LITMIR.BIZ

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leaned forward. “Okay, so one day Bella calls me up with this terrific novel. Sorta like she did yesterday, but Ring Girl is much, much better. Anyway, I read it that weekend and wanted to buy it so I headed over to Bella’s office on Monday with an offer. But by the time I got there the author had dropped her as an agent.”

      “Someone dropped Bella Farentino? What writer does that?”

      She put her palms up. “I know. Whoda thunk it? Anyway, apparently over the weekend the author goes to a barbecue and her Dutch uncle tells her there’s no way an agent should get fifteen percent and that he can represent her for nothing.”

      “Was he an agent?”

      “No, he was a retired longshoreman.”

      “Huh?”

      Keira put up her hand. “Patience! The story gets better. And you can’t make up stuff this good even if you write fiction for a living. So she agrees to let Uncle Longshoreman pitch her book.”

      “But she already signed with Bella.”

      “Ah, but as you know, Bella operates on a handshake so there’s nothing in writing. So the author dumps Bella, who had already told her I was the editor that wanted to buy the book.”

      “Which means Bella could’ve filed a lawsuit if you’d bought the book, since she’d done the legwork.”

      “True, but that was never gonna happen for reasons I will explain shortly. So the Dutch uncle contacts me and starts to play hardball. I have no intention of buying the book because I’d never screw Bella, but I let the guy ramble on just to mess with his head. He wants double what I was going to offer and a laundry list of perks. National book tour with first-class airline tickets, hotel suites, limos, you name it. The book was good, but it wasn’t that good. Anyway, after I turned him down the guy was like a bull in a china shop and no editor wanted to deal with him. So the book went unsold.”

      “Why didn’t the author go back to Bella? Or find another agent?”

      “She tried both, but by that time the story had gotten around and no one wanted anything to do with her. And, if you cross Bella once, you’re basically dead to her. Publishing is a very small, closed group, and gossip moves at the speed of light. Gossip between agents and editors went viral way before the internet existed. Bella knows everyone. Everyone knows Bella.”

      Alexander nodded. “So that’s why you were nervous.”

      “Yep. Bella says there’s always a possibility of Dutch uncle deja vu. Which is why both of us like to make quick deals. And why I showed up at one minute after nine.” She offered him a soft smile. “Of course, now that I’ve met you I realize I obviously had nothing to worry about.”

      “Nope. Never worked as a longshoreman.” He returned the smile, which sent a warm feeling through her body. “Obviously I have nothing to worry about with you either.”

      She furrowed her brow. “How do you mean?”

      “Oh, you know. There are all these tales on the internet about ball-busting editors and those who change the story completely and drive writers crazy. Bella had already assured me you were the perfect editor for the book, that you could actually make it better without changing the plot. But, you know, a person always worries until they actually meet someone.”

      “So we both have nothing to worry about.”

      “Apparently.”

      They both went back to their meals and then it hit Keira. One thing was definitely different about this guy.

      He actually listened to her.

      Keira beamed as she walked into her office.

      Gretch was bouncing up and down on her heels. “You got it?”

      “Signed, sealed, delivered.”

      “Yessss!” Her assistant threw her hands in the air, then studied her face. “Wait a minute… you got that look.”

      “Yeah, I just bought a bestseller.”

      She shook her head as her eyes locked with Keira's and looked closer. “No, there’s more. You got that look you get when you meet a nice guy.”

      “It’s that obvious?”

      “You’re all flushed like you’re ready to lay back and light up a cigarette even though you don’t smoke. What, did Bella get a hot new male associate?”

      “Nope. But get this… the author is a four-hundred-pound agoraphobe.”

      “A what-a-phobe?”

      “One of those incredibly shy people afraid to leave the house.”

      Gretch grew a worried look, bit her lower lip and took Keira’s hands. “Oh, sweetie, if you’re getting turned on by an antisocial morbidly obese woman, this is a cry for help.”

      Keira couldn’t help but laugh. “No, Gretch, I’ve not given up on men. But, you’re right. I met one.”

      “So if it’s not someone in Bella’s office, who is it?”

      “The author’s cousin. Apparently she’s so terrified of being out in public, he acts as her intermediary. And you’ll love this part… he’s exactly like the guy in Ring Girl.”

      “Excuse me?”

      “The hero. Jamison. Obviously the author wrote the character with her cousin in mind.”

      “So what’s his name?”

      “Alexander Bauer.”

      “And the author’s name is Alex Bauer, right?”

      “Right.”

      “So let me get this straight because I’m getting confused… a writer named Alex, who is a very large woman that never leaves the house, uses her cousin Alexander as the template for Jamison?”

      “Sure seems that way. Anyway, he took me to breakfast after we did the deal at Bella’s office. And it turns out I’ll be working closely with him on the book.”

      “You’re gonna work with a guy on a romance novel?”

      “He said he was intimately familiar with the book. Just to be sure, I asked him about a few obscure facts that were in it and he wasn’t kidding. He knows it like the back of his hand, and even served as the proofreader. And he reads the genre. Big fan of Rose. Anyway, I think there’s some chemistry there.”

      “With Jamison.”

      “No, Alexander, who I think is based on Jamison. Wait, I got it backwards. Jamison is based on Alexander.”

      “Who was written by Alex. Who is a woman.”

      “Right.”

      Gretch shook her head. “I’m gonna need a scorecard on this… ménage-à-whatever. Considering one of those involved is fictional. So why do you think there’s chemistry?”

      “He played one of my favorite songs on the juke box. Bobby Darin. Mack the Knife.”

      She rolled her eyes. “Oh, for God’s sake, you went to that Greek diner to celebrate a six-figure deal?”

      “You know I love that place.”

      “And because you two like the same golden oldie you think he’s interested?”

      “That was just one little thing. When I was talking he was actually paying attention instead of the usual guy-tuning-me-out bobblehead. But at one point he locked eyes with me and gave me this look that went right into my soul. Anyway, you’ll meet him tomorrow morning. I invited him to the office to give him a tour and meet the team.”

      “You sure that’s safe with a floor full of women who are working in the equivalent of dating Guantanamo?”

      Keira

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