"Oh, yeah, sure." His voice broke, and he cleared his throat, then smiled at her, a little shyly. "If I have to."
Her shoulder rose. "Well, yeah. You've been his best friend since forever. I mean, you're practically brothers. Which makes you my brother, too. Which means you really should chip in for the cake and alcohol." She waggled her brows. "I take checks and PayPal."
"Oh." He swallowed. "Right. Okay."
"Cam." She reached over the bar and closed her hand briefly over his. "I'm kidding."
As Brooke watched, red bloomed up Cam's neck to his ears and all the way to his forehead. The girl, thank goodness, had already turned away, her effusive energy focused entirely on Brooke. Who, frankly, was already a little exhausted.
"I'm Mina," the girl said as Cam moved down to the far end of the bar. "Mina Silver. I'm a grad student at UT and Griffin's intern."
"And Cam's fake sister."
Her laughter bubbled out. "Cam's the best. He and my brother have been attached at the hip since they were kids, and I've been a pain in bo
th their butts their whole lives. If I can't give my brother grief, Cam's the next best thing."
Since Mina seemed so completely earnest, Brooke decided not to tell her that Cam's feelings weren't quite as innocent. Even now, he'd probably disappeared into the break room to cast his hand in bronze. Or, possibly, to do other things with it.
Brooke shook her head--really not a mental picture she wanted at the moment.
"At any rate," Brooke said, "it's nice to meet you. I assume that's Griffin?" she added, nodding to the man in the hoodie.
"Yup," Mina said, then explained that Griffin was the writer, creator, and voice actor of a podcast that had skyrocketed in popularity. And the podcast had been turned into a similarly successful web series. "Thus, the needing of an intern. But he's between seasons now, and I'm looking for another gig. Rumor has it you're doing a reality show around The Fix."
"Um."
"And no pressure, but if you could use an intern, I'd love the gig. I'm pretty much willing to do anything. I need the experience--and I'd love to have something national to put on my resume."
Mina had completely charmed Brooke. "It's really not up to me. But I'll see what I can do."
"Really? That's terrific. Thanks so much." She handed Brooke a card with her cell number on it, said she was available anytime, then bounced back down to Griffin.
Considering Brooke had only been officially on the show for a few hours now, and she'd already lined up an intern, she was feeling pretty darned accomplished. She spent another couple of hours finishing her snack and adding to her notes, then she gathered up her things and headed home to change. For a moment, she considered not returning because Spencer might come to the contest tonight. More to the point, he might make demands tonight.
But she doubted it. He didn't want to do this program at all. The last thing he'd want to do was show up to work when he didn't have to.
Because officially on the clock or not, tonight was about working. Brooke intended to make sure the video crew got a good selection of footage--not just of the models, but also of the bar itself. She wanted to have plenty of clips to use in the episodes. Maybe even in the opening credits if Molly and Adam would entertain her suggestions.
Even if she was only sitting at the bar like she'd done this afternoon, that was work. As far as she was concerned, understanding the place she was going to remodel was as crucial as hammering that first nail.
So, yes, she was going back. And with any luck, Spencer was steering clear.
Luck, however, was a finicky bitch, and Brooke realized the moment she was back in the bar that evening that the bitch had it in for her. Spencer was there.
He hadn't seen her. Or, if he had, he hadn't acknowledged her. But he was there, larger than life. Just filling the room with that presence he had.
She longed to go to him. To cross back over the bridge of time to a moment when he didn't despise her.
But that was impossible. She could only go forward.
So she stuck to dark corners and avoided the man, grateful when the parade of very hot men across the poorly positioned stage finally began. She frowned and made a mental note: Project One. Readjust the stage.
She was considering angles--and wondering if some sort of rolling stage might be feasible--when Taylor, the woman Jenna had introduced as the stage manager she'd hired for the contest, came over to give Brooke a suggestion to pass onto the cameraman.
Their conversation froze, however, when the tattooed man that Brooke now knew was Reece got up on stage and gave the kind of heartfelt speech that made Brooke's toes curl, and her belly turn to goo. A speech filled with words like love and honor and relationship.
A speech he was making to Jenna.