Page 119 of Foreplay on Words

“God, you’re a dick,” Evan sighed, and I took a deep breath.

He wanted to marry me?

“What are you doing?”

“Shit.” I jumped as I turned around to face Kristine.

“Are you spying on your man?”

“No––maybe... I was coming to get him and didn’t want to interrupt,” I mumbled.

She rolled her eyes, shifting her weight to lean against the wall across from me. “Sounds like he handled himself pretty well.”

“So, you were spying too.”

She shrugged her shoulders with a grin. “I’ve got to be fully informed if I want to keep these clowns on their toes.”

“You’re sneaky,” I smiled. She really enjoyed knowing all the dirty details around here.

“A girl has got to have talents,” she proudly proclaimed as she nodded toward the door. “Is Sam in there?”

“I’m not sure. I haven’t heard him speak,” I told her. “What’s going on there?”

Despite her exaggerated eye roll, her pink cheeks gave her away. “I tolerate him. We were forced to ‘play nice’ for your little collaborations. And since we have another book to finish editing now, I still have to work with him.”

“Mmm-hmm. Looks exactly like ‘tolerance’ to me,” I laughed as she tried to look annoyed.

The rumored relationship between Is and Adrian might not be the only forbidden office romance brewing.

Evan

Connecticut

“You need to eat, baby.” I pulled the headphones from Chase’s head and talked quietly in her ear.

“I will. Give me a minute.”

“Chase, I’m beginning to feel like your parent.”

She sighed and closed the laptop lid, placing it on the table in front of her. “I’m sorry.”

Hugging her shoulders from behind, I pulled her back toward me. “You don’t need to be sorry, but you do need to eat something today. And you probably need to shower.”

She didn’t really smell per se, but she needed to recharge. She’d been pushing herself to meet this ridiculous deadline before we needed to leave for the book tour. I’d flat out told her we were leaving Boston if she was going to write. With fewer distractions, it’d be easier to clear her head. And we wouldn’t have to dodge running into people we knew.

Isobel had kept Adrian away from me and given us space. It would have been ideal for us to get some alone time, but she’d been absorbed in her work. I knew I was the same way when I was actively writing, but I’d never been on the other side of it. And living by yourself in the middle of nowhere meant no one cared if you stayed up until the middle of the night writing until you passed out on your keyboard. Not that I’d done that––much. “How’s the manuscript coming along?”

“I think I need a few more days. I might have the first draft done when we return to the city.”

“Are you ready for anyone to read it?” I was secretly dying to get my hands on another one of her books. A few months ago, I would’ve never admitted to reading smutty books in a single sitting, but Chase’s writing had hooked me from the beginning.

“I just want to get the first draft off to Is. She’s good at helping me focus and restructure my writing as needed.”

Disappointment over her dismissal bothered me momentarily before I nodded my head. Despite being a gigantic ass sometimes, Adrian was good at giving me constructive feedback. And she’d been working with Isobel for years, so waiting to read it wouldn’t kill me. “Is there anything I can do to help you relax?”

“Hmmm, pulling me out of my head is nice,” she sighed as she leaned back into my embrace.

“Can I run you a bath?”

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