Page 110 of Only Lovers in the Building

They crossed the deck and called the elevator. Just when it arrived, his phone rang.

“Who’s calling me?” he muttered wearily. His messy brows shot up when he read the screen. “Hold on, Lily. I have to take this. It’s my agent. She’s out in San Francisco. It’s still early there.”

The elevator came and went. Ben walked off to take the call. Lily sat at the pool’s edge and dipped in her feet. When he got off the phone, they’d head up to his place to order dinner, finish the novel, and write a review, as usual. Thereafter, they’d shower, slip into his bed, and make love again well into the night. Every day with Ben was a dream from which she never wanted to wake up. It only got better and better.

Ben paced the length of the pool, the phone pressed to his ear. At times he listened intently. Other times, he burst into laughter. Now he was repeating, “Are you serious?” Finally, he exclaimed, “I fucking love this!” Turning to her, he said, “Lily, Rebecca wants you on this call.”

Lily jumped. His agent wanted to speak with her? “Why me? What did I do?”

“You’ll find out.”

He sat next to her at the pool’s edge, a hand on the small of her back as if to brace her from sudden impact. He put the call on speaker. “Rebecca, she’s here.”

A steady voice came over the phone’s speaker. “Hello, Lily. This is Rebecca Blackwell with Blackwell and Associates. I’ve been Ben’s agent for a decade now. We handle everything from publishing to media.”

Rebecca had handled their podcast deal, but Lily hadn’t dealt with her personally. Ben had served as the intermediary. “It’s nice to speak with you.”

“A New York editor reached out today. She’s with one of the Big Five publishing houses.”

Lily’s heart tanked. There was only one way this conversation could go. Ben had been made an offer, one that was too good to pass up and which would require all his time and attention. Like Lily’s father, Rebecca was calling to get Ben to quit reading smut, quit the silly podcast, and get back to work. She wouldn’t stand in his way to greatness. But what Rebecca said next made no sense at all.

“He follows you on BookTap and loves your voice.”

Lily blinked, confused. Those BookTap posts certainly had a long reach.

“From there he moved on to the podcast, and he’s hooked.”

“Thanks. I’m flattered.”

“He believes you have something there.”

“Well, it’s a joy to do,” Lily said, still confused.

“He thinks you have the makings of a book, and he wants to make you an offer. He assumed I represent you both, but of course I don’t. Maybe I ought to? What do you think?”

“A book?” Lily jerked and kicked up water. “I told Ben romance novels are my escape. I don’t want to write one.”

“We talked about this,” Ben said. “There are other options.”

“No one is asking you to be the next Nora Roberts,” Rebecca said. “What interests the editor are your thoughts on the subject. The way you analyze how common romantic tropes often fizzle in real life.”

It was clear that she wouldn’t reveal the editor’s name, establishing herself as the go-between. Lily respected the strategy, but moving forward she’d need more information.

“Ben could write the foreword, touching upon his experience working with you.”

“You’d do that?” Lily asked him.

“I’d do it for you,” he said.

That reassured her some, but not enough. What made them think she could write a whole book? A blog, maybe. This would require a lot of reshuffling and delay her return to her legal career. She didn’t know how she felt about that. On the other hand, one thing she’d learned this summer was not to turn down opportunities or talk herself out of anything.

“It’s settled,” Rebecca said. “Ben writes the foreword. Wrap it up in a bow and you’ve got a bestseller. We’d get you on the morning talk shows, the late-night shows, and dozens of podcasts.”

Lily turned to Ben, certain that he’d have a better perspective on this. By the look on his face, his perspective was no different from Rebecca’s. He beamed at her with pride.

“I can’t believe this,” Lily murmured.

“Believe it,” Rebecca said. “We’ve done more with less.”