Page 71 of Bitter Confessions

“You’ll block me.”

He wasn’t wrong, and it irritated her that she hadn’t made the leap yet, but he already had. “There can’t be that many men anyway.”

“You’d be surprised how many clueless men are looking for answers, but I doubt they’ll find it in the romance community.”

She waved her hand. “What women want in real life and in fiction are completely separate.”

“You’re the exception to that rule.”

“What do you mean?”

“You put your desires, fantasies, and fears right there on the page because you thought no one would discover your true identity. But life has a way of bringing certain things to light, no matter how hard you try to hide them.”

“I’m banking on it,” she said with such conviction that he took his eyes off the road.

They stared at one another long enough for her heartbeat to accelerate. Just when she was about to tell him to look back at the road, he did so. She inwardly cursed his nerves of steel as he cruised along 6th Avenue.

“We’ll see,” he said coolly before he asked, “So where does Johanna Ledger’s latest book rank amongst her other work?”

“You remember the author’s name too?”

“Not hard to remember. You had a whole shelf dedicated to her in college.”

He was shocking the hell out of her today. “Did you read any of them?”

He took in her flushed cheeks. “Something tells me I should.”

“Don’t,” she warned. If he read Johanna’s books, he’d know where her kinks stemmed from. To distract him, she said, “I think Ballad of Deception’s the best thing she’s ever written. But it’s in danger of being booted from retailers because it isn’t PC.” When he frowned, she patted his arm. “‘PC’ stands for politically correct.”

He captured her hand and brought it to his mouth. “She’s a romance author. Why does her work have to be politically correct?”

“My thoughts exactly. We’re writers, not politicians running for office.”

She was grateful for a topic to rant about so she wouldn’t have to focus on the way he brushed his lips back and forth against her palm.

“Ballad of Deception’s already been taken down from one retailer, and it may get taken down from others if people don’t get their heads out of their asses. Unfortunately, there are still readers wearing bonnets and clutching their pearls over a few violent, experimental sex scenes. They also don’t like some of the compromising situations the character was put into.” Her free hand sliced through the air. “It’s fiction. That’s where we’re supposed to push the boundaries. Where else should we indulge our fantasies—in real life? Art and stories are supposed to make people uncomfortable, to provoke conversation. I swear, movies and music are lightyears ahead of the literary world. Have you listened to rap recently?”

“Can’t say I have,” he murmured as he stopped at a traffic light.

“I’ll play you some songs that will make you realize authors get so much unwarranted harassment and pushback. I hate it.” She sighed. “Anyway, I messaged Johanna Ledger to fangirl and see if I could be of any assistance to keep her book from being censored.”

“And?” Roth prompted when she stopped.

“And she wrote me back.” She still couldn’t believe it.

“Why wouldn’t she? I’m surprised you haven’t connected with her before. You’re a writer, she’s a writer...”

“We aren’t in the same category. She’s huge, and I’m...” She waved that away. “I was high off the book and went temporarily insane. I never would have reached out to her otherwise. Can you believe she’s heard of me?” Giddy all over again, she buried her face on his arm and let out a little squeal. “She’s my hero. If I ever met her, I’d probably faint or cry.”

When Roth chuckled, she playfully bit his arm, catching sight of a woman standing on the corner with her phone turned in their direction. Was she recording them? As they made eye contact, the light turned green, and the Bentley glided forward.

“Do you want me to look into it?” Roth asked, drawing her attention back to him.

“Look into what?”

“Keeping her books on retailers.”

Her breath caught. “You can do that?”

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