Page 83 of Austen Persuaded

“Oh no, I couldn’t. I’ll just doze here on the couch.”

He gave me an exasperated look. “You’re still just as stubborn as ever, I see.”

I stared at him, unmoved.

“Fine,” he barked, crossing his arms over his chest. “Let me get you some more comfortable blankets and pillows though.”

“Wait!” I extended an arm to stop him. My hand landed briefly on his forearm before I jerked it away, realizing I probably couldn’t handle physical contact like a mature ex-girlfriend. “I was wondering if I could use your phone or computer. It’s just—my roommates are probably wondering if I’m dead in a ditch somewhere.”

“They’re not,” Kylan said, making eye contact only briefly. “I called Rainn earlier, when you were bathing, and I let him know the situation.”

“Oh,” I said, surprised he’d thought of that. “Thank you, that was so thoughtful of you.”

After a pause, he muttered, “Well, I guess I have my moments.”

As he rose from the sofa and left to retrieve the promised bedding, I was left alone with my thoughts.

The very last thing I needed at that moment.

Because they were all swirling around in my head, hazy because of my exhaustion but still cognizant enough to know what they all meant.

Kylan Quinn. He had not lost his power over me.

Maybe it was more potent than ever.

Chapter 20

Iturned toward Sofia slowly, my eyes reluctantly leaving Kylan’s person, seated across from me in the conference room. He was oblivious, thank goodness, as his eyes tracked back and forth across several papers in front of him. I’d seen plenty of him since the fateful night of the blizzard, and I’d managed to play it cool for the most part. We’d been friendly or, at a minimum, professional. Our relations seemed to thaw a bit as he involved himself with contract negotiations, including some of Sofia’s. “Sorry, what, Sofia?”

“Oh, nothing important,” she said with a sigh. “I was just complaining about how I wanted to go to that new restaurant opening tonight, the one we were talking about last week. First world problems, am I right?”

I chuckled and nodded. Kylan looked up, his eyes briefly landing on me before swinging to Sofia. “Why can’t you go?”

“Because it’s tonight,” Sofia said.

Kylan tilted his head. “So let’s go tonight.”

Sofia pursed her lips. “You know we can’t. The dinner with Johnson is tonight. He’s pretty high up there on the difficult client scale. The last thing I’d want to do is change the time or date on him.”

Kylan gave me a brief but oddly intense look. “Annie can go instead.”

Sofia gasped. “But I … can’t just send my assistant,” she sputtered. “As fantastic as she is, you know. Johnson isn’t really flexible like that.”

He leaned back in his chair. “Tell him Annie’s his agent now. Better yet, I’ll handle it.” When we both stared at him with wide eyes, he added, “It’ll be fine.”

“Wait,” I said, my breath halting. “Do you mean—you want me—I’m to be his agent from now on?”

“That is what I said, yes,” he said with a slightly impatient edge. “Isn’t that part of the co-agenting and mentoring process? I thought you wanted to take on your own.”

“I mean, yes, but Sofia may not—”

“I love it,” Sofia pronounced. “This is perfect. I feel bad because he’s not the easiest one to work with, but I’ve been wanting to give you more responsibility anyway. You can do this, girl. I got your back too.”

Kylan nodded before returning his attention to the documents in front of him, while Sofia started humming, suddenly in a good mood.

I sat there, stunned.

This was great news—I was one significant step closer toward becoming an agent—an agent!

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