Insert Groom Here

by K. M. Jackson

  Aidan blamed himself for the mess he’d made of that last assignment and the danger he’d gotten his crew into. He’d screwed that up royally and should have had a better handle on things. He should have been able to read their informant better. He was always a pretty good people reader, and there was no way that one should have slipped past his radar. No matter her watery, green eyes and sincere story of endangered children. He’d messed up. Didn’t do the proper checks, and they’d paid the price. His lesson: Be sharper, work with a smaller team, and avoid entanglements. That way all the risks would be his own. He should have learned after all these years to never get too close to a story—or to a team anyway.

  So all in all, Kate was smart getting out. She had decided the life wasn’t for her, and subsequently neither was he. She’d pulled out of the relationship as soon as she was back stateside, taking an anchor job in the Midwest and an engagement ring from an old flame that came along with it. Aidan couldn’t blame her at all for choosing the road more traveled. He could only congratulate her. Besides, they’d gotten what they both needed out of their time spent together; at least Kate was honest when the time came to say good-bye. There was no subterfuge from her, and for that he was grateful.

  Suddenly Aidan’s mind shifted back to the matter and pain at hand, unlike Little Miss Double Punch with the kick to the groin after a kiss to harden him well and good. That was low, and he’d had his fair share of low blows. The kneeing and the kiss both came out of left field. She was an enigma, and it was damned frustrating. In the time he’d been watching her, he’d thought he had her pegged, and now it seemed he was all wrong.

  Aiden knew he never should have been so quick to go off running after the lovely Miss Ward without thinking of the consequences. And damn Carter for playing right to his weakness, inviting him down when he did to watch the segment. If he’d given it more than a moment’s thought, he might get suspicious, but no. She was blindsided. Still, Carter knew he was always one to run toward the story. It was his biggest failing as well as his greatest asset. Though it was what had also gotten him into hot water on his last assignment and what now had him back at home instead of out in the field, where he worked best, reporting on the stories that really mattered. But now he was here, where his father thought he was safest, playing corporate desk jockey and living up to the Walker name, getting the full lay of the studio land.

  At least for the moment, it calmed his father, gave his on-edge nerves a rest, and kept him off Aidan’s back. His father still got worked up thinking of Aidan’s last dangerous assignment. Said it was time for him to play it safe stateside. Get a handle on the business and prepare to take over for him when he was gone. Aidan snorted at that thought. As if the old goat would ever go anywhere or give up the reigns to the likes of him. But still, he could play nice. At least for a while, until he could get on the road again. The stories he had to tell were too important to stay home chained to a desk full-time. And honestly, the way he saw it, even if he was sidelined for a bit, he could use that time to work his angle from the inside out. Shift the story from crap, like this overdone wedding spectacle, to something that really mattered.

  Aidan shifted again and groaned. He couldn’t believe it. He had made it out of some of the most terrifying places on earth, only to come home to New York and be easily taken down by an ice princess in pearls. There were some who would find this comical.

  Some.

  Over the past few weeks, while she had cunningly duked it out with the other couples for a shot at an on-air wedding, Eva Ward had expertly answered all the right questions and smiled at just the right times, all the while never letting a hair get out of place. No, he definitely wasn’t expecting the kick from the tall slim woman with the well-manicured, well . . . everything. But maybe he should have been. She looked like she couldn’t hurt a fly, let alone maim a man, but as he knew all too well, looks could be deceiving.

  That morning, he was having fun, joking with some of the veteran camera guys while observing what was happening on the set. It was all a part of his father’s plan: Work from the ground up, take in a little of all the key network shows in the major time slots, and then see where he could best fit in, and this part he didn’t mind at all. At least doing this he wasn’t chained to a desk or, worse, stuck in a boardroom. Also, the crew got to know him and would not just see him as the big guy’s son. The one who would, deserving or not, probably inherit it all. And, as a bonus, he got to be in the background, watching the action—what action there was—and could keep an eye on Miss Ward as it were.

  She wasn’t hard to watch. Over the weeks, despite the syrupy crap this silly marriage puff piece was, Aidan had found himself either down on the set, hanging in the background, or glued to one of the many screens placed around the offices at just the right time to catch her segment and see every beautiful, perfectly thought out move she made. The woman was made for TV. But that morning he felt for her on some sort of deep emotional level. Maybe it was because for the first time he’d seen a crack in her perfectly polished façade.

  And, yes, maybe he should have pulled back. Used some of that power that he didn’t like to use and gone over everyone’s head when he saw how things were going down and get Carter to get the director to cut and get her off the hook. Staunch the bleeding in the studio before it became a full-on bloodbath. But no. He had to go and be him, and instead he had let the story play out. Let her get stripped bare for the whole world to see. Then, to top it all off, when she’d run off the set, he’d done the unthinkable and grabbed a camera and gone off running after her. Aidan let out a sigh at his feeble attempt to come up with an excuse. No, this was all on him.

  He was the one drawn to her. He was the one who had documented her meltdown. And he was the one who had grabbed the camera and eagerly followed behind her when she ran from the studio. His—well, her—only saving grace was that they’d cut to commercial and then the cooking segment and didn’t feed back into him while she was in the greenroom. Small mercies, but still he was grateful. Though he knew that exposés and gotcha journalism were what passed for news nowadays, he’d seen what it could do to a person’s life and didn’t want that for her.

  Aidan let out a low curse. Hell, maybe he did deserve a payback for what he’d done. Not a kick to the balls, mind you, but that shrug he had given was a little over the top. Who wouldn’t be pissed about being filmed while having a fit like the one she’d had?

  He smiled then at the memory of her meltdown. Despite it all, she did look kind of cute, going wild like she did with her smooth black hair coming loose and that flush of color rising up, bringing a glow to her creamy tan cheeks, that spark of fire rearing up in those dark cinnamon eyes.

  Aidan groaned as something too close to desire flamed inside him again. He couldn’t help it. The image of her ranting and out of control was so polar opposite from the straitlaced Miss Perfect thing she’d dished out each time she’d sailed into the studio for the couples elimination rounds. He couldn’t stop watching her even if he tried. And, truth be told, something nagging at him made him want to see more. Though he was ashamed to admit it, he liked seeing her come undone. Maybe it was because it was almost unnerving the way she didn’t get her feathers ruffled like the rest of the contestants did. The way she handled every question like a pro. It was damned near bordering on robotic, and for some reason, it grated on his nerves. Which was ridiculous, because what should he care about a buttoned-up ice princess like her? But, hell, not even when it was the blindfolded bake-off—definitely not Carter’s brightest idea—did she let a hair fall out of place. That was some kinda cool and at the same time some weird shit. The woman was unflappable.

  At least she was until today. Today, after her jerko fiancé gave her that on-air sucker punch, she had good and well lost it. And for the first time, he saw a glimpse of her that made him want to look further. Go deeper. Made him want to reach out and touch her, see if that cold-as-ice exterior could thaw, and if there was actual flesh
and blood underneath. Aidan grinned. Oh yeah, she thawed, all right. And if that kiss was any indication of how she did her thawing out, well, he was all for it.

  “What are you doing down there, man? And why are you grinning like an idiot? I’m sure when your father told you to get acquainted with all aspects of the station, sweeping the floor with your face wasn’t one of them.”

  At the interruption of his thoughts, Aidan lost his thin grip on humor and shifted his gaze to study the pointy tips of Carter Bain’s high-shined loafers.

  “She kicked me in the balls,” he groaned out to The Morning Show’s segment producer and one of his oldest friends, purposefully omitting the part about the kiss. He didn’t have more of a reason for keeping the kiss from Carter besides there being no reason for Carter to know about it. But Aidan knew in his gut that it went deeper, and if he told Carter, he’d be a dog with a bone, and Aidan wasn’t in the mood for a tussle with his old friend.

  He heard Carter suck in a breath as he barely bit back a chuckle. “Her? No, not her. I knew she was mad, but that mad?” He looked up as Carter shook his head. “Damn, if I knew she was such a loose cannon, I would have stopped you from going after her. Did you get it on camera?” Carter now chuckled out loud. “Of course you did. I can’t wait to pull up the footage. Shit. We should have never cut to that stupid cooking segment. I knew she was a spitfire, but I didn’t expect her to be that hot.”

  Aidan raised a brow. Carter was positively gleeful as he turned his body toward the now faraway Miss Ward, who turned the hall’s corner. When she disappeared from view, he looked back down toward Aidan and gave him a sly grin.

  Aidan shook his head. Different day, but still the same old Carter. Here Carter was, despite all hell having broken loose, his segment going to crap, and he still looked cool, smooth and polished, practically photo shoot ready, and giving a Cheshire cat grin that let Aidan know trouble was soon to follow.

  Aidan had seen that look from Carter plenty of times over the years and had the battle scars to know what it meant. Carter was working some sort of angle. At times, Aidan couldn’t believe this was the same guy he had hung with as a kid, spending every summer day and well into the nights catching waves off Third Point with him and Vin. The three of them trying hard to escape the various limitations and expectations life heaped on three young minority men growing up in the big city. So they’d take their escape where they could and when they could get away, pretending to live carefree lives as beach bums out on the Rockaways. The Three Amigos. And out of the three of them, it was only Vin who still had any semblance of the carefree beach-bum life, riding his bike and catching waves at will, and somehow in between making enough money off his beachside taco shack to turn it into a destination sensation and have folks clamoring for more. He’d turned himself into a renegade chef and business owner.

  As for Carter, he had ended up getting his MBA and going full tilt corporate, quickly rising in the ranks of World Broadcasting Central, going from production assistant to segment producer in record time. He has been all too happy to use his friendship with Aidan and pull from Aidan’s dad to get that first job. From anyone else the obvious nepotism would have annoyed Aidan, but from Carter, who was blatantly upfront with his bull, it didn’t. Besides, it may have been nepotism that got him through the door, but Aidan couldn’t deny that Carter’s smarts and relentless work ethic had put him on top.

  That Aidan could respect. Besides, Carter had always been a gamer. Had to be in order to survive, coming from the background he came from and floating in the circles he did, hobnobbing with those born with silver spoons when he’d barely had plastic.

  Not that the corporate life was one Aidan would choose, and that was a sore spot for him and his father. And the fact that one of his best friends had stepped up to the business plate like “the son his father never had” should have really gotten under Aidan’s skin, but somehow it didn’t, and he thought that bugged his father all the more.

  For all Aidan cared, Carter could take over the family business, at least the glad-handing and conference room bull, if his father would leave him alone to do the type of stories he felt were meaningful. Cut him loose and let him do the investigative work he loved and stop trying to pull him off the streets and into the confines of a boardroom.

  His place was out in the real world. Telling the stories of the people. Not crunching numbers and trying to find the best way to pull in more ad revenue. Or worse, working on more projects like this on-air marriage sideshow. But Dad was the boss, and unfortunately for Aidan, he’d done the leap before looking thing one time too many.

  This last time it was falling for the pouty lips and the sad eyes of a pretty government informant. What a dumbass move. He’d barely made it out without getting his ass blown off, and worse, so had his crew. In the end, threats were made, and money, lots of money, changed hands to assure their passage out of the country and back home. So because of that, he was back. Thankfully they all were, safe and sound, and Aidan was stuck doing penance for following his heart instead of his head.

  Aidan focused back on Carter. “Hot or not, you know you would have sent me or someone else after her either way,” he said, thinking of the groin kicker again. He paused before considering his next answer. “But what I got on tape I don’t think is worth showing.”

  Carter frowned but then laughed. “Yeah, man. You’re right. I would have. You know me too well. But I’d have warned you to watch your crotch. It’s not like I’m completely heartless. And as far as what’s worth showing, that little lady is fantastic. The camera loves her, and more importantly, the viewers love her. We need to show it all. I can have Seth pull up the footage and then make the call.”

  Aidan shot Carter a look. “Like I said. I don’t think we should show that footage.”

  Carter paused though he had already grabbed his cell, ready to call the director to pull up the feed, and stared down at Aidan, brows lifted. “Are you actually pulling rank on me here? I thought I was your boy.”

  Aidan raised a brow and let out a long breath as he ran his hands through his thick curly hair, taking time to rub at his scalp. It was getting long, his father would say, too long for the office. Looking at Carter, with his hair short and tapered, lined up perfectly, he was reminded he was way overdue for a trim. Little Miss Perfect probably thought she was being filmed by some sort of Neanderthal with a camera for an eye. “Go on with that pulling rank crap. You know I’m always your boy, but trust me on this. I don’t have anything I think we should show.”

  Carter gave Aidan a long look before he shook his head and stuck the cell back in his inside pocket.

  Aidan felt a brief moment of regret over not leveling with his friend, but still he was relieved when Carter tucked his phone away. He didn’t know why he’d gone to bat for the woman who’d just unmanned him, but he did. Aidan stretched out his legs and mentally assessed his body. Good. At least the pain was subsiding. With any luck, he’d still be able to walk. Anything else, well, that was up to time and fate. He attempted to get up using the wall for leverage, taking it slow.

  “Well, I think this was a dumb move,” he said, ignoring Carter’s outstretched hand, preferring to lean on the wall. “We should have stayed back. Viewer draw or not, she didn’t deserve what that asshole of a boyfriend did to her—and on camera no less. I kind of feel like a jerk for following her.”

  “Yeah, but you did. And it’s not like it’s something new. Isn’t it like you to always follow the story?”

  “But how is she a story? This is nothing more than a fluff piece, and it’s not like you knew she was going to have a meltdown.”

  Carter shuffled then, shifting his feet ever so slightly as he looked down, then back up again at Aidan. The movement was quick, and to an untrained eye, the tell would have been missed. But Aidan had known Carter for way too long to miss it. Carter was hiding something, and Aidan intended to find out what. Aidan straightened up further, ignoring his groin pain, and looked
Carter in the eye. He lowered his voice to a low growl. “Like I said. It’s not like you knew she’d have a meltdown, did you?”

  Carter looked to the left.

  “Shit, man, how could you?” Aidan spit out. “You pretty much turned that girl into a raving lunatic on national TV. That’s low, even for you.”

  Carter put up his hands. “Jeez, were you always this dramatic when we were younger? It was just a little segment, and if you check the numbers, you’ll see I pretty much just made her a star. Besides, I didn’t think the guy would really go through with it. So I may have overheard him talking to some chick on his cell about a breakup and knew it was a possibility. And maybe I nudged him in the direction of doing it on the air due to contractual obligations, blah, blah blah. Like I said, I didn’t really think he’d go through with it. I told him to think it over! Who would have thought he’d have the balls to actually do it?”

  “Please,” Aidan said, shifting his uncomfortable stance. “Lay off the balls talk.” He stopped and thought a moment. “But really, C, if you thought the guy would do that, you should have stopped the show. Gone to commercial. Not encouraged that kind of bull.”

  Carter looked at Aidan as if he’d suddenly grown two heads. “Stop the show? Maybe it’s you who has lost it. You know better than anyone that you never stop the show. The bigger the wreck, the bigger the viewership.”

  “Come on. You know you went too far. It wasn’t right.”

  “What are you getting all bent out of shape for? Back in the day, you’d do whatever it took to chase down a story. What’s going on? Did your last encounter make you squeamish?”