VELVET

LET THE GAMES BEGIN
Hope wanted to crash the happy little party, but she decided against it. She nestled into her corner booth and tried to enjoy her breakfast and work on her line-up for the noon edition. Thanks to her skillful reporting, she’d already been invited to fill in for Jensen Dawes. Life was finally going the way it was supposed to, and she had Chuck to thank for that, to a certain extent.
Hope looked over at the cozy couple. A twinge of loneliness and jealousy crept into her bones. There was no reason for it other than the reality that she had competition, and she didn’t like that. She had to give it to Chuck. The girl was gorgeous, and way out of his league. No wonder he hadn’t answered her calls. He’d been a busy boy.
She scribbled a note to herself in her leather planner: Call Chuck. Invite over for steak. Today! That should do the trick.

*

“You went to Tessa’s for breakfast, didn’t you?” Danica narrowed her eyes. “Never mind, I can smell it on you.”
Chuck brought the bag from behind his back. “I’m gonna ignore your tirade because I’m in a good mood.”
“Ahh…I should’ve known. You suckered that poor girl in to having breakfast with you and you used Tessa’s culinary skills to help you out.”
“No no,” he held up his hand and shook his head. “I knew I had a long day ahead of me, so I decided to eat well. That’s all.”
“Liar.” She pinched off a piece of the jumbo cinnamon roll. “But for this, you’re forgiven.”
Chuck opened the folder and skimmed the contents. He was ready. He had to jump through hoops to get the guy in the lobby to come in. “So, we’re sticking with the key items right?”
“Yep.” Cruz looked through the blinds, and a small smile crept across her lips. “Our first idiot is here. Let the games begin.”