The Girl With Diamonds (Midtown Brotherhood Book 2) by Savannah Blevins

leaning all the way across her to make her see the look on her face that simply called her a liar. Magnolia sighed. “He might have dropped a hint that the offer was still on the table.”
    “Today.” Cressida twirled around in the chair. “Interview him today.”
    Magnolia pushed away from the desk and stood up. “Absolutely not.”
    Cressida’s smile instantly transformed into a pout. “C’mon. It’s a rink-side update. A practice. Hardly anyone will be there. It will be casual, and intimate.”
    “It isn’t a date.”
    “It practically is.”
    Magnolia’s temper sparked, but then Cressida laughed.
    “I’m joking. At least about the date. You know how I feel about dating people you work with, and that includes the athletes. You two got a million hits on a two-minute interview, though. That’s what I call good exposure.”
    She rolled her eyes. “That’s what I call blackmail. You just want to use me to boost your blog hits.”
    Cressida scooted closer, dropping her voice between them. “I’m not the one who talked him out of his shirt.”
    Magnolia pressed her lips tighter together. She had a point.
    “And by the way, I expect details on that.” Cressida wiggled her eyebrow. “Vivid details.”
    Magnolia slumped back down in her seat. She brought it on herself. Bringing up the shirtless thing had been completely unprofessional. Why didn’t she keep her big mouth shut?
    Because Austin challenged her. She couldn’t resist. It was as if Felix laughed at her all over again. She could hear him telling her how that article didn’t matter. He would have gotten the job over her anyway.
    Magnolia carried Felix’s lazy ass through classes senior year. Her grades were better. She had more experience. He wouldn’t have thrown her under the bus if he wasn’t scared of losing to her. It didn’t matter. She would prove herself to Felix, and she would prove herself to Austin Blakely.
    Underestimating her came at a risk.
    She would be known for more than the girl Austin flirted with every week. She had bigger dreams than this station. She wasn’t about to let his charming smile and torturing good looks ruin it.
    Magnolia stood up and pushed away from her desk, more determined than ever to do her job.
    “Maggie?”
    Stella stood at her door, a cup of something hot and chocolaty in her hands. It was time for their usual afternoon routine. Chocolate and caffeine. The fuel of the young, broke, and barely surviving. Stella only had one cup today.
    “Boss wants to see you.” Stella bit her lip. “Immediately.”
    Magnolia’s heart sank. That feeling, her dreams swirling down the drain, shouldn’t feel so damn familiar, but it did. “What does Evan want?”
    The sadness on Stella’s face somehow got worse. “Not Evan. The big boss. Mrs. Stamcose.”
    Magnolia fell back down into her seat.
    “What?” Cressida looked around. “This is awesome news.”
    Stella stepped inside and shut the door. “Awesome? How is this awesome?”
    “Magnolia is the best field reporter on our team. Everybody knows that. Why would you automatically assume the worst?”
    Magnolia jerked the computer screen around and pointed it at her. “I don’t know, Cressida. Why on earth would I assume that?”
    “The video?”
    “Yes. The video.”
    “Your interview got a million hits. It almost broke our website. How could they get mad about that?”
    “This is a sports station, Cressida. Not a gossip rag.”
    “Viewers are viewers.”
    Magnolia huffed and turned around. Cressida was hopeless. “Forget it. I might as well go face the firing squad. If I don’t return, clean my desk out for me.”
    Stella jogged over and hugged her. Cressida only rolled her eyes. “You’re not getting fired, so don’t even think that you’re using this as an excuse to get out of our Wine and Craft night.”
    “Cressida.” Stella took a pen from behind her ear and threw it across the room at her. “Be considerate for once.”
    Cressida sighed.