I expected some sort of celebration at the news we’d all been working toward, but she merely bobbed her head. “Nice.”
“What?” I demanded, lapsing into our shorthand.
She pointed to my laptop. “Did it help? Did a hang with your muse last night plus another on the horizon open the floodgates?”
I hadn’t made the connection until she pointed it out. “Actually,yes. I wrote more this morning than I’ve written in ages. And I’m happy with it for a change.”
Her mouth downturned like De Niro. “Well, okay then. You were right; I was wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
She pushed back from the table and stood up. “Kai’s great. Ripped from the pages of one of your books. Sexy, charming, and plenty of good chat. But I’m sorry, I was pulling for a different character.”
She walked away without another word before I could defend myself, which was fine because we both knew there was nothing more I could say to make it make sense.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I’d sent the email to Piper about the other two books in the series over a week ago, and all I’d gotten back from her was radio silence. I’d expected some sort of confirmation, given I’d agreed to write them—thank you for your service, Melete—but then again, I was used to her minimalist communication style. I’m sure she’d logged it on the back end of Pro Depot with a quick nod, then moved on to the next task in her endless queue. It was fine, because I didn’t even have to think about book two until Austin and Abby were cooing over their newborn.
“Why are you frowning at your screen?” Nia asked me, quirking an eyebrow. “I thought cowboy life was going well.”
We were at a hipster coffee shop known for sourcing rare beans from around the world for another writing date. Nia was now an official bestseller in between stops on her tour and already working on hernextbook.
“Was I frowning? Everything’s fine. Just pondering.”
She nodded sagely. “Ah yes, the writer’s favorite pastime. Pondering, followed closely by researching obscure topics that don’t add anything to the story to stay busy when not pondering. Anything but writing.”
“Exactly,” I agreed. “I just finished researching the average weight of Texas longhorn cattle.”
“Why?”
“Austin’s ex the veterinarian almost got trampled by one, and I wanted to see how devastating her injuries could be. Turns out, those dudes can top out at over two thousand pounds.”
“Ouch, no thank you.” She winced. “And thehorns.”
“About four feet wide,” I added sagely, since I was now an expert in all things steer.
But for a change, I wasn’t researching to kill time. I’d had a real need to find out about them, and once I knew enough, I’d gotten back to business. Instead of focusing on my bickering archers, I was making magic happen for Austin and Abby, faster than usual. I was finally on track to hit my deadline if things kept up. And the sex scenes? Scorching enough to make me blush as I wrote them.
I was coasting on the vibes from the Hamptons weekend, trying to ignore the fact that Kai still hadn’t reached out to me in the three days since. But it was the post–holiday weekend slog, plus Colton had assured me that he’d heard the Atria Paris office was in town for the week and they were busy with meetings and after-hours events.
I was equally stressed that Owen hadn’t let me know if he wanted to keep working with me. Every time my phone chirped, I jumped, hoping that it was him confirming our next lesson.
Thankfully, the little number in the bottom corner of my Word doc kept going up, and that was enough to help me stay in a stable headspace. Just thepromiseof Kai seemed to be enough to keep the words flowing. I could only imagine my output when we actually connected in a real way and not just a drive-by.
“What’s happening with the romantasy?” Nia asked.
“Not much at the moment.” I hunched my shoulders up to my ears. “I feel like I’m cheating on Einar and Zandria whenever I work on Austin and Abby’s story, even though the Liaison book is what really matters.”
“Is it, though?” she asked pointedly. “I love what you’ve told me aboutArcher. What does your agent think?”
“She doesn’t know.”
“Seriously?”Nia frowned at me. “How many words do you have?”
“Plenty, but I don’t want to keep throwing half-baked ideas at her. Let’s just say I’ve had a bunch of false starts since we gave up onTruth and Beauty, and I feel like I’m coming off unfocused. I want to finish this one.”
“So she has no idea you’re writing it?”
