LITMIR.BIZ

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didn’t want to go near the stove. She sat beside him, keeping a comfortable berth between them, yet still feeling oddly nervous. Ridiculous. He was her boss, her friend. But this was Aidan in her home, not in the office. “If you want some grated cheese, I could get that for you.”

      “This is fine.” He picked up a knife and offered it to her. “Maybe you’d like to use this to vent some more frustration on your hot dog.”

      If he hadn’t said it with such a sexy smile, she might have been insulted. “Very funny. I believe I’ve done enough hacking for one day.” She handed him the corkscrew. “You can do the honors.”

      Aidan uncorked the wine with all the proficiency of a man who’d had a lot of practice. She had no doubt he’d done this on more than one occasion with more than one woman. Since his breakup with his former girlfriend, he’d dated quite a few eager prospects. Several had shown up at the studio like prime-time groupies asking for him, only to be turned away by Aidan’s bulldog assistant, Stella. But as far as Corri knew, he hadn’t been seriously involved with anyone lately. Not that that should matter to her.

      He poured the merlot, then handed her a glass. “To good ratings.”

      Corri touched her glass to his. “I’ll drink to that.” Right now, she’d probably drink to anything.

      By the time Corri had eaten her hot dog, Aidan had consumed both of his. She tore open the bag of chips and tilted it toward him. “In case you’re still hungry.”

      He waved them away. “No thanks.”

      Corri grabbed a few chips and set the bag down on the table. “I shouldn’t be eating them, either, but after today, I’m in the mood to binge.” She proved that by consuming the chips in record time.

      Aidan settled his gaze on her lips, then said, “Lean over here.”

      She felt an abrupt surge of excitement. “Why?”

      “Because you have mustard on your mouth.”

      Of course she did. What went better with bad hair and no makeup than a blob of mustard? “Point it out, and I’ll get it.”

      “I’ll do it.”

      She expected him to pick up a napkin. Instead, he formed his palm to her jaw and rubbed the corner of her lip with his thumb several times. “It’s gone now.”

      If it was gone, then why didn’t he move his hand away? Why did he keep looking at her as if he wanted a repeat of the kitchen kiss? And why was she wishing he would kiss her? Easy. She wasn’t in her right mind.

      Finally, he let go of her face and took a long drink of the wine. Corri settled back against the sofa, wine in hand, and tried to think of something to say to break the uncomfortable silence. She settled on a question she should have asked the minute he came into the house. “Did you find Kevin?”

      His slight weight shift indicated a chink in his normal composure. “Yeah. At his condo. He hadn’t left for the airport yet.”

      Apparently she was going to have to wring the information out of him. “What did he say?”

      “He told me to mind my own business, and I told him he was a coward.”

      That gave Corri a strong sense of satisfaction. “You didn’t punch him, did you?”

      “No, but I wanted to when he mentioned suing you and the studio because of the show.”

      She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Aidan. Normally he never watches the show.”

      “He didn’t. His boss’s wife did.”

      “Lovely.”

      “I made a few threats of my own, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

      That called for a drink of wine, which she took before asking, “What kind of threats?”

      “I told him I’d tell his boss that his new senior staff reporter was engaged in activities not job-related when he was supposed to be in Baltimore.”

      “Then he did get the promotion.”

      “He didn’t tell you?”

      “No, he didn’t.” But that explained the breakup; he didn’t need her anymore. “And he was with another woman.” Something that came as no surprise to Corri.

      “Yeah. Some cheerleader. And I’m sorry to be the one who had to break the news to you.” Although he didn’t sound at all sorry.

      Corri kicked off her flip-flops and curled her legs beneath her. “I’m not shocked, Aidan. As I’ve said, mine and Kevin’s relationship had disaster written all over it from the beginning.”

      He studied her straight on. “I don’t understand. If you knew it wasn’t going to work, they why in the hell did you agree to marry him?”

      She really hadn’t planned to tell Aidan—or anyone for that matter—the reasons behind her engagement. Frankly, she was embarrassed over the whole thing. But since he’d played white knight for her this afternoon, he deserved an explanation. And if that destroyed their friendship, then she probably deserved it, considering her stupidity. “It’s a long story.”

      “I’ve got all night, so let’s hear it.”

      Corri drew in a deep draft of air, finished her wine and set the empty glass on the tray. “The trip to Jamaica back in March involved a conference with several of the magazine’s executives, including Kevin’s boss. Kevin explained that Ed and his wife were very conservative, so he convinced me it would be better if we said we were engaged.”

      Aidan held up his hands. “Wait a minute. The engagement was a farce?”

      It sounded so sordid to Corri, most likely because it was. “You could say that.”

      “Then why didn’t you set everyone straight when you came home?”

      This was where it became complicated. “Kevin wanted to keep up the pretense until he secured his promotion, and that took much longer than he predicted. I attended all the parties with him as his fiancée because he believed it would look better if it appeared he was settling down.”

      Aidan leaned forward and raked a hand down his face. “You’re a smart woman, Corri. I can’t believe you went along with it for nine months.”

      “I planned to end it much earlier, but after Freed got wind of the engagement and decided to incorporate the whole impending marriage scenario into the show, and then my ratings soared, I couldn’t do it. Instead, I chose to keep up the act.”

      “Freed’s only producing your show because I handed it to him. You should have come to me.”

      “And I still might have lost my dream job. You and I both know the ratings were shaky before I left on the Jamaica trip.”

      He fell silent, and when Corri couldn’t take it any longer, she said, “I know you think I’m insane. And believe me, I’ve questioned my sanity over the past few months.”

      “That whole scene today. Was that an act?”

      She stared at her hands now folded in her lap, too ashamed to look at him. “No, it wasn’t. I was really hurt by what Kevin did. The anger was real.”

      “Then you did care about him.”

      She had, at least in the beginning. “I wouldn’t have done what I did for someone I hated. Although I have to admit, there were times when he did things to me…” She drew in a deep breath and blew it out on a sigh. “Never mind. It’s no longer an issue.”

      A flash of anger crossed Aidan’s face. “Tell me what he did to you.”

      “It’s not what you think.” In reality, he hadn’t done anything to her, or with her, in a sexual sense. A fact she wasn’t ready to disclose. “When we

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