Panty Dropper (A Sexy Standalone Contemporary Romance) by Paige North

issue—the one that would have my Leo piece in it. Mel wanted to showcase leather for spring and Rebecca swore hair mousse was making a comeback. Jenny wanted to do a piece on open relationships, Susan wanted to write about toys that enhance oral and Liz had a story ready to go about the newest fitness craze.
    I’d been so caught up in my Leo sexcapades that I’d long since forgotten about the list of ideas I had on my first day for my New Girl column. Once everyone had pitched, Pam, the managing editor, fixed her eyes on me and said, “How long before you jump in?”
    My head snapped up and I got that panicked feeling of being caught in class without having read the assignment. “I have…um, ideas,” I said.
    “So let’s hear them.”
    I looked to Kait for help, since she hadn’t told me to work on anything other than my Leo story.
    “Sophie?” Kait said, scribbling in her notebook. “The newbie go-getter. What have you got for us?”
    I flipped nervously through my notebook, trying to find those ideas I’d written down for my first day—the ones Kait had no interest in hearing.
    “It shouldn’t be that hard,” Pam said. “You are actually new in town. What have you been doing? Some other project got you too busy for the job you were hired to do?”
    “No,” I said quickly, instinctively. Did she know about Leo? Kait said only our department knew about Leo. Was word spreading? Who else knew?
    “So?” Pam pressed.
    “Well,” I began, my mind racing to find something to grab hold of. “I heard about this amazing drive-in movie theater near Silver Lake.”
    “A drive-in?” Kait asked, curious.
    “How very ’50s,” Pam snickered.
    “It’s supposed to be really cool,” I said. I’d looked it up online after Ava Marie told me about it. “They play classics, some from the ’50s,” I said to Pam, “and other old stuff from the ’80s and ’90s. Everything from Raging Bull to Love, Actually . The food’s supposed to be good, too.”
    “I’ve read about this place. Sounds like a fun date spot,” Renee said, and I was so thankful for her speaking up for me.
    Looking to Kait, Pam said, “So have her do a date piece on it. You can come up with an interesting date, can’t you?” she asked me.
    I looked between Pam and Kait. Pam was pushing something, it was clear. Had Kait told her about Leo? Finally I just said yes, I could find a date (thanks very much) and the meeting wrapped.
    As I got my notebook and pens together, Pam came close to me.
    “Don’t think you can slack just because you got some special assignment,” she said softly, but her tone was like iron. “We’ve all been here a lot longer than you. We don’t need some recent grad coming in acting like she’s some hotshot reporter. Write your little drive-in piece, and remember your place.” She started to leave, her hand on the conference room door. “By the way, I’m editing it, so it better be good.”
    Before I could say a word, she was out the door, leaving me shaken. What had I done to upset her? What did she know about my Leo assignment?
    Since the moment Ava Marie told me about the drive-in, I couldn’t help but picture being there with Leo, a totally irrational thought. Pam may have been on the attack, but she was right—I had to see Leo as nothing more than a subject, and as a subject, I shouldn’t use him to hang out with for fun.
    I plopped down on the chair in my cubicle. Besides, It’d been a week since the flight with Leo and I hadn’t heard from him. Even if I had the nerve to call him I couldn’t, since the number he called me from was blocked. I guess despite the contract, he had me on probation—or a leash, as Kait said when I told her about the time gap since I’d heard from him.
    Every morning she stopped by my desk, her double-shot skinny latte clutched in her hand, and asked one question: “Heard from him?” When I shook my head no, she kept on to her office without another word, but I felt