Page 111 of Just One Silver Fox

“That, too. Now go take your class.” With that, Diane was gone and Nate had another assignment.

* * *

Sonia was feelinglike the luckiest person in the world, with one notable exception. The response to her podcast was off the charts. Her nightmare had faded away with barely a whimper. She and Katia had worked out their lines for Saturday. Pierce had not only agreed to her request for bodyguards, but said that he’d send two and be there himself, free of charge.

She knew who she wanted one of those bodyguards to be.

When her phone rang Thursday night and she saw that it was Nate, she pounced on the call. “Hi!”

“Whoa,” he said with a chuckle. “There’s a rare sign of enthusiasm.”

“Get used to it,” she said, feeling cocky.

“Not a chance,” he replied immediately.

Sonia felt a shadow of doubt. Nate sounded impersonal and indifferent, like he was calling a stranger. “What’s up?” she asked, wondering whether she wanted to know. She sat on the lip of her big cushy chair, uncertainty coiled in her gut.

“My sister wants to get in touch with you about a potential book deal,” he said. “F5F isn’t giving out your number. I told her I wouldn’t either, but that I could pass her number along to you. That way, you can contact her if you’re interested.”

“A book deal?” Sonia asked, as much to keep him talking as anything else.

“That’s what she does. She’s an editor at one of the big publishing houses.” He named the firm and Sonia recognized it. “She thinks you’re a phenomenon and wants to be first in line to secure your life story.”

Sonia caught her breath. “I don’t want to publish a biography.”

“I thought you might not. That’s okay. It’s up to you. I did, however, promise to give you Diane’s number, so you’ll have it if you change your mind.”

“Okay,” Sonia said, then wrote down the number he recited.

“Job done, then,” he said and she thought he might hang up.

“Are you one of the team coming Saturday?” she asked quickly.

There was a pause. “Does it matter?”

“Yes,” Sonia said emphatically. “It matters a lot, at least to me. I’d really like to see you again.”

“Sonia,” he growled in warning.

“You heard me the other night,” she said, wanting it all out in the open. “You heard me and you pretended not to.”

“It’s not polite to listen when people talk in their sleep.”

“I wasn’t asleep and neither were you.” She took a fortifying breath. “I wasn’t kidding, Nate. I love you.”

The silence was deafening.

“I do!” she insisted.

“Maybe right in this moment, Sonia, but not for good.”

“No,” she insisted. “You can’t believe that. We’re good together. My nightmares have stopped. We’re a great team and I want to keep going. I want more and I think you do, too.”

“No,” he said, his tone adamant. “I warned you about this.”

“How can you be afraid of taking a chance?” she demanded angrily. “How can you be afraid after you encouraged me so much?”

“Just because you want or need a new project, Sonia, you can’t expect it to be me,” he said with resolve. “I won’t let it be me.”

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