“In some ways, yes. But there’s always someone doing better than you.”
“Does it still bother you? Seeing others doing better?”
“Once in a while I feel a tinge of jealousy, but for the most part I’m just grateful for what I have. What writing’s given me.” I smiled, remembering something my father had said to me not long before he died. “My dad said the only way to be truly happy was to compete only with yourself. As in, try and write a better book than the one before. Comparing myself to others was a sure way to diminish any joy the work gave me. I’ve tried to always keep that front of mind.”
Our food arrived and, for a few minutes, we were quiet, cutting into our savory pieces of salmon.
“Is there anything else you want to ask me about my ex-wife?” Hunter asked.
“Do you think her accusations will hurt your career? Or Ivy’s?”
“I’m not sure. People love a feud, so it may actually be beneficial to both of them. The more Dana promotes the book and her narrative of what happened, the more attention she’ll get. So yeah, it may impact Ivy’s career, but it may have the opposite affect too.”
“Have you talked to Ivy?” I asked. “Since the news broke?”
He nodded. “This morning. She expressed nothing but pity for Dana. Ivy’s ridiculously optimistic. She’s not worried.”
“Good for her. All of it will blow over after a time anyway.”
He picked up his glass but didn’t drink from it, his gaze directed downward. “I’m worried being seen with me could hurt your reputation. Getting pulled into the scandal and gossip is the opposite of what you would want. I don’t want any of this to negatively affect you or Tyler. That’s my primary concern.”
“I’ve thought about that too,” I said.
“And?”
“Beau Sinclair didn’t raise me to be afraid of bullies.”
“She’s angry enough to write a tell-all where I look like the bad guy. She’ll find more ways to hurt me. And if she knows how I feel about you, she’ll want to make things difficult between us.”
“How do you feel about me?” I asked.
“We’re here. Which, if you know me, you would know means I really like you, or I wouldn’t be risking getting hurt again.”
“I’m sorry for what Dana did to you,” I said.
He smiled and reached across the table to brush my cheek with the back of his knuckles for a second or two. “Thank you. But I was to blame for a lot of what happened. I could havedealt with the Ivy situation better. It was just that … I didn’t know what to do. I was kind of a deer in the headlights. Then everything blew up, and I came here to heal. Now, she’s back in my life.”
“You can’t control what she does, only your reaction to it. The question is—do we let her actions ruin whatever this is between us before we even get a chance to discover exactly what it is?”
“My answer is no. Emphatic no.”
I smiled, nodding slightly. “Okay then. We agree. Ignore the noise.”
“Even if it gets louder.”
“Even then,” I said.
A niggling worry remained. The author world was hyper-competitive and cutthroat. If I became part of the story, itcouldnegatively impact the career I’d worked so hard to make and sustain. I’d made a pact with myself a long time ago that no relationship could get in the way of my career and taking care of Tyler. Was I setting myself up to just that?
I looked across the table. Hunter Sloan made my heart skip a beat and my knees wobbly. That hadn’t happened in a long time. I decided right then. It was time to take a risk instead of playing it safe. And was this the man to do it with?
My dad’s voice drifted into my mind.Time to have a little faith, Sugar Plum. Let love in.
I’m trying.
7
HUNTER
