“I’d love to.” She patted her baby bump and grinned. “You know me. I’m always hungry.”
Travis laughed and they fell into step together.
“How’s your new book coming along?” Courtney asked. It had been a few days since they’d shared lunch together, and although they’d pinged some messages back and forth since then, they’d mostly been about his social media sites and updates on the scammer she’d found lurking there.
“It’s going really well,” Travis replied. “I’m writing the final third of the book now, which always goes fast once the action picks up and we get closer to solving the mystery. I had to force myself away from the laptop to give my fingers a rest from typing so much, and a trip to the bakery for some writing fuel seemed like a good way to take a break.”
He grinned as he rustled the bag he was carrying. “I should have stopped off at the greengrocer’s for grapes and apples and other healthy snacks, but when I’m close to finishing a book, I have a bad habit of eating rubbish.”
“I’m sure you deserve it.”
“That was my thinking, too,” he said with an amused wink. “Anyway, you can help me eat these cakes and that way I won’t feel so bad.”
“Happy to lend a hand. I take this assistant job seriously, you know.”
Travis laughed, then gave her a serious look. “I’m assuming you’ve seen no more signs of the horrible scammer hanging around on my social media profiles?”
“No, and no signs of any other funny business going on, either. And for what it’s worth, after you posted the alert to let your readers know there was someone up to no good, the feedback in the comments was all positive. The fans were angry to know there was some nasty person there trying to trick everyone, and they appreciated the heads-up, too.”
“Good to know. And what about the other posts you’ve been doing about the read-along with the first novel? How are those going down?”
“Pretty well, actually. The readers seem to enjoy chatting about the book and discussing their favourite scenes, and from what I can tell when I dug into the analytics, there’s been increased engagement since I started making those posts. Engagement was high to start with, as you know, but it’s good to know it’s bumped up even more. The mix of posts from me about my experience of reading the first Maura Shaw book along with the posts you’re supplying and which you’d already scheduled are providing a nice combination of content. I think your readers are happy.”
“You’re doing a great job, Courtney. I’m glad to know it’s all in safe hands.”
“When your regular assistant comes back to work, maybe you should suggest she continues the read-along feature, perhaps with the next book in the series?”
His face looked clouded all of a sudden, his gaze more thoughtful. “Maybe I’ll give that some thought. Although I’m not entirely sure it’s something Ruth would be interested in taking on, to be honest. Our contract stipulates that I provide the original social media content, and she deals with all the comments and interactions. If I asked her to take on a reading task too, along with creating the sort of original posts you’ve been doing, it would take up much more of her time.”
“I didn’t think of that.”
Travis threw a glance her way, his eyes still thoughtful. “How much extra time are you putting into reading the book and creating posts? I know you said you didn’t mind the extra work, but the more I think about it, the more I realise I should probably pay you more.”
“There’s no need for that. I said I wanted to read one of your books and that was my choice. I don’t expect to be paid to do it.”
“Still, I don’t like the idea of exploiting your good will.”
“You’re not.” Courtney waved a hand. “I enjoyed reading the book and I already finished it, so all I’m doing now is putting together a few posts about the story and the characters and so on. It’s not much extra work.”
“I should pay you for the extra time, anyway.”
Studying his face, she saw the matter was troubling him.
“How about you just give me a decent reference for my next job?” she suggested. “That would mean more to me than some extra cash, to be honest. With the furniture shop out of business, I doubt I’ll be able to rely on the owners to write any references for me, which is a huge problem actually, because I worked there for a couple of years and it will mean a nasty gap in my employment paperwork and…”
She realised she was letting herself get carried away. The problem of obtaining employment references from a defunct business had occurred to her plenty of times while she was filling out job applications, and each time it caused anxiety to spike, which was exactly what was happening now.
Travis must have noticed the worry on her face and the tone in her voice, because he gave her a reassuring look.
“I’ll write you a brilliant reference. That’s no problem,” he said. “How’s it going on the job-hunting front?”
She choked out a strangled laugh. “About as well as I’d expected it would go, considering I’m a matter of weeks away from having a baby. I’m only applying for temporary posts rightnow, and bits and pieces of hourly work that might see me through, but I’m not having much luck. I might have to think outside the box.”
Travis offered a sympathetic smile. “Something will come up, I’m sure of it.”
“Fingers crossed.”
Courtney turned the conversation away from recounting her catalogue of personal problems. She’d already shared more than she should have, and Travis was her employer, strictly speaking. He surely didn’t want to hear about her disastrous life.
