Page 20 of Betting on the Bad Boy
“Nice? What does ‘nice’ look like?”
Steph clucked her tongue. “Nice is looking like mid-five figures. Hopefully, you don’t have big plans over the next month or two?”
“Oh, my gosh.” My mind rushed through a mental inventory of my to-do list. “Whatever you need, Steph.”
“I knew I could count on you. I’m working out the details and will give you a call as soon as I hear something.”
“Great. Thanks.”
“Buckle up, Faith. I have a feeling this is going to be huge. You really nailed it.Carnal Knowledgewill be out in a couple of weeks and they’re talking about a late spring release for this one. We’ll need to know what else you’re working on so we cansubmit your book proposals for the next three. Can you throw something together and email it to me?”
Stunned, I forced myself to reply. “Sure. I’ll send you something over the weekend.”
“Fantastic. Talk to you soon.”
Steph disconnected, and I sat momentarily paralyzed. When I’d sent in the manuscript forCarnal Knowledge, I had to wait a year before a publishing house acted on it and another eighteen months for it to go to print. How could they move so quickly on this one?
A four-book deal with a major publisher? WithCarnal Knowledgescheduled to release in just a few weeks and four more on the way, I’d be set for quite a while.
As the realization of what had just happened hit me, the cold fingers of panic wrapped around my heart. What if I couldn’t come up with anything to write about? What if someone figured out who I really was?
I closed my eyes and shook my head from side to side. Not going to go there. By the time I fulfilled my contract, I’d probably be close to getting tenured and would be putting an end to my erotic romance writing days.
Vowing to just enjoy the moment, I let out a high-pitched squeal, and cranked up the music playing through my headphones.
Dante
I satacross from the group I was mentoring at a long table on the fourteenth floor of the library. They were supposed to be working on their project, although I seemed to be the onlyone who’d bothered to get anything done. Me and three female students.
The Entrepreneurial Leadership prof had assigned each small group a struggling local business. The students were supposed to apply what they’d been learning in the program and come up with a business plan to help the merchant gain some traction and turn things around. The group I was mentoring was tasked with figuring out how to salvage the Sashay Salon.
Oh sure, we’d had our pick of businesses to work with. I’d tried steering them toward the sports bar, the laundromat, and when it looked like all three of them were going to veto anything that didn’t have to do with women, even the women’s consignment boutique. They ended up voting me down, saddling me with a freaking beauty shop.
Brittany smacked her gum and pointed the end of her pen at the new logo she’d designed. Swirls of pink ribbon on a white background with the words “Sashay Salon” in metallic purple in the middle. Made me want to hurl.
I didn’t know much about salons or women, but I’d been arguing with her for fifteen minutes that there was such a thing as being too feminine. Bethany called for a truce so she could go get a power bar at the vending machine.
I got up to stretch my legs and visit the restroom. Working with these women got me frustrated as hell, and I needed to take a break before I said something I’d regret. As I walked down the hall toward the bathroom, music drifted into the hallway from one of the study carrels. I slowed down and glanced through the small window as I passed.
Well, I’ll be damned. Maybe she actually was capable of having fun.
Faith’s hands waved in the air and her hips gyrated as she danced to the music coming from her phone. A smug smile played across her lips and her eyes were closed.
I let out a loud laugh and quickly covered my mouth. She stopped moving abruptly, and her eyes flew open. I dropped down under the window to stagger past the doorway in a crouch.
As soon as I cleared the door, I stood up and ran down the hall. The door of the study carrel crashed open as I ducked into the bathroom. Maybe the ice princess was capable of having a good time. I’d have to figure out a way to see that side of her again. Seemed like I only ever got to see the pissed-off version of her. The fun version seemed a lot more, well, fun.
I took the long way back to the table. The team was still arguing over the damn pink and purple logo. I thunked a fist down on the table. “Black and silver, come on. The client said she’s trying to attract both men and women. You really think guys are going to want to walk into a place decked out in pink and purple bows?”
That sure shut them up. Bailey proposed a vote, and two to one, they voted on a black and silver color scheme. If every decision was going to take this long, we’d better start meeting five times a week instead of just two.
“What’s next?” I looked around the table at the three of them.
“We need to allocate her advertising budget,” Brittany said.
At that moment, a wad of paper sailed across the table and landed on the notebook in front of me. Four pairs of eyes looked up in search of the source of the paper wad. Faith stood about ten feet away. She had her bag slung over her shoulder and appeared to be on her way out.
Pissed off sure looked good on her. I leaned back in my chair and pushed my glasses up on my nose. “Hi, Faith. Fancy seeing you here.”
