He glanced up from his drink as I slid onto the stool next to him.Bobby stayed standing, positioning himself like the third point of a triangle between the two of us.Before Steven even opened his mouth, a wave of something sweet and boozy rolled over me—a hint that was almost brown sugar.Bourbon, I guessed.And plenty of it.Underneath that was the unmistakable odor of sweat.
“Ah,” he said.“Mr.Dane.A Work in Progress.Very clever.”
“Seriously?”I said.“Does everyone here recognize me on sight?”
“And you are?”he asked over his shoulder.
“Bobby Mai.”
They shook, and Steven said to me, “You’ve been in the news.And IwasVivienne’s editor.”He picked up his drink.“I’m not sure if I’m mourning or celebrating.Care to join me?”
The bartender was drifting our way, but I shook my head, and she turned back.
“I suppose it’s always hard to lose someone,” I said, “even if the relationship was complicated.”
“Complicated.”Steven took a drink.A hint of a flush showed in his cheeks, and I realized, to my surprise, he was well on his way to being snookered.(Is that the right word?) “That’s a good way of putting it.”
“I only knew Vivienne for a short time before things, uh, changed.But she was intelligent and charming and insightful.”
“Yes, she was.”Steven held his glass, but he didn’t drink again.He cut his eyes toward me and then said, “So, which one is the top?”
Okay, if you think you’ve seen me flustered before.
“Uh, um, uh, uh—”
A surprisingly salesman-y laugh erupted from Steven.“I meant with your detective and—what’s the other one’s name?”
My relief must have sounded like when you let all the air out of a balloon.
“You know, that’s not something I—” I began.
“They should have had sex at the midpoint,” Steven said.“That was a real missed opportunity.This is why you need an editor.”
If that was the kind of feedback an editor gave, I could do without it.I mean, had he everheardof cozy noir?(Okay, he probably hadn’t, mostly because I made it up.)
“You’re going to have to address it eventually,” Steven said.“Readers want to know that kind of thing.”
Bobby didn’t say anything, but the look on his face was somewhere betweenGood LordandWhat is wrong with people?
“Uh huh,” I said.“Right.I’ll, um, take that into consideration.”
“Here’s a bit of advice for the second book: puzzles are big right now.See if you can have what’s-his-name solve a puzzle.”
I honestly had no idea what he meant—like, a jigsaw puzzle?—but I also didn’t want to ask, so I nodded.
“What’s the second one about?”Steven said.“I’m not taking pitches right now, but I’d be curious to hear a little about it.”
“Oh, well, I’d hate to impose.”
“No, please.”When I hesitated, he said, “Don’t tell me you’ve already found a home for it.Look, I can’t make you an offer right away, but I’m interested, and I’m sure we could work something out.”
So, here’s something I was quickly learning: people were much more interested in your work and your ideasafteryou’d had a bit of success.
“Did I hear something about a TV show?”Steven said.“Because that’s the kind of thing I could sell the heck out of to our marketing team.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” I said under my breath.
“Actually,” Bobby said, “we wanted to ask you a few questions.”
