Page 42 of Booked for Summer

Yours sincerely

Temp manager of shop you want to knock down

The bathroom door opened and Claire slipped out on a cloud of sophisticated scent. ‘Okay, I think I’m ready.’

‘Great.’ Jade pushed her phone into her pocket and eyed her curiously. ‘Are you one of those Liam Haven haters you mentioned?’

‘I’ve only met him a couple of times, so I don’t know him well enough to like or dislike him.’ Claire winked. ‘Though I will say he is one seriously hot guy and, I don’t mind admitting, the inspiration behind a few of my heroes.’

Just as she was about to follow Claire back downstairs, Jade’s phone beeped with another email notification.

Jade

Was that an invitation to attend?

Yours sincerely

The Boss

PS: I’m much happier with you using the whip and handcuffs on me than the knife.

* * *

Liam tapped his fingers restlessly on the desk, his attention wandering, yet again, to his inbox. Why had he emailed her?

And why was he waiting for a reply like some hormone-driven teenager?

Sex, that was all it was. He wanted to have sex with her again. And maybe some fun because God knows, she was definitely that. She was also anemployeewho knew more about him than he should have allowed, and who was actively working against him, trying to fuck up his carefully laid-out plans.

So the wise course of action was to close his email and ignore the voice telling him he could walk back to his boat via the bookstore; he could check in on the presentation that he knew, thanks to Jeremy, was taking place right now with Nantucket’s illustrious romance author, Claire Kennedy. Just to see how many people had turned up.

Damn it. He shut his laptop with a snap and jumped to his feet. Minutes later, he found himself pushing open the door to Little Bay Book Shack.

The door chime sounded– shit that was loud– and everyone turned to stare at him. A sea of mainly female faces, expressions ranging from annoyance to surprise, horror to amusement. He scanned the space, desperately seeking out bright blonde hair.

‘Liam.’ Hearing his name, he turned to see a face he recognised, Ashley’s friend, the author. ‘Good to see you, do come and join us.’ Her mouth twitched in a way that made his stomach sink. ‘We were just discussing sex.’

Jesus Christ. His face must have spoken volumes because, from the back of the store, he heard a soft explosion of giggles.Therewas his blonde. The sole reason he’d apparently lost his mind and stepped into a presentation given by an author of romantic fiction when he didn’t even like books, never mind romance books.

Jade stood up and pointed to her chair, clearly indicating for him to sit on it. Taking a breath, he ignored the very interested stares of those already seated and weaved his way towards her.

Thankfully, Claire started talking again, diverting the attention back to where it should be. Even if that did involve asking the audience what they thought made a good sex scene.

‘I’m only taking your seat if you sit on my lap,’ he murmured.

She gave him a pointed look. ‘I don’t think that’s appropriate. Boss.’

He sighed, cursing his slip. It was hard to take the wise, stay away, course of action when she looked so cute, so perky, sotempting.

He watched as she eyed up the counter behind them and, in one nimble motion, levered herself onto it. ‘Ouch!’

A few of the women sitting within hearing distance turned in her direction and she gave them an apologetic smile. ‘I sat on the stapler.’

Deciding he preferred to stand, he moved behind her and bent to whisper in her ear. ‘You’ve sat on larger recently and not complained.’

She twisted to stare back at him, eyes a cool blue. ‘I got hurt then, too, the pain was just more delayed.’

He hissed in a breath. Why the hell had he come? Jade didn’t want him here. The readers who’d turned up to have an open discussion with their favourite romance author didn’t want him here, either.

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