Page 43 of About that Fling
Jenna stifled a snort. “That’s my line.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Look, I’m meeting with a PR firm tomorrow. Tell Gertrude not to worry about it.”
“I don’t think she is.” Jenna bit her lip. “The thing is, I’m not sure she knows, and she was sick last week?—”
“Gertrude is sick?”
“Well, not on her deathbed or anything. Just a touch of food poisoning, but she’s an old woman. Her health is frail, and I don’t want anything to upset her.”
“I hear you.” Michelle fell silent a moment, thinking. “Listen, I’ll do my best to keep the speculation going without letting them actually track her down. A little mystery is good for book sales.”
“I can imagine. I’ve been watching her sales rankings.”
“Great, right? You don’t think Gertrude has noticed?”
“No. She said something this morning about not being online all week.”
“She does that when she’s on deadline. Doesn’t like the distraction.”
“Good,” Jenna said. “That’s good. I don’t want her distracted, either.”
“I’ll definitely need to talk this over with Gertrude if the bloodhounds sniff any closer.”
“Got it,” Jenna said. “I’ll, um—I’ll try to keep her calm.”
“Calm, hell—just keep her writing. She’s been ignoring me all week while she works on the next book in the series. I hope it’s going well?”
“I’m sure it is,” Jenna said, feeling a little guilty about the conversation. She didn’t talk to Gert about her writing career, so was it wrong to talk to her agent? “She’s been very focused the last week. We’ve hardly had time to talk, what with me working late and Gertie holed up in her room with her laptop.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” Michelle said, and disconnected the call.
By Friday evening, Jenna was jumping out of her skin. She’d only been home an hour, but she’d already changed into jeans and a comfy sweater. She glanced at the clock, dismayed to see it was only six fifteen. Why hadn’t she made plans with friends or done something to keep herself occupied?
She wandered down the hall, poking her head in to see what Aunt Gertrude was up to. The old woman was fluffing her hair in front of the mirror, her cheeks flushed and rosy. She looked up and smiled.
“Hello, dear. Good day at work?”
“Long day.”
“Oh? How are the negotiations going?”
Jenna shrugged. “I can’t really talk about it, but it’s okay. It’s just tough balancing my regular workload on top of the stuff with the bargaining team, you know?”
“I can imagine. You’ve been putting in some late hours this week.”
Jenna shrugged. “At least it’s Friday. Any chance you want to order pizza and watch a movie?”
“I’d love to, dear, but I have a date.” Gertie fastened a clip-on earring to her lobe and eyed Jenna up and down. “Speaking of dating, isn’t it time you got out there?”
“I’ve been out there. I’m just not sure I’m ready for a relationship right now, and anyway?—”
“Sweetie, it’s been two years since you broke off the engagement. Besides, who said anything about a relationship?” She patted Jenna’s hand and gave her a kindly smile. “I just want you to have some sex.”
Jenna felt the heat creep into her cheeks. “I did. A little over a week ago, remember?”
