“You’ve been in the zone for like two full hours. I figured you might need a break and to eat something.” Gwen slides a wrapped sandwich across the table.
“You’re a godsend, thank you. I was locked in there. My website is giving me fits, and I can’t figure out how to get it to do what I want.”
“Do you want Charlie to look at it? They’ve tinkered with computers their whole life. If the Grind hadn’t worked out, I think they’d have gone into IT.”
“I’m not going to pass up some fresh eyes. I want to expand my services from marketing packages to other design options.” I flip open my tablet to show Gwen the drawing I finished yesterday of the girls.
“Oh my god. That’s the cutest freaking thing I’ve ever seen. You’re so talented, G.”
“Thank you. Do you think it’s good enough to start offering it as aservice?”
“One hundred percent. And you could start recording yourself drawing. Those videos always suck me in on social media.”
“That’s not a bad idea, actually.” I make a note to search out artists who do something similar to get some ideas going.
“What about book covers?” Gwen’s hesitant question has me frowning.
“Like creating a book cover for an author?”
She shrugs. “Yeah. I think you could draw some really cute cartoon covers for romance books, but you’re also talented enough to do the regular covers too.”
“I never even thought about it. I’d want to do some research first. Reading books is one thing, creating content for them is a whole other.”
Gwen bites her lip. “Could I be your first commission?”
“I’d draw anything you want, without charge. What were you thinking? Oh, I could do something cute with the Grind. You and Charlie would look adorable in cartoon form.”
“Actually, I was hoping you might draw a book cover for me.”
“A book cover?” I’m definitely missing something here, but for some reason it’s not computing.
“I wrote a novel, and it’s going to need a cover before it’s ready to publish.”
“Shut the fuck up.” I slap a hand over my mouth. Gwen busts out laughing at my slip. “What kind of book? It better be dirty ’cause those are my favorite.”
Pink blooms in her cheeks as she nods.
“Can I read it? And hell yeah, I’ll draw a cover for you. Put together a list of things you want on it, as well as some similar covers, so I can get a good idea of what you’re looking for.”
Gwen palms her cheeks. “You’d be willing to read it? I’d want you to be brutally honest with me. Charlie said they liked it, but they’re my sibling, so I don’t trust their honesty.”
“I swear I’ll be honest, but I won’t be brutal about it.”
“I can work with that.”
“Oh my gosh. I’m going to have a famous author as my best friend.”
Gwen rolls her eyes. “It’s going to be a long time before I’m famous.”
“The important part is you want it. Who cares how long it takes?”
She starts asking about my favorite romance books, and from there, the conversation doesn’t end.
“We should start a book club. I bet we could recruit some of the ladies in the crochet club,” I suggest. “I have a feeling they’re some dirty old birds.”
Gwen scrunches her face, shaking her head. “I do not want to think about that. You’d be okay with talking to Muriel about the spicy scenes?”
I shrug. “It wouldn’t bother me. I think she’d be quite proud of Holt’s skills in the bedroom.”
