Page 25 of Echo

“Looking into me?” I echoed, turning to glare at Brodie. “So you knew a lot more about me than just that I was an audiobook narrator when you rescued me from Jeff that day?”

“Not much,” he insisted with an unrepentant grin. “Didn’t read the report too closely.”

“Really?” I asked, my brows drawn together.

Brodie traced his finger over my lips, nodding. “Once I saw your picture, I fell even harder for your face than your voice.”

“Awww,” Stella cried, sniffling. “Who knew that Echo had such a way with words?”

“Hey, now. I’m damn good with sweet-talking you, baby,” King objected, stroking his thumb across her cheek to capture the tear that spilled out of her eye.

Stella laughed softly. “So good that I had your baby less than a year after we first met.”

“Chill, Prez.” Wizard shot a wicked smile at Brodie. “At least you don’t need to worry about your woman recording sex scenes with another guy.”

“What the fuck?” Brodie growled, pushing on my chin to tilt my face toward him. “What exactly does recording sex scenes with another guy entail?”

“Absolutely nothing sexy, that’s for sure,” I muttered, casting a dirty look Wizard’s way as best I could.

“Explain,” Brodie demanded.

“Most of the books I’ve narrated have either been solo or dual narration, where I just record my chapters on my own.” I winced, already knowing how much he wouldn’t like what I had to say next. “But Thea wanted to give duet narration a try on her next book, which requires more collaboration between her male narrator and me.”

“What kind of collaboration?” Brodie asked.

At the same time, Wizard muttered, “He’s nothermale narrator, just the one she hired for the job.”

Ignoring his club brother—for now—I focused on the person who mattered to me, Brodie. “Duet narration means that we each handle our character’s lines of dialogue, even when the chapter is in the other character’s point of view.”

“Fuck,” Brodie groaned, heaving a deep sigh.

“If it’s any consolation, I’ve only done two other books as a duet and am not a big fan of it.” I patted his muscular thigh with an apologetic smile. “If any other author besides Thea asked me to take on this project, I probably would’ve turned them down. And I don’t have more books lined up that require duet narration. I can turn them down in the future, if you prefer.”

“I hate to limit your career when you’ve worked so hard to make a name for yourself, but I gotta admit I’m not a fan of you recording sex scenes with another guy, even if it’s just acting and from completely different rooms.”

I didn’t miss how some of the tension in his shoulders eased at my offer. And if I was being completely honest with myself, I got a feminine thrill over how possessive Brodie was of me. But that didn’t mean I would keep doing something I didn’t even enjoy just to push that particular button. “I’m not going to take a hit by turning down duet narration projects. I have a long list of clients who like working with me and get plenty of inquiries from new ones each week. I will need to start slowing down on how many I accept anyway, if I want to have time to spend with you.”

“I’ll make it worth your while, baby,” he vowed before kissing me, not caring that his club brothers were watching.

“Another one bites the dust,” Ace joked, elbowing Wizard in the side. Brodie had introduced me to him when we arrived, explaining he was the club’s treasurer. With a warning to never play cards against the guy because he was too damn good and didn’t mind cheating when necessary. Not that anyone had ever been able to prove it.

Wizard shook his head. “When I claim my woman, I’m not gonna be pussy-whipped enough for her to act out hot-as-fuck sex scenes with another guy.”

“Quit starting shit,” King rumbled. “I read somewhere that babies are sensitive to their environment. Don’t need Cadell to get all worked up.”

Wizard raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Sorry, Prez.”

Cadell let out a soft cry, and everyone’s attention turned to the baby. I heaved a sigh of relief to have their focus off Brodie and me.

He dipped his head to my ear and rasped, “You okay?”

I smiled up at him with a nod. “Yeah, I’m still curious about why Thea’s books are stuck in Wizard’s brain, but I’m having fun.”

“There’s a reason we go to him when we need intel to be gathered.” At my quirked brow, he added, “But I will admit that it’s strange since there was no reason for him to dig up anything on the authors you work for beyond their names.”

“I’m glad you can see it, too.”

I started to glance at Wizard, but my attention was pulled back to Brodie when he added, “And the guy you’re doing that duet narration with.”

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