Page 6 of Rating the Book Boyfriend

“Gem, you’re quiet. Everything okay?”

“Ya know, it’s not that bad of an idea.”

I exchange amused glances with JoJo and Ava. We’re used to this. Gemma often has entire conversations going on inside her head and forgets that the rest of us are not privy to what she’s thinking.

“What’s not a bad idea?”

She refills her glass from the new bottle of vodka JoJo produced from seemingly out of nowhere. After taking a long slug, she taps a perfectly manicured finger against her full lips, her eyes thoughtful.

“Training men to become book boyfriends.”

JoJo’s eyebrows lift to her hairline. “Well, yeah. That would be nice. Someone needs to do something with the current dating pool. It’s abysmal.”

Gemma’s eyes meet each of ours. “Just hear me out. What ifwestarted a business to do that?”

Ava giggles. “You want to turn Drill Sergeant Libby loose on the men of America?” Her eyes widen in excitement. “Ooh! Can we get her a whip?”

We all laugh at that. Except for Gemma. I can practically see her mind spinning as her teeth work back and forth against her bottom lip.

“Maybe not boot camp style—though I would love to see Libs wield a whip on some clueless sap—but why couldn’t we be consultants? We write the kind of men that women want, so why couldn’t we be hired to…educateguys?”

My pink lips twist to the side as I sit there stunned at what our friend is proposing. “But then some poor girl gets stuck with a man who’s just pretending.”

Gemma shakes her head back and forth, her bun bobbing from side to side. “No, not like that. We’d want them to be their authentic selves but just a better version. Teach them how to be more thoughtful.” Her finger wags back and forth between me and JoJo. “Like when Libby asked you for her coffee order earlier. You knew the answer immediately. I dated Aiden for years, and he was still clueless about my favorite coffee. And I order the same damn thing every time.”

“Sooo you want to help men learn their woman’s coffee orders?” I ask, skepticism coloring my tone.

“Among other things. I think there are a lot of good men out there, but some are clueless about a lot of things. They just need topay attentionto their woman’s needs. We could give them the tools they need to do that. To read verbal and non-verbal clues.”

JoJo’s dark-green eyes brighten. “You know, that might actually work. It’s definitely an untapped market with lots of potential.”

“I have a friend who reads my books with her boyfriend,” Ava tells us. “She said their relationship has really improved a lot since they started, and not just in the bedroom. She thinks it inspired him or something.”

I mull that over in my fuzzy brain. “So we could sell our books as instructional manuals? If we marketed to men as well as women, that might boost sales.”And the extra money couldn’t hurt.

Gemma’s shrewd gaze meets mine. “Not exactly what I was thinking. We should provide an actual service to clients who are interested.”

“And charge people for it?” I ask incredulously.

“Yeahhh,” JoJo breathes, seeming to warm up to the idea even more. “I imagine a lot of women would enroll their boyfriends in the… what would it be? An online course?”

Ava shakes her head. “It would be more personal if we met the clients face-to-face.”

I wave a hand at the insane people in front of me. “Y’all are talking like we’re actually going to do this.”

JoJo turns to me in challenge. “Why shouldn’t we? Who better to help men become book boyfriends than romance authors? We know all the tricks. And just think about how many women it would help. It could turn their man into theirdream manwith a little advice from four authors who know a thing or two about what women want.”

Okay, I like that idea… Helping women by guiding their men into the book-boyfriend domain.

“True,” I said slowly. “We all get tons of messages and reviews from readers saying they wish they could find a man like the ones in our books.”

“And though we write our men as uber attractive, I guarantee ninety percent of those women are more interested in how the book boyfriendsactthan their physical appearance.” Gemmastares down at her hands in her lap, and her voice softens. “Every woman wants to be treated with the respect she deserves.”

My heart breaks a little for her, and I stand before nudging her over and squeezing into the chair beside her so I can wrap her in a hug. Gemma Fairchild is a badass lawyer and as tough as nails, but I know her breakup with Aiden cut her deeply.

“You really think we can do it?” I ask.

Her lips curl up into a smile as she blinks away her emotions. “Fuck yeah, we can. I think it could be something really great.”

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