Leg in the air, he just gives me a low meow before he turns his attention back to cleaning his ass.
“Thanks for the pep talk, fur ball,” I snort.
I grab my phone from my purse and collapse onto the couch. My heart is still hammering from what went down at the bookstore and I need to talk to someone before I spontaneously combust.
Sasha picks up on the second ring. “Hey!”
“I need help,” I blurt out. “Serious, life-altering help.”
“Did you kill him? Because I have muscles and a shovel.”
“No, but I’m pretty sureI’mgoing to die of embarrassment.” I groan and pull a pillow over my face. “He took me to a bookstore and read a sex scene to me out loud. From my own book!”
My bestie’s cackling laughter fills my ear. “Oh my god, that’s brilliant! Which scene?”
“Ironically, the library scene from Heartstruck.” I let out an exasperated groan. “You know, the one where he goes down on her against the bookshelves?”
“Holy shit! The one where he’s all…” She lowers her voice in her best MMC impression. …‘I need to taste you’? That’s one of the hottest scenes you’ve ever written!”
“Yes, and he read it in his deep, growly voice while staring into my eyes the entire time. In public!”
Sasha’s laughter only escalates. “I think I’m in love with him already.”
“This isn’t funny!” I protest, trying to fight a smile. “A reader recognized me, too. And she recognized Ryder asRyder! Well, as the guy that inspired him, but still.”
“Heartstruck is about one of his military buddies, right? And he’s mentioned in the story.”
“I mean, technically, yes. Like that makes it any better? Ryder was never supposed to be real!”
Tossing the pillow aside, I get up and start pacing the living room. “And now he’s planning some kind of boundary-pushing surprise for me tonight, and I’m kinda freaking out.”
“Boundary-pushing how?” I picture her leaning in as she waits for me to tell her all the juicy details and sit back down on the couch in a huff.
“I don’t know. But after what happened at the bookstore and last night when he...” I trail off, realizing I hadn’t told her about our fake date.
“When he what?” Sasha pounces. “Noia Lynn Wilde, what are you not telling me?”
I sink deeper into the cushion. “Last night, he finger-banged me against the wall and then went down on me until I came so hard I nearly passed out.”
“Damn. That good, huh?”
“Mind-blowing,” I admit, heat creeping up my neck. “But then I panicked and all but ran away.”
“Of course you did.”
“But this morning I apologized and I told him I want to stop running. That I want to experience whatever this is that’shappening between us.” I stare up at the ceiling. “So he took me to the bookstore.”
I sigh. “I must be losing my mind.”
“Or maybe,” Sasha says thoughtfully. “You finally get to live the life you’ve been writing about for years.”
I groan. “That’s what he keeps saying.”
“Sounds like a smart man. I can’t wait to meet him. So, what are you going to do about tonight?”
“I don’t know. Just... try to be brave, I guess?” Nerves ratcheting up, I twist a strand of hair around my finger. “Maybe try not to overthink everything for once?”
“Good answer. I want every sordid detail when I come up this weekend.”
