Page 20 of All That Glitters

Marigold said she tries not to think about me. And that means something. I just have to hope it means something good.

Chapter ten

Double-Edged Sword

Marigold Belmore

The paper’s work hours are almost done, and I still haven’t talked to Jameson. I had an idea about combining our perspectives in one of the articles, but doing so would require working together. It wouldn’t be a good idea to try and discuss over email. The work would suffer, and Charlie wouldn’t be happy about it. I can’t let him down, not after he complimented me.

So, once most everyone has snuck past Charlie’s office to leave early, I lift my eyes from my work. Jameson is staring at his laptop, jaw clenched as he types. His dark hair is messy as per usual, and there’s a tiredness around his eyes that makes foolish worry prick at my heart. Lack of sleep during the season isn’t good. It could prove dangerous in a sport like hockey.

I shouldn’t care.

I don’t care.

“If you keep clenching your jaw like that, you’re going to break a tooth,” I blurt out.

Jameson’s gaze slowly moves from his screen to me.

“I’d fit in with most NHL players.”

I scrunch my nose at his words. He knows how I feel about players losing teeth. I told him that if he ever did, he better have them fixed right away and not leave them missing like some guys do. His mouth ticks up at the edges.

“Is there something you wanted to talk about other than my teeth, Belmore?” he asks.

I raise a brow. “I’m Belmore to you now?”

His expression softens as he replies, “No, you’ll always be Goldie to me, but I thought you might prefer the professionalism.”

My jaw tightens. I clench my hands into fists under my desk and try to breathe. If only I could know why he says things like that without having to ask him. The curious journalist in me wants to interview him until I understand, but I’m far too scared to do that. He’s bound to say something I don’t want to hear.

“Now who’s in danger of breaking a tooth?” Jameson asks. I can tell he’s trying to infuse his tone with amusement, but it falls flat. There’s too much tension between us to be jovial for long.

“You were right. I do prefer professionalism.” I do my best to keep my voice level. “I was getting your attention because I think we should work more closely on this article. This kind of project won’t work over email.”

Jameson lets out a laugh that sounds more like a scoff.

“It’s almost like I tried to tell you that when this first got assigned.”

Anger flares at his reminder.

“You know why I wanted distance between us,” I say pointedly.

His soft expression from before turns to stone.

“No, I don’t, because you refuse to talk to me.”

I glance around to make sure there’s no one nearby enough to hear our conversation. Paisley left with the others a few minutes ago, and Charlie’s door is closed. There’s an editor across the room, but she has headphones on and seems to be focused on the work in front of her.

“We don’t need to talk for you to understand why I’m upset, Jameson.” I glare at him. “You’re the one who threw away a lifetime of friendship for a chance to get ahead.”

Jameson shakes his head, as if he’s denying my words. But there’s no denying the truth. The night we don’t talk about might have poured gasoline on our friendship, but he lit the match by applying for the internship without telling me. My every worry about us was proved right in that moment. He was bound to hurt me once feelings were involved. It’s good that he did it sooner rather than after we … I push away the thought. No. I can’t think about that.

“If you’d let me explain—”

I cut him off. “There’s no explanation you can give to make me forgive you, okay?” My words are sharp as a dagger, intended to cut to the marrow. “Either you can be professional and drop it, or I’ll tell Charlie you aren’t being cooperative and I need to work on this alone.”

It’s a bluff, and Jameson knows it. He’s the favorite between us. Charlie would take his side unless I had evidence proving Jameson was sabotaging the article. But the harsh sentiment is enough to get my point across.