There were only a few scenes I was hesitating on, unsure if they were a little too taboo to tie to Chase and Evan’s current pen names.
“Do you think this is going to turn off Evan’s reader base? I know some of them weren’t supportive of the last release. I don’t want to lose readers for either of them over this.”
Adrian’s lips quirked to the side while he tilted his head, looking contemplative. If I’d asked this question in the office, he would have blurted out something totally inappropriate or offensive by now, but I could see he was genuinely trying to do better controlling his filter.
“Those readers are already drifting. While this might entirely push them away from his work, there will probably be just as many who would eagerly devour this kind of content.”
“Wow,” I teased, not expecting that succinct of an answer. “And you thought only desperate housewives read these kinds of books.”
“I wasn’t that bad. I know spicy romance sells well. I’ve seen the quarterly sales reports.”
“Uh, yeah, you were that bad, Captain Dickhead. I believe the words mommy porn and self-insert fantasies of single, middle-aged romance writers were words that actually came out of your mouth.”
“Yeah, well. I get it now,” he shrugged, moving his leg to press up against mine.
We’d been sitting up against his headboard, laptops on our laps, editing in our underwear. I’d tried multiple times to put on a bra, but he just kept taking them off me every time a particularly compelling scene got to him.
“Only because you’re getting something else out of it.”
“That’s not entirely true. I think this book will sell. And you can’t deny their writing styles play well off each other. The chemistry between the main characters is explosive and you can’t easily predict the ending.”
“Okay. You made your point. You’re a changed man,” I teased, reaching over to kiss his bicep.
“Damn straight I am.”
“That still doesn’t answer my question. Does the scene in chapter twenty stay or not?”
Adrian knew exactly what scene I was talking about, quickly scrolling up to the passage that was throwing me off.
Frances looked between the two men sitting on the edge of her bed, smiling at their eagerness.
One watching her face, cataloging her every move. Ensuring she was alright with acting out his request. They both knew she had other partners, her job practically demanding it. But he’d never been in the room during an appointment with one of her clients.
Their relationship happened outside of her sessions, his need to please her feeding the part of her desperate for affection once she shed the mask of her profession.
Dominic’s open devotion after hours kept her soul fed, and her shattered heart pieced together.
She knew they both had deeper feelings for each other than they let on, but their dynamic worked as it was. There wasn’t a need to whisper words they both felt when saying them aloud might alter things.
The other man practically beamed at her pleasure, desperate for the opportunity she’d given him.
It was rare she handed over control, but she trusted him to stay within the confines of their plans for the scene.
“Dom, stand and go to the chair,” she ordered, pointing at an armchair she’d moved close to the bed.
He didn’t hesitate, slowly lowering himself into the plush cushion and spreading his legs wide, his arms draped over the low sides. While this position would make some men look powerful. He looked exactly like he always did at her, waiting for his next command.
“Unzip your pants and pull yourself out, but don’t touch. I want to watch what this does to you.”
Dominic obeyed, lifting his hips to pull down his pants a fraction, his lack of undergarments displaying his half-hard cock laying against his upper thigh. He returned his hands to the arms of the chair, his posture entirely relaxed.
“Callum,” she murmured, turning toward the man still sitting on the edge of the bed. His eyes looked hungry, anticipating what was to come. He wanted to show off as much as Dominic wanted to watch. “Strip.”
“How can Dom just sit there and watch Callum putting his hands all over her? The reader already knows he’s in love with her at this point. Isn’t that just cruel?” Don’t get me wrong, the scene was starting off hot, but I couldn’t fathom sharing something.
“Is it the fact he’s there watching it that bothers you, or is it that you think he should be more possessive? Because Chase did a good job displaying Dominic’s understanding of the demands of her job. She gives other men their fantasies all the time.”
“But her job is totally different than her time with Dom. When she’s not Madame Frances, she’s just his Fanny.”