SNEAK PEEK!
Everyone has a TV Personality crush. What would happen if you met yours?
*Unedited excerpt from "That News Guy"
Jessica never figured her coworkers would purposefully torture her, but when she overheard Rava ordering Trapper Del rio to get a smoothie after his workout, her whole body flushed with heat. There was no way she’d be able to do this. Even though she heard him approaching, she was too busy sucking in all the oxygen from the room trying to keep calm.
“Hi, Jessi?” he said cautiously as he neared the counter.
After one more deep breath, she lifted her head, holding a smile and lost her breath all over again. Flush with his recent workout, practically glowing, he sat down on the stool, returning the smile as he slicked back the dark wavy hair from his forehead showing more of the gray around his temples.
“Smoothie?” she replied, wishing her cheeks weren’t as red as the counter.
“Rava said Greek yogurt and banana are a must, the rest, I’ll leave up to you. Not too sweet, please.”
Jessica nodded, picked up the blender jar, recalling an article she read mentioning his love of blueberries and knew the perfect smoothie to make. As long as she didn’t have to look at him, she could get through this.
Once she had all the ingredients, she blended the mix, added a splash of orange juice toward the end, and poured the smoothie into an eco cup. She took another deep breath, carried the cup back to the counter, and set it down.
“Thank you,” he said, dipping his head down trying to catch her gaze.
“No problem.” Jessica lifted her eyes, regretting it immediately. He was still smiling at her. Feeling faint, she leaned against the bar.
“Hey.” Trapper reached over the counter catching her by the elbow. “Are you okay?”
Jessica palmed the counter, nodded even as she shuddered when his hand slipped away. “I’m so going to get fired.”
“Why do you say that?” Trapper chuckled.
Despite the electric shock to her spine, Jessica met his eyes again. “We’re not supposed to make our clients feel uncomfortable. I’m sorry…I’m—”
“I get it. Please, don’t feel bad,” he said, tilting his head. “Just a regular guy, I promise. Boring really, when you get to know me.”
“You? Boring?” Jessica furrowed her brow.
“It’s true.”
Jessica shook her head. “You ran into a burning fire department to save a dog, went ten rounds with that terrorist leader hiding in South America, covered the entire hostage crisis, and even spent half a year on the presidential campaign trail with the worst candidate ever…don’t think that’s boring.”
“You remember Snuffles?” Trapper’s green eyes lit up and that sparkling smile appeared again, this time making her wet on top of already being hot. “That was twenty years ago…”
“It was big news around here. I was in college, always more interested in the news and current events than movies and the pop charts.” Jessica shrugged, trying to mask everything rolling through her body, wishing he’d just take the drink and go, yet wanting to talk to him forever. “Always liked chasing a story.”
“Same with me, politics was my junk food, I knew it was bad but I couldn’t get enough.”
“I’m sure the last guy nipped that in the bud. You haven’t gone politicalsince.”
His mouth twisted as he rubbed the side of his neck. “Burnt out. All the lies got to me after a while.”
“I can imagine. I’m actually taking some online journalism classes right now.” She cringed, feeling like a fangirl again until his bright eyes got brighter. “Uh…figured it’s never too late to try new things.”
“Couldn’t agree more, one of the reasons I’m here. It’s only for a few months but if you ever have any journalistic questions…I’d be happy to talk over a cup of coffee or two,” he said, picking up his smoothie and finally tasting it. “That’s much better than I was expecting. No grass or kale or weird stuff in this?”
“No,” she replied, chuckling and actually relaxing a tad, enjoying his sense of humor. “Mostly berries, juice, and yogurt. I don’t really like the green stuff.”
“Makes two of us.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Mr. Del rio.”
“Trapper,” he replied, winking at her as he got off the stool. “Thanks for the smoothie, Jessi.”
“Anytime.” She smiled, no longer caring that her cheeks were bright red when he grinned back before walking away. Jessica picked up her cell, found Rava’s name and typed: HOLY FUCKING SHIT MEET ME IN THE LOUGE RIGHT NOW.
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