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fix what isn’t broken’ speech. There was no coercion or threat.”
    â€œDenny said he was pressured.”
    â€œThen he lied.” Shifting his hands to his hips, Cord turned away, shaking his head in clear frustration. Abruptly turning back, he said, “I didn’t see a ring on his hand—or yours.”
    As his gaze settled on the hands she clasped tightly in her lap, Hunter lowered her eyes, too. They remained bare of jewelry, her nails clipped neat and short with only clear polish to enhance them. Her salon stylist complained about them whenever she came in for a haircut, but her argument was that the cameras were on her face, not her manicure.
    â€œDenny’s file stated that he was single,” Cord added. “In all of my talks with staff, no one had a clue of any attachment. Not for either of you.”
    Noting Henry’s unhappy countenance, Hunter chose not to participate in this lose-lose debate. If Cord was to be her boss, so be it. But first thing, once she got back from this trip, she would start polishing her resume to put out feelers for job openings at other networks, even north of Alaska or south of Australia—anywhere to get away from him.
    â€œHunter, a good portion of Denny’s work was to be interviews with some of the most beautiful actresses and entertainers in Hollywood, eventually the world,” Cord offered. “It was good marketing to sell him as available and use his personality and chemistry with thecamera to appeal to women viewers.” Resting his palms on the surface of his grandfather’s desk, he leaned toward her, but he spoke almost gently. “After the contract was signed, Denny and I had little to say to each other. As far as I’m concerned, for all of his on-air charisma, he’s an opportunist with a smile. And for the record, he wasn’t in Los Angeles a full week before I saw him cozying up with his new co-anchor. I suspect that if a better offer comes from one of the magazine-formatted news shows, he’ll ditch our L.A. station without a twinge of remorse—along with whatever relationship he’s in at the time. You’re better off without him.”
    Swallowing the bitterness building in her throat, Hunter replied quietly, “Perhaps…but we’ll never know, will we?”
    As Cord opened his mouth to reply, Henry raised his hand, then directed a disapproving look at his grandson. “That was—well, you know what it was.”
    Cord hung his head. “I apologize.”
    But when he looked up again, directly at her, he still looked more determined than apologetic, which left Hunter humiliated anew for being all but forced to expose so much in front of his grandfather. In the end, maybe she had been played for a fool by Denny, but that didn’t excuse Cord Rivers. With those enigmatic stares and his Prince-Charming-with-an-edge good looks, he made Denny seem like an amateur.
    â€œAll I was trying to point out was that you both hid the fact that you were involved very well,” Cord said, breaking into her thoughts.
    At least he didn’t try to lay on any guilt citing corporate policy, because there was none. Hunter had discreetly checked into that before agreeing to go out with Denny. “We didn’t think it would be professional to do otherwise,” Hunter said. Apparently, it was more difficult for her to contain herself than Denny, because after giving her the news about the California offer, he had agreed with Cord’s supposed logic and suggested they take a break on their commitment while he settled in at his new position. The engagement had been so new, they hadn’t even had time to get a ring, so there had been none to return.
    In the uncomfortable silence that followed, she noticed something she couldn’t remain silent about. Henry looked as unhappy with this conversation as she felt. “I’m sorry if I’ve ruined your image of me,