Page 36 of Rating the Book Boyfriend

Libby tilts her head and squints one eye. “You look like Ron Jeremy, pre-pot belly and receding hairline.”

“I take that as a compliment, milady,” he says with a little bow. Salazar is in full flirt mode, and it aggravates the shit out of me.

“I’m Ty Mills,” my other friend says, rising to shake her hand. “Have a seat.”

The only open seat is beside Salazar-the-mustachioed, so she sits there while I reluctantly take my place beside Mills.

“Sooo,” Salazar drawls, “how do you two know each other, and why haven’t you introduced us before?” He does the wide eyes across the table at me.

Libby gives me a soft smile that tells me she’s not going to spill the Book Boyfriend secret. “We know each other from the book community,” she says instead.

“Are you a model too?” he asks, propping his chin in his hand and giving her the full Penn Salazar treatment. “Because a beauty like you certainly should be.”

Oh for fuck’s sake.

“Libby is a romance author,” I offer.

“Do you write the spicy stuff?” he asks, waggling his eyebrows.

“Would you think less of me if I said yes?” she asks coyly, and Salazar laughs like that’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard.

“Certainly not.” The asshole leans even closer, and all I want to do is put some kind of barrier in his face. Like my fist. “How do you get the inspiration for your spicy scenes? From personal experience?”

“More like wishful thinking,” she says with a wry grin.

My flirty-ass friend continues. “I’ve got a great idea for a book. A romance author—let’s call her Likky—meets a handsome, intelligent attorney who we’ll call Peen. She instantly falls for his superb facial hair and the witty pink T-shirt he’s wearing, so he offers her a mustache ride.”

Laughter bursts from her lips, and she slaps his arm. “Likky and Peen? You’re funny, Penn.”

“Funny-looking,” I mutter under my breath, earning me a quizzical look from Mills beside me.

“Just hear me out. What starts out as a bit of fun turns into the most sensual night of their lives.” He drops his voice to a sultry tone. “The charming Peen can’t get enough of the extremely gorgeous Likky, and he treats her like a fucking princess. They fall madly in love and ride off into the sunset in his red Ferrari. That would be fucking epic.”

Libby raises an eyebrow at him. “What do you do for a living, Penn?”

“Moi? Why, I’m a criminal defense attorney.”

“And what kind of car do you drive?”

“I have several, but my favorite is my vintage Ferrari.”

“Let me guess… red?”

“The same color as those lovely lips of yours,” he purrs. “And let me assure you, the resemblance to our masculine, well-endowed hero is purely coincidental.”

I hear a growling noise and realize it’s coming from my own throat. Mills elbows me.

“It’s a nice story, but there’s no conflict,” Libby says. “I pride myself on writing spicy stories that also have a plot.”

“Ooh, I’ve got a plot twist for you,” Mills adds, his green eyes sparkling with mischief. “The idiot hero has a best friend named… Romeo, who harbors a secret crush on the heroine.”

Now it’s my turn to throw an elbow—hard—and Mills yelps. Libby looks at him in concern, and he pounds the end of his fist against his chest and feigns a cough. “Sorry. Swallowed wrong.”

“Well, I think we’re getting somewhere with this story now,” she muses before leaning forward on her forearms. I try not to notice how that move pushes her cleavage up, but I am unsuccessful. “What if we make it really juicy, and Likky can’t decide between the two men?”

“How will she decide?” Mills asks, getting into the story now.

Libby purses her lips and rolls her eyes up to the ceiling. “Umm, maybe… Ooh, I know. There can be a fuck-off to see who she’s most compatible with.”

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