Tripping Kennedy

California

3 months later

KENNEDY

There was a copy of the new Men's Health issue on my desk. I noticed it as soon as I walked into my office with my umbrella in one hand and a cup of to-go coffee in the other. The magazines were not scheduled to be released until the following morning, so this had to be some kind of prototype.

I put the coffee cup down on my desk and glanced over at the magazine. Whoever had placed it on my desk had put it with the cover facing the desk. I had an idea both who it was and why it was left like that.

The entire office had been buzzing with excitement about the upcoming release for months. It was a big deal, and it was going to create a lot of exposure for everyone involved, including our company. The campaign focused on overall health and well-being. It was the kind of information everyone could benefit from. The athletes that had been chosen to participate had been carefully selected from different sports. They were all successful and every single one brought something different and interesting to the campaign. I hadn't actually seen any of the progress since I'd been removed from the project three months earlier in New York, but I heard that it had turned out perfectly.

After I placed the umbrella in the corner of my office and swung my jacket over the back of my chair, I grabbed my coffee cup again and took yet another long drink. It was already half gone, and it was my second cup of the day. I considered getting a third. I knew my best friend Sammy would scold me if she knew. She used to complain that my expensive coffee addiction was getting out of hand. It really wasn't. I loved having coffee in the morning and sometimes throughout the day. But I only needed it in the morning. Maybe more so now than I used to. It was a necessary piece of my day. It got me going, yet relaxed me at the same time. The warm dark liquid with an almost bitter taste. Yeah, I loved it.

I assumed it was Cory that had left the magazine for me. He was very good, and very creative about getting information, or just about getting things done, period. Very good qualities to have as an assistant for sure, but I still missed Louise. The assistant I'd had in New York. I still heard from her here and there, but much less now than in the beginning.

Another thing that made me in a good mood was the current project I was involved in. Everything was progressing perfectly, and we'd received a lot of praise so far. I expected that my involvement wouldn't be needed much longer. As much as I enjoyed my bright, sunny office and the California weather, I couldn't wait to go back to New York. To Nash, my love. And to Sammy, my roommate and best friend. I was still paying rent there, even though I had been in California for months.

The last conversations Sammy and I had involved the possibility of me moving in with Nash once I got back to New York. I knew she was a little upset about it, but she promised she knew it was coming and she was completely fine with it. She was going to put up an ad and start to look for a new roommate.

More than half of my stuff was already at Nash's, so it would be a relatively easy move for me.

Sammy and Keith were still dating and while I'd kind of expected her to move in with him, that didn't seem like it was going to happen. I wasn't sure if that was a mutual agreement, because they both enjoyed their own space, or if there was another reason behind it. Sammy hadn't been her normal happy self the last few times we talked, and I had a feeling something was going on between her and Keith.

I sat down at my desk and took a deep breath to steady myself before I flipped the magazine over. Since it was placed back cover-up, I assumed Cory had done so on purpose, because Nash was on the cover. Nobody had told me he was, but if that wasn't it, wouldn't Cory just had left it with the front cover-up?

Once I flipped it over, my breath caught in my throat. I was right. Nash's deep green, sultry eyes, surrounded by thick dark lashes, stared up at me from the cover page. The self-confident signature smirk on his face, a slight stubble across his square jaw, his dark curls, wild and untamed, and the most delicious bare upper body.