Kieran’s grip on me tightened a little.
“He’s the man of the hour,” Riley said. “Thirty-four on the list! You’d better hope he doesn’t write you out of his next contract,” he added, nudging Eloise—my editor—gently.
Eloise rolled her eyes. “He’s a smart boy, he won’t. Unless he wants to figure out how many Ss there are in Mississippi by himself.”
Beside me, Kieran snorted. “You never could spell,” he said, but it was soft, and warm, and affectionate. A reminder that we’d been friends forever.
And a subtle hint that this was long-term, and for real.
He wasgood. It was impossible to tell how deliberate any of it was, but I was willing to bet he’d put some thought into it. Kieran always looked out for me.
“I wouldneverwrite you out of my contract,” I said, and it was true—I understood the value of a good editor and I’d seen too many authors go off the rails refusing to be edited.
“I hope you won’t write me out, either,” Colin said.
What?
“Write you out?” I asked, as mildly as I could.
“Didn’t anyone tell you? I’m your new head of marketing.”
I glanced at Angelica, who gave me an equally startled look in return.
No one had told me. No one had evenhintedthis might happen.
The walls suddenly felt a whole lot closer than they had a moment ago, the air in the room thicker, sticking to the insides of my lungs.
“Aren’t you gonna congratulate me?” Colin asked, twisting the knife. “You’re hot stuff.”
No. No, no, no. This wasn’t happening.
As if hearing that Colin was going to be the new head of marketing—and therefore the most difficult hoop I had to jump through forallfuture publishing decisions—wasn’t bad enough, Kieran picked that moment to slip away from me.
“Anyone know where the bathroom is?” he asked, and I wondered if maybe I could escape with him, but then thought about how much it’d look like we were disappearing for a quickie in the men’s room and hownotwholesome that’d look to Riley and Colin, two people in a position to screw up my whole plan.
“Right down there,” Riley said helpfully, pointing the way.
Kieran took a step, then tripped over his own feet and stumbled toward Colin, spilling his mostly-full glass all over the front of his shirt.
“Oh my gosh,” Kieran said, one hand covering his mouth in horror.
Wait.
Kieran the yoga instructor, Kieran who’d brought us both down a mountain at night,thatKieran had tripped?
“Let’s, uh… let’s go get you cleaned up, I’m sure that’ll come out, you’ll have to send me the dry-cleaning bill,” he said, taking Colin by the shoulders and leading him away.
Rescuing me.
That washot.
Angelica raised an eyebrow as Kieran led Colin away with cheerful force, clearly not about to take no for an answer. That gave us time to talk.
Which was exactly what Kieran, sweetest, kindest, best man I’d ever known was trying to do for me.
The sound of a bell ringing snapped me out of my haze of relief and affection.
“Dinner,” Riley enthused. “I’m starving.”
