Page 28 of The Book Club Boyfriend
For the first time in a long time…
Maybe I’m right where I’m supposed to be.
Chapter Nine
Ambushed
Scarlett
I wake up to golden morning light streaming through the bedroom window and the distant sound of waves lapping against the shore. For a few blissful moments, I lie there, warm beneath the covers, stretching lazily and letting my mind drift.
Then the memories hit.
The bonfire. The drinks. Chase.
I groan and drag a pillow over my face. Why did I have to notice him last night? The way his voice roughened when he teased me. The way his smirk made my pulse do stupid things. The way his stupidly golden skin glowed in the firelight.
I blame the alcohol.
Except I’m not hungover. Not even a headache. Meaning I can’t even excuse the fluttering feelingin my stomach as the result of one too many hard seltzers. The memory of him drinking me in like I was the most interesting thing at the fire pit settles somewhere deep.
I exhale sharply and shove the covers off. This is fine. I am fine.
Chase is an overconfident hockey player with a face carved by the gods and an ego twice the size of Lake Michigan. I don’t even like him. We are not friends. I’m just momentarily experiencing a lapse in judgment due to prolonged exposure. Nothing a little distance can’t fix.
I throw on some clothes and shuffle out of my room, desperate for coffee. But the second I step into the kitchen, I hear it.
Click-clack. Click-clack. Click-clack.
Harper’s fingers fly across the keyboard at warp speed, her phone wedged between her ear and her shoulder.
“Mmhm… right, but what if we lean into the controversy?” she says, pausing just long enough to grab her coffee mug and take a sip. “Exactly. Make it an event, something people can’t resist clicking on.”
I pause in the doorway, frowning. “What are you doing?”
Harper jerks upright as if she forgot I existed, spins to face me, and grins. “Oh, you’re up! I have the BEST idea.”
I narrow my eyes, but she ends her call and launches into a full-on TED Talk.
“Okay, so you know how you’ve been struggling with your book? And how you may or may not have gone viral for that, uh… super spicy take on romance novels last month?”
I groan. “Harper—”
“No, listen!” She waves me over like an excited toddler who’s just built a LEGO masterpiece. “I was talking to a few PR people I know, and we’ve got a genius plan that will solve all your problems.”
“Uh-huh.” I grab my coffee, take a long, slow sip, and brace myself. “Do I want to know?”
“Oh, absolutely. You’re going to co-host a romance book club.”
I nearly spit my coffee. “I’m sorry, WHAT?”
Harper grins, hands in the air liketa-da!
I gape at her. “You’re joking.”
“Nope.” She types something into her laptop, then spins it around so I can see an email chain titled Re: The PR Stunt of the Century.
My stomach drops.
