Page 103 of Foreplay on Words

“Kristine, seriously. Leave the guy alone.”

She turned her intense gaze back on Chase. “Fine. Maybe I’m mistaken, but I doubt it.”

“Anyway,” she sighed. “You better come up with something, or she’s gonna take it out on me.”

We heard a phone buzzing, and Kristine reached into her pocket.

“Damn. I’m being summoned. Good to see you, Chase. I’m sure I’ll see you around.” She quickly tapped onto her screen and then walked to the counter. The cashier handed her a large paper bag, and she took off out the door with a salute in our direction.

“Who was that?” I breathed, my heart still racing a little.

“Kristine,” Chase sighed as she poked at her bowl. Most of the rice was gone by now.

“I got that much.”

“She’s one of Isobel’s interns. She does copy editing,” she explained.

So that’s why she was so insistent she knew me.

“She seems a little...”

“Intense. Yeah,” she agreed. “She’s a force to be reckoned with, but she’s good at her job. And ‘dickhead’ is Adrian. She never calls him by his real name.”

“Well, he is kind of a dick. Makes perfect sense.”

She laughed as she poked at my half-eaten burger with her fork. “Finish up. We’ve got work to do.”

“Yes, Mistress.”

Chase

Boston

Isobel: It’s Friday, and my inbox is suspiciously empty...

Isobel: Quit ghosting me, or I’m sending Kristine to your building for proof of life.

Isobel: Seriously, Chase, I need pages, or you have to apply for a submission extension.

Shit. I guess I couldn’t ignore Is anymore. I had three chapters done, but I was completely absorbed in writing with Evan. I’d never flaked out on submissions before. I’d been writing up to the very last minute sometimes, but I’d never outright ignored and dismissed an agreed-upon deadline.

Chase: I’m sending you what I’ve got so far but get me the extension paperwork.

Fuck—now she was calling me.

“Yes,” I answered cautiously. I had a feeling she was about to give me an earful.

“What the hell, Chase?” She did not sound happy with me. “You have nothing to say for yourself?”

“I’m stuck,” I whispered. Lying to her wasn’t something I was proud of, but I couldn’t draw focus from our project when we were making consistent progress.

“You seemed to be fine until I had to farm you out. What the hell is going on?”

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to come out to her yet. She was bound to tell Adrian, and I couldn’t volunteer info if I hadn’t cleared it with Evan.

“I need another two months, and then I promise I will get back to this...” I begged. Evan and I should have a rough draft proofed by then, and I could devote whatever I needed to my draft once this set of characters was out of my head. Writing a romantic comedy when I was elbows deep in dead bodies, and bondage was the last thing on my mind.

“Two more months!” she shrieked, and I shied away from the phone, holding it away from my ear. “You were supposed to have this manuscript done and submitted in two months!”

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