Page 66 of Austen Persuaded

I could ask Rainn for details on what I’d missed later, but this did not bode well for my future with the agency, whatever it was going to become.

When the meeting was finally over, I turned to Rainn, who gave me a sympathetic smile and quickly started leading me out of the room. What had I ever done to deserve such amazing best friends?He had to be worried about his own position, but he was more concerned about me. Just before we left the room though, I stopped. “Wait, Rainn, I just realized we should wait for Sofia—” I started saying but then stopped as I spotted her, standing close to Kylan. “Oh, she’s talking to him a–a–and … and they’re laughing.”

My eyes burned. Why, I didn’t know. The sight of Sofia standing so close to him, both of them smiling, made speech difficult. I managed to swallow with some effort. “Is she flirting?”

Rainn’s tone was monotone. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

I looked at him, surprised to see his face look stiff, his usually full lips set in a thin line.

When he noticed my gaze, he shrugged. “Or maybe she’s just being strategic, making friends with the new boss right away.”

My gaze landed on Sofia and Kylan again. “Maybe. That’s something she would do. And they’ve met before, at the book club, so I guess it’s not all that strange that she’d go say hi.”

Rainn agreed, “True. That’s probably it then. But, Annie …” He paused, pulling me gently out of the room and waiting until we were in the hallway away from most of the others. “Does it really bother you that much? I mean, if he were flirting with someone here? It could happen, you know.”

I opened my mouth, which made some shapes but no sound.

He sighed softly. “OK, I get it.”

“Rainn, I—” I started, recovering my voice and turning to him with eyebrows raised.

“Your secret is safe with me,” he said, putting his arm around me for a quick squeeze before we went back to our respective desks to pack up for the day. It was nearly time to sign off for the day—thank goodness, as I couldn’t handle the possibility of another encounter or even a distant sighting of Kylantoday.

“So, Annie,” Sofia said while spearing some salad onto her fork, “what did you think of Debbie, now that you’ve met her?”

I finished chewing my chicken pesto sandwich and then wiped my mouth carefully. “Well, I know you had some reservations about signing her, but I think you made the right choice. She seems really open to the changes we’re asking her to make, at least.”

Sofia nodded. “Yeah, she is. She’s sweet, and we need a lot more Black women authors. Above all, her writing was good. It’s just … well, Laina told me I was making a mistake, and sometimes I let her get in my head.”

“What’s the saying? Never let others live rent-free inside your head, or something like that,” I said with a sympathetic smile. “Easier said than done, I know.”

Sofia smiled and shook her head. “So true. All right, I promised we wouldn’t talk about work this whole lunch, so I’ll shut up about this.”

I smiled. “I don’t mind. I have no life outside of work right now.”

“Oh,” she said, wincing, “sorry to hear that. I can help you with that—”

“No, it’s actually just the way I want it. For now.”

Sofia eyed me thoughtfully. “Ah, I see. Just … don’t burn out, OK? I really like you, lady. The last thing I need is to find a new assistant.”

I laughed. “No danger of that. You’d have to drag me out, kicking and screaming.”

After a few moments while we continued eating, Sofia said, “Oh, I meant to tell you, when I had my first meeting with Kylan this afternoon, we talked a little about you actually.”

My heart rate seemed to triple as I feigned only mild interest. I’d known Sofia was meeting with him, of course. As Sofia’s assistant, I knew everything about her schedule, as well as Laina’s. Kylan was making the rounds and meeting with all the agents early on to get the lay of the land. With a forced calm, I asked, “You met with him?”

Sofia nodded. “I like him. I didn’t want to. I mean, he’s the rich, hot, privileged, white boy coming in to shake things up here.” She shrugged. “But there’s something about him.”

“Well, he wasn’t always rich,” I said, before I could stop myself.

“Oh?” Then she sat back in her chair and took a sip of iced tea. “That reminds me. You never told me you had a history.”

My heart rate quickened as I forced a smile. “Oh, I didn’t? Well, not much to speak of. I know he grew up poor though, worked his way through college.”

“You dated though, didn’t you?” Sofia raised an eyebrow. “But it’s not much to speak of?”

Crap.

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