Page 45 of At the Heart of It (The Can’t Have Hearts Club #4)

“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 off,” 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 wouldn’t likely 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 three 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 had been 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 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 shifted 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 head, then opened her mouth to say something else.

“Come on already! Take off your clothes.”

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.”