Olive beamed at this. “Good. I don’t want to just abandon poor Courtney here on her own. You two have a lovely walk, and I’ll see you later.”
With a quick wave goodbye, Olive turned around and hurried off towards the park exit, Elsa scurrying along at her side.
“You don’t have to walk with me around the park,” Courtney said to Travis. “I can see you were actually heading towards the exit, too.”
“No, it’s fine. I mean, yes, I was going in that direction, but it’s a nice day and it’s no hardship to walk a bit further. In the sunshine. It’s warm and… the park is nice. And, er, I get good ideas for my stories when I’m walking. So, I’ll keep walking. With you. If you don’t mind?”
A scowl crossed his face, and the oddly garbled response made Courtney smile. “You were off in your own little world, weren’t you?”
His eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“Before we interrupted you, I could see the look on your face while you were walking, as if your mind was a million miles away. It must be fun to disappear off into your own fictional world anytime you choose.”
Travis looked momentarily stunned by what she’s said, and for a long moment she stood there, wondering why on earth she’d said it. She didn’t know him well enough to make that sort of personal observation. She’d just described him as wandering around in a trance. No wonder he looked bemused.
But then his expression shifted and he laughed. “You’re right. I was thinking through a sticky plot problem and trying to figure out how to get my character out of a tight spot. Walking always helps get the ideas flowing, although it’s true I do often get carried away with my thoughts and forget where I am.” He gave an amused shrug. “Hazard of the job, I suppose.”
“And did you solve it?” Courtney asked. “Your sticky plot problem?”
“Almost. There are still a few details to get straight before I plunge back into the writing.” He gestured to the path in the direction from which he’d just come. “So, another loop around the duck pond might be just the ticket, if you don’t mind the company?”
“I’d love it.”
Courtney fell into step beside him. She noticed for the first time how tall he was, and athletic too, with wide shoulders and arms that suggested he lifted weights. Add in the scruffy beard and the wayward hair that looked like his fingers had been raking through it while he’d been deep in thought, and he was, she realised, actually pretty good looking, the combination of physical build and careless grooming somehow oddly attractive.
And that was her pregnancy hormones talking, she told herself, putting stupidly inappropriate ideas into her head. This man had hired her to be his assistant, and was now generously walking her around the park to keep her company. And what was she doing? She was making weird judgements about what he looked like.
And deciding he looked pretty good, all things considered.
She was an idiot to even be thinking such thoughts. It was time to keep her stupid ideas firmly under lock and key, and shut down her pregnancy brain before it raced off into a fantasy land.
And anyway, considering the baby bump she was already hauling around, she ought to have learned her lesson by now when it came to her total lack of competence and judgement in the romance department.
“So, is everything going okay with the marketing work?” Travis asked as they walked along the winding path.
Grateful for the conversation starter, Courtney nodded. “It’s all fine so far. You have lovely readers, Travis, judging by the comments on your social media pages.”
“I’m lucky. I wouldn’t have a career without them.”
“And I’ve started reading the first Maura Shaw mystery you loaned to me. It’s fantastic. I’m only a few chapters into it, but I’m loving it.”
Travis smiled. “Thank you. That means a lot.”
“Actually….”
She trailed off, wondering whether to make the suggestion that was on her mind. When Travis gave her an encouraging look, she plunged on.
“Well, I had an idea. I don’t pretend to know anything about marketing or publishing or any of the stuff that you must know inside out, so just tell me if this is a terrible suggestion.”
“I’m sure it won’t be. Go ahead, what’s your idea?”
“Well, I suppose it’s actually two ideas rolled into one. The fans on your social pages know you use an assistant to help deal with interactions there, but they don’t know that your usual assistant is out of commission and I’m standing in to help. I’m new to your books and loving the first Maura Shaw mystery, and I can see from your fan comments and what-not that they are a hugely knowledgeable bunch about the series and have a lotof detailed insights about the stories and the characters and the plot developments.”
Travis grinned. “Sometimes I suspect they might know more about the books than I do.”
She returned his smile, then chose her next words carefully. “I wondered what you might think about me posting an update to your fans, explaining that I’m standing in as your assistant for a little while, and that I’m excited to be reading your books for the first time… and inviting the fans to read along with me. Almost like a virtual book club.”
Travis’s eyebrows quirked as he gave this some thought. “Hmm,” was all he said.
