Break of Day. Andie J. Christopher

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СКАЧАТЬ my feelings be hurt?” Charlie asked. He never could stand not being the center of attention. “Do you want to hear stories about Jonah in college? There’s plenty of shit to mine there. I mean, clearly he hasn’t gotten better with women.”

      Hearing Charlie talk about college and women in the same sentence set every nerve in Jonah’s body on fire. Shame and an intense desire for Carla never to know about his college football career—or why he left—raced through him.

      “Tell me more.” Carla leaned in, oblivious to the turmoil inside of Jonah.

      “No.” Jonah gritted his teeth.

      “One story, nothing too embarrassing. I promise.” Charlie had to know that Jonah was about to explode, but his friend just winked. “I know it’s hard to believe, but I was quite the dilettante in college.”

      “I’d never believe that about you.” Carla was fucking cooing over Charlie’s poor-little-rich-boy act. Fucking hell.

      “Well, I was forever trying to get people into trouble, and Jonah was always keeping them out. That’s the pattern of our friendship.” Charlie took a sip of his drink. Nothing he said was false, but Charlie didn’t need to tell her why he was the way he was.. “Anyway, I had arranged a booze cruise on Lake Michigan for Memorial Day. And, in his typical way, Jonah found himself tying back his girlfriend’s hair as she barfed in the lake about an hour in. I had to keep him from jumping in and swimming to shore for Dramamine.”

      “That’s sweet. Exactly what the perfect boyfriend would do.” Carla’s words, even though she was defending him, cut him open. He prayed that Charlie wouldn’t tell Carla the whole story. This wasn’t how he wanted her to find out; he didn’t want her to find out at all. He wanted her to continue thinking he was sweet and go ahead being wrong about him.

      “You’re a lost cause then.” Charlie shook his head and took another long sip of his drink. “Carla, have you ever considered doing television?”

      Jonah, relieved at Charlie’s insanely short attention span, looked at Carla then, the color in her cheeks intensifying as she looked down into her drink. She shook her head.

      “Charlie’s a television producer, the family business. Ignore him unless you want Keeping up with the Hernandezes to be a thing.”

      “The last thing I want to do is be on TV.”

      “I don’t do trash reality TV.” Charlie had clearly picked up on some tension around Carla as a public figure. “I do mostly educational or competition shows—food, home improvement, travel.”

      Carla perked up at hearing that. “I am an interior designer.”

      Charlie pulled out a business card, and handed it to Carla with the kind of flourish and killer smile that Jonah had seen evaporate panties and inhibitions all over the world. “If you ever change your mind.”

      “Thanks.” Carla slipped the card in her purse, and Jonah wanted to dig it out and toss it into the pool. He didn’t like the idea of Charlie and Carla even working together. He hated this jealous part of himself. Though he usually avoided it by not getting too involved with anyone, Carla had dug under his skin in record time. “Now, what’s your proposal for Jonah?”

      Charlie sat back, which made Jonah grip his beer even tighter. “I’m trying to get him on TV, too. I want him to do a travel show.”

      “Like a hotter, crankier, Anthony Bourdain?” Jonah’s skin crawled at the scrutiny from both of them. Carla’s eyes lit up, and she looked at him as though she was as attuned to him as he was to her. Charlie’s smug look had him wanting to rip his friend’s face off. That would actually be a win-win. He’d get to rip a face off, and there would be no more talk of a television show.

      “Exactly,” Charlie said.

      “I’m not interested in doing fluff TV. I told you that last year.”

      “You weren’t listening to me, man.” Charlie shook his head. “I don’t want to do fluff. And you’re the only guy I know who can make himself at home anywhere. Look at you here. You meet new people and get them to trust you, to invite you in.”

      “I don’t trust him.” For once, Carla’s smart mouth was going to help him.

      “Yeah, well most people do.” Charlie folded his hands on his knees, and Jonah gripped the arms of the chair. He knew how dangerous Charlie’s hard sell could be. “That’s why you get such great pictures—it’s why they’re all covers.”

      Jonah’s insides squirmed under Charlie’s look, but he didn’t give it away. He wasn’t used to praise. It had never made him comfortable during his football-playing days; it wasn’t comfortable now. Maybe because his football-playing days had taught him how quickly all the praise could be taken away.

      Charlie must have known that he had him anyway. “Just tell me you’ll think about it.”

      Jonah nodded, and his friend stood.

      “Leaving so soon?” Carla looked up at him, confused. She wasn’t used to Charlie. “I was sort of enjoying you putting the screws to him.”

      Hearing Carla use the word screws had him more excited than it should. Anything about her remotely adjacent to sex had him thinking about getting naked and sweaty with her.

      “It was a pleasure meeting you, Carla. But I leave him in your capable hands.” Charlie walked off without another word.

      Carla looked perplexed. “I don’t know that my hands are capable of much with you.”

      “You irritate the fuck out of me.” That might be an overstatement. She didn’t irritate him as much as agitate him and turn him on, but that was just as bad.

      “That’s not nice.” Her big green eyes were glassy, and he wanted to take the words back.

      “I know you’re not trying, but we’re just oil and water.” Maybe if he kept reminding himself of that, he wouldn’t haul off and kiss her. Maybe he would be able to keep himself under control.

      The fact that he wanted to take his comments back and kiss it better did not bode well for his plan to keep her at arm’s length.

      Chapter 5

      Jonah was gone when she got up the next morning. Carla wanted to be thrilled that she wouldn’t have to face him after putting him in various compromising positions in her masturbatory fantasies, but she found herself feeling bereft of his mean face and gruff voice.

      She’d have to rely on Lola’s very strong coffee for thrills today.

      But that wasn’t to be either. Lola was gone, and there was no trace of coffee. She’d have to leave the house in order to get it. There was only one problem—aside from flying here and drinks with Jonah, she’d sort of been hiding out in her apartment since the breakup.

      And now that she was at another place that felt like home, she didn’t want to leave. Not on her own. The thought of leaving made her nauseous.

      Only the specter of a caffeine withdrawal-induced migraine had her showering and dressing, sunglasses firmly on her face. They were so large, СКАЧАТЬ