He chuckled softly, shaking his head.
“I suppose that’s fair.”
When she looked up again and met his eyes, her breath caught. Instead of his usual scowl, there was a real smile. It was smalland tentative, but the way his eyes seemed to light up told her it was honest. She had to force herself to look away, the faint amusement flickering in his eyes, making it difficult to focus.
Giving herself a little mental shake, she went back to her reading. Corbyn resumed his writing, and the sound of his pen scratching against the paper filled the study. They continued to work that way for the next several minutes until Sadie came to a scene that caused a crease to form between her brows.
Looking up, she watched him write for a moment, trying to work up the courage to test this newly minted peace treaty. She knew he was proud of the work he had done, and she didn’t want to cause a setback. She felt her shoulders tense in anticipation of his reaction as she took a breath.
“I think spacing out this reveal sequence might make it hit harder,” Sadie said, her voice steady but careful.
Corbyn’s frame went rigid for a split second. It dawned on her then that this was a scene he had spent weeks crafting before her arrival, and she may very well have stumbled on to a hornet’s nest.
“What’s the issue now?” Corbyn asked, his tone taking on an all too familiar edge.
“There’s no issue,” Sadie told him, keeping her tone as light as possible. “The writing’s tight and really strong, but I think readers need a breather to digest one jolt before we hit them with the next.”
Corbyn’s brow furrowed. “This scene’s the backbone of the whole second act. I’ve torn it apart and rebuilt it three times, and it’sfinallyright.”
“The scene’s got real weight,” she said, nodding to his effort. She needed to get him back on her side, to try to see things from another perspective. “I’m just saying it might be good to reconsider its timing.”
“It stays.”
The words were clipped, and he immediately returned to his writing. The dismissal hit harder than an outright argument. This was his way of shutting down the conversation entirely rather than engaging, and Sadie felt herself coming close to snapping.
“Corbyn, you’re not even listening…”
“I’ve already thought it over, Reed. There’s nothing to listen to.”
The words felt like a slap to the face, and Sadie felt her cheeks burn. It wasn’t shame or embarrassment, but anger. She couldn’t deny that this pattern felt all too familiar. With Nate, there had always been a brief period of harmony before the inevitable crash. She had spent years walking on eggshells in her personal life, and she refused to let it happen in her professional life as well.
“This is exactly what we talked about yesterday,” she said, standing and placing the stack of papers she had been reading on the desk. “You’re shutting down instead of engaging. You promised things would be different.”
He looked up at her, and she saw his eyes narrow slightly, spine straightening as he prepared for the argument.
“Just because we agreed to be more civil doesn’t mean I must agree with every suggestion you make,” he replied. She noted instantly the coolness of his tone. “I am allowed to disagree with you, as this is still, in fact, my book.”
“But you didn’t just disagree, did you?” she fired back, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “You simply dismissed what I had to say. We are supposed to be partners, or did you already forget that?”
He stood then, and she could see the shift in his demeanor. She wasn’t the only one losing her temper. She watched him stand, his eyes locked on hers as he leaned forward and braced his hands on the desk.
“I meant every word I said yesterday,” he warned, his voice taking on a darker tone she hadn’t heard before. “But it does not give you carte blanche to…”
“To what? Do my job?” Sadie cut in, mirroring his position as she leaned forward as well. “If we’re going to make this work, we can’t fall back into this dynamic every time we disagree. You need to trust me enough to hear me out.”
“Trust works both ways. You could try trusting that I know what I’m doing with my own story!”
They stood there with their eyes locked, neither willing to back down. Sadie could feel a mixture of frustration and something else coursing through her. Something that had more to do with his proximity and the intensity in those blue eyes than with their disagreement about plot structure.
Before she could formulate a response that wouldn’t escalate things further, Riley rose from his spot by the fire with a dramatic groan. The Irish Wolfhound padded over, tail swishing, and shoved his massive head underneath Sadie’s arm and onto the pages they were arguing over. It caused several to flutter to the floor, and he looked up at them with a soft whine that seemed to say,Enough, already!
The absurdity of the giant dog’s timing broke the tension, and Sadie couldn’t suppress the laugh that escaped her lips.
“Impeccable timing, as always,” Corbyn muttered, though his lips twitched with reluctant amusement as he tried to extricate the pages from beneath Riley’s chin. “Some guard dog you are. You’re supposed to take my side.”
“Clearly, he’s Team Compromise.” Sadie reached out to scratch behind Riley’s ears. “Wise beyond his years.”
“Traitor,” Corbyn told the dog, shaking his head. To Sadie, he added with a hint of resignation, “Go on, then. Make your case before he drools on the entire manuscript.”
