More Than Rivals... & Seven Years of Secrets by Susannah Erwin

Author:Susannah Erwin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-03-27T15:59:43+00:00

Two

The two-minute live interview with the chairman went smoothly. If Mara’s hand holding the microphone shook, the viewers at home were none the wiser thanks to Hank’s careful framing of the shot. She said her thank yous and goodbyes and refused Hank’s offer to ride with him in the news van back to the studio. The viewers may not have noticed how affected she was by Declan’s arrival out of the blue, but Hank could tell she was off her usual game and she was not in the mood to be interrogated on the drive. She told him she wanted to walk around Roseville and note any local color that might come in handy for the inevitable assignment to cover the Monarch of the Pumpkin Festival coronation next week. She’d call a rideshare service when she was ready to return to the station.

She sighed and walked toward the closest bridge, intending to cross the river that ran through the center of the town for lack of a better destination, kicking at the fallen russet and yellow leaves as she went. She loved her job. She did. She just wished, perhaps, Declan Treharne didn’t have to show up and rub her nose in the fact that he was a famous investigative journalist while she was...making bad puns about squash. Delicious squash, especially when made into pie, but she wasn’t risking her life taking down a multinational organized crime ring from the inside, like Declan’s latest exclusive story for The New York Globe. He even turned his story into an award–winning podcast. Of course.

She turned onto the side street that was her favorite shortcut to the river. At least she worked in a lovely part of the country. She set her smartwatch’s meditation app to five minutes. Maybe if she stood here and breathed in the beauty, she would breathe out the frustration and, fine, the envy Declan’s sudden arrival brought. She closed her eyes and inhaled, then exhaled. Inhaled, exhaled. Inhaled—

“How about that coffee now? Or something stronger? It’s past five o’clock, after all.”

Damn it. Even when she was meditating, her brain conjured him up.

“Your news director said you were done for the day, so you can’t use work as an excuse this time.”

Her eyes flew open. Declan’s car, its motor a low purr, was parked at the curb next to her. She leaned down and peered through the rolled down passenger side window at him. “Isn’t this the same model of car Tony Stark drove in the first Iron Man film?”

He grinned at her. “You know your cars. And your films.”

She narrowed her gaze at him. “I knew you, and you haven’t changed. Not interested, superhero. Go stalk someone else.”

“Hear me out. I promise I’ll disappear and leave you alone after we talk. If that’s what you want.”

“Let’s pretend we did talk, and now is after. Guess I won’t see you around.” Mara straightened up and strode down the street.

Declan’s car kept pace with her. “I’m sorry,” he shouted through the open window.

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