke his next words. “We want him a little pissed,” Chase said. “That’s part of his persona. It makes for good ratings.”
“You’re messing with a man’s life here,” Kate pointed out. “With Viv’s life, too, but at least she’s in on the plan.”
Not all the details, of course. She didn’t know about Kate and Jonah sleeping together, or that Viv’s quest to win back Jonah was unlikely to succeed.
“We’ve got him on contract for fourteen episodes,” Chase said. “He’s not going anywhere.”
Amy shifted a little and lowered her notepad. “I agree that Joe might not react well if he thinks we’ve been hiding things from him.”
“Exactly,” Kate said, telegraphing silent thanks to Amy. “There’s a difference between having him a little angry in general and having him pissed off at the whole show. At everyone involved with it.”
Chase looked at her again, and something in his expression made her wonder how much he knew. Made her question whether the elevator or her hotel room or her breakfast tray had been bugged after all. She knew that wasn’t possible, but she got a slithering feeling down her spine from the way he stared at her.
“Then you need to do whatever it takes to keep him around.” He held Kate’s gaze for a few beats longer, and she fought the urge to look away. “It’s your job to keep him happy, isn’t it?”
Kate swallowed. She opened her mouth to respond, but another voice echoed in the room.
“It’s no one’s job to keep someone else happy.”
Kate turned to see Viv floating into the room. She was beaming from ear to ear and wearing an ivory tank top printed with a mandala, and olive-green yoga pants that made her look like a cross between a ballet dancer and a pixie.
Viv swept through the entrance and put a hand on Chase’s arm. “Sorry to interrupt,” she said. “I just overheard the last of what you said and wanted to point out that people are responsible for their own happiness and no one else’s.” Her smile faltered a little then as she glanced from one face to the other. “I’m sorry, did I come in at a bad time?”
“No, it’s fine.” Kate offered her best imitation of a smile and hoped like hell Viv hadn’t heard anything too damning.
“Vivienne,” Chase said, putting an arm around her and steering her toward the head of the conference table. “It’s lovely to see you again. You’re a little early, aren’t you?”
“I know, I’m sorry. I had a yoga class just down the street and decided to pop by.” She glanced back at Kate and Amy. “Were you talking about the show?”
“Employee relations,” Kate said before anyone else could speak up. “Just making sure everyone who’s part the show is taken care of financially, spiritually, emotionally—”
“Physically,” Chase added, his eyes still locked on Kate. “I know we can all trust Kate to handle everything, though.”
“She’s very good at it,” Viv chimed in, offering Kate such a genuine smile that it nearly broke her heart. “The best at making sure everything and everyone is handled with care.”
“The very best,” Chase agreed, sending a shiver down Kate’s spine.
Jonah had distinct memories of basic training as a young Marine. Of twelve-mile night marches and 3:00 a.m. stick battles designed to test a recruit’s stamina and hand-to-hand combat skills.
But the filming schedule they followed over the next few days was making that look like a cakewalk.
On top of that, Viv was acting weird. At first he chalked it up to her mugging for the camera. She’d share some poignant memory from their past, always as a means of illustrating a point she was making for a couple they counseled. He’d catch her smiling at him a little long, or reaching across her desk to touch his hand.
He tried not to react, even though instinct made him want to yank his arm back and tell her to knock it the hell off. That wasn’t exactly the best way to model positive dialogue for the couples they worked with.
As the days wore on, Jonah was starting to wonder if all this time on camera was making everyone a little loopy.
“Here’s the Speedo they want you to wear.”
Jonah turned to see Amy looking sheepish and offering him a garment the size of an eye patch.
He frowned. “I thought they were kidding about the hot tub scene.”
Amy shook her head, still holding the Speedo like a steak entrée she’d been asked to serve a vegetarian. “Sorry. I didn’t make the shot list. But we already know the shirtless stuff has been playing well with focus groups.”
Which Jonah could grudgingly admit was a good thing. They’d had something like a gazillion hits on the teaser video they’d floated on YouTube. The result had been a slew of donations to Clearwater Animal Shelter, and a growing buzz about the show. Jonah didn’t understand how it all worked, but everyone kept using the word viral. The video had laced footage from Jossy’s shelter with clips from Viv’s appearance on Oprah several years ago, hyping the whole thing up as America’s hottest new reality show.
The wording had bugged the hell out of Viv, which Jonah could understand. Hell, he could even understand her being irked by how much attention he’d been getting. This television shit was horribly sexist, so maybe he owed it to her to take one for the team.
He stared at the Speedo. “I’m not wearing that,” he said. “I’ll do the hot tub thing, but I’ll wear my own shorts. I think I have a gym bag in my car.”
Amy smiled and tucked the Speedo back in her bag. “Great! They’ll see you out there in ten.”
She walked away, leaving Jonah wondering if the whole thing had been a gimmick to get him to agree while letting him feel like he’d won some small battle. He sighed and glanced at his watch. God, this was shaping up to be their longest filming day yet. At least Beth was holding things together at the bookstore.
“Jonah?”
He looked up to see Kate hovering in the doorway of the makeshift greenroom. There was no one with her—no cameraman, no sound checker—and Jonah tried to remember the last time they’d been alone together.
In her hotel room, he remembered, and tried not to picture her naked.
She must have had the same thought, because her cheeks turned faintly pink. “I just heard you agreed to do the hot tub scene.”
“News spreads fast in this business.”
She looked at him a little oddly. “Right. Yes, it does.” She glanced behind her, then took a few more steps into the room, bringing her close enough to touch. Not that there could be any touching between them. Not here, anyway. “You look exhausted,” she said.
Jonah laughed. “Gee, thanks.”
“No, I mean—if you want, I can talk to the production guys about putting this off,” she said. “Maybe we can reschedule or something.”
“You’re sweet to be concerned,” he said. “Actually, I’m looking forward to it.”
“To getting in a hot tub with your ex-wife?”
He frowned. “Viv’s going to be there?”
“Shit.” Kate frowned. “Yeah. I take it they didn’t mention that part?”
He shook his head, feeling irritated. “No, they didn’t. Are they doing some bullshit thing where I walk out there and act all surprised to see her in the hot tub?”
“No, nothing like that. They won’t make you fake anything.”
The look on her face wasn’t very reassuring. “So what’s the setup?”
“You’re just supposed to act like you’re unwinding together after a long day of filming,” she said. “Technically, that’s true, right?”
He frowned. “Sure, if I were in the habit of stripping down and taking a bath with my ex-wife.”
“Don’t think they didn’t kick the bathtub idea around,” she muttered. “Be grateful they went for the hot tub. At least it’s huge. Plenty of room for you to have your own space.”
Jonah sighed, hoping this wasn’t going to get played off as some romantic interlude between them. “They’re not going to make us sip wine and laugh at each other’s unfunny jokes, are they?”
“There’s no requirement that you tell jokes,” she assured him. “Funny or unfunny. And actually, hang on.”
She hurried out of the room, then returned a few seconds later with a four-pack of beer in cans. “Look—no wine either.”
“You got me 3-Way IPA?” He grinned as she handed it over.
“It’s from Fort George Brewery,” she said. “I know you like IPAs, so—”
“This is great.” He tucked the cans under one arm. “Is this some sort of product placement deal or something?”
She shook her head, and there was something almost sad in her expression. “No. I just wanted you to have something you’d like. Something that’s just for you.”
“I appreciate that.”
They looked at each other for a moment, neither of them saying anything. If there were no risk of anyone walking in, he probably would have kissed her by now. Hell, he might have asked her to skip this whole stupid hot tub thing and come home with him. He was still entertaining that fantasy when she spoke again.
“Look, Jonah.” Her voice was soft, and she darted a glance at the door before speaking again. “Remember what you said to me that first morning after we—after the night we went to the club?”
“I said a lot of things that morning,” he said, shifting the beer from one hand to the other. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
“You said, ‘No matter what happens, this was never a mistake.’ I just want you to know that meant a lot to me.”
He studied her a moment, trying to get a handle on what she was saying. On why she was speaking in code. “Okay,” he said slowly. “Kate?”
“Yeah?”
“Is there something you’re trying to tell me?”
She shook her head, then opened her mouth to say something else.
“Come on, already! Take your clothes off!”
They both turned to see Amy in the doorway tapping her watch. “Sorry, guys, but we need to move this along. We’re paying the whole crew overtime right now. Jonah—you think you could maybe hustle?”
“Sure. No problem.”
He looked back at Kate. “Can we talk more later? Like maybe after this shoot? When this is all over?”
Kate nodded, and that darkness in her eyes flickered again. “Yes. When this is all over.”