And we’ve been doing… other stuff. The sort of stuff that wouldn’t be appropriate in the workplace. He’s been keeping me up late, working my body, getting me off. It’s been a heady mix of sex and work and everything else, and it feels so, so good.
I can see this. I can see it all happening. I can see working with him day in and day out and having this relationship. I don’t know if he wants to take it beyond what we have right now, but there’s a part of me that’s starting to wonder.
I don’t want to tell him that, of course. I don’t want to seem weird or pathetic. We’re only just getting started, and this is my biggest test of all today. If I can get this book on track, he’s going to make me a partner.
And from there, who knows, but one step at a time.
Julian glances out his window and gives me a quick kiss. “For luck,” he says.
I blush a little. I don’t know why I still blush. I mean, the man’s seen and tasted every inch of my body, and yet a little kiss in his office drives me wild.
“I’ll need it.”
“Nah, you won’t.” He looks up again and smiles. I follow his gaze and spot Marcy pushing open his door.
“Julian, she’s here,” Marcy says, and gives me a pointed look.
I smile at her. “Thanks,” I say.
Everyone in the office knows about this meeting. I’ve been hearing the rumor mill going wild. Everyone keeps talking about how the boss is giving the most important account to some untrained, untested random girl. They all think it’s because I’m fucking him.
Well, they’re totally right.
Or maybe they’re not, at least not entirely. I don’t think he would’ve given me this chance if it weren’t for our relationship, but I also think he’s doing it because he genuinely believes in me. It’s a little bit of both. Nothing’s ever one thing.
I put it all out of my mind.
We stand up together.
“Go get her,” he says.
I nod once. I take a deep breath. And I march out of his office.
Haylee’s waiting for me in the conference room. She looks bored, but at least she’s nice and prepared. She has a bunch of pages in front of her, a new, fresh stack on one side, and the old pages in front of her with marks from our proofers and editors.
“Hey,” she says.
I sit across from her. “How are you?”
“Fine.” She yawns a little. “Up late writing again.”
“How’s it coming?”
“Good.” She glances down at the pages in front of her. “Lots of edits.”
“I know. Lots of stuff to go over.”
“Right.” She hesitates. “Look, about last time. I was a bitch to you and I’m sorry.”
Well, that takes the damn wind out of my sails.
“Uh, really?”
She nods. “Yep, really. Look, I’ve never given up control of my books before. When I saw all those edits and changes, I just sort of… freaked out. And I took it out on you, which isn’t fair. I wanted to work with you from the start, after all.”
“Really?”
I stare at her, totally flabbergasted.
I expected this huge fight. I expected her to push back on every single little change, to refuse to give an inch. I expected to bully her, fight her, claw at her.
Instead, she’s being… nice.
What the hell?
“Yeah, I mean, look. I know this book has issues.” She laughs and flips through the stack. “I freaking kill a main character randomly. I mean, seriously, who does that?”
I gape. “I, uh, was going to mention that.”
“Don’t worry.” She nods at the new stack. “I rewrote that whole part.”
“You… rewrote it?”
“Yep.” She grins at me. “Don’t worry.”
I feel like I might cry. Serious relief floods over me like a wave and I have to lean back to keep myself from groaning.
“Are you okay?” she asks.
“Yeah, fine.” I look away and steady myself. “I just expected a fight.”
She laughs. “You’re not getting off that easy. I admit that killing the main character was stupid but a lot of these changes…” She trails off, frowning. “Well, we have some stuff to go over.”
I take a deep breath and let it out. “Okay then. I guess we should get started.”
She smiles at me, and for the first time since I got involved with Julian and came to work here, I finally feel like I’m on level ground.
Haylee isn’t unreasonable. Well, she’s demanding and tough, but she’s not insane. She’s not going to tear my head off. She’s not going to try and keep stupid, story-killing scenes in the book just because it’s what she wants.
She’s actually going to work with me. At least, I hope so.
I open my portfolio, take out the pages, and we dive in together.“You’re fucking shitting me.”
Julian can’t help but laugh when I tell him all about the meeting.