Page 48 of All Too Well
“Maybe it’s time for a genre switch,” she suggests. “You knowHazel has a ton of options at her store. I bet there’s something there you could try.”
I give her a mischievous smile. “I could read one of your books.”
“You should. It’s like a how-to guide on women. More men would probably be much happier if they read romance. Lord knows you’ve had a pretty shitty go at it. Can’t make it any worse.”
I laugh once. “You think they’ll fix me?”
Ainsley shakes her head. “I don’t think there are enough romance novels in the world to fix you.”
“You have no idea what I’m like anymore,” I remind her. “Four years can change a man. Make him see the error of his ways and give in to love.”
Her brown eyes widen a smidge. “You? Give in to love. Oh, please tell me about the woman in your life who has guided you toward this newfound place of awakening. Is she young? Older? Maybe she’s a firefighter? Teacher? Or ... maybe she’s fictional.”
She damn well knows there’s no one else. Caspian would’ve told her, or any member of this town would’ve when she rolled in.
“I didn’t say I had someone, just that I’m not the same guy you knew back then.”
I learned how to shut down, how to turn off my desires, how to forget that the only woman I want isn’t meant for me—until Ainsley walked back into my life.
“Then I stand corrected. Tell me about you.” She leans in, all her attention focused on me.
I narrow my eyes because I don’t think this is Ainsley wanting to know all about the last four years. I’m pretty sure this is Ainsley wanting information regarding her freaking story.
However, I’ll play along.
“Let’s see, I’m a Virgo who loves adventure and thrills, but also enjoys a night in where we watch a movie and I can feel all the butterflies when the guy gets the girl.”
She rolls her eyes. “First of all, you’re not a Virgo. You’re a Libra. Secondly, shut up.”
I laugh. “You asked.”
“About you, not some stupid bio that’s fake. We have four years of gaps to fill in.”
“Tell me about you first,” I say, leaning back in my chair.
“What do you want to know?”
“Anything.”
Everything.
Ainsley sighs. “Let’s see, I graduated top of my class from NYU. I had these grand plans that I was going to get a job in New York, write stories that people would frame—people other than my father,” she clarifies. “That was just a young girl’s dreams, though. Instead of a paying job, I got an internship in Manhattan, but couldn’t take it because ... bills. The Admiral said my freeloading days were over and he wasn’t going to pay for me to enjoy a stress-free life.”
We both laugh at that. “He’s so predictable.”
“Right! I swear, if Caspian or I would’ve agreed to wear a uniform, it would make his life so damn easy. He’d know what to do with us if we were sailors. Anyway, no amount of begging or batting of my eyelashes was enough to let me stay in that job. I got a job in the city, which was ... freaking amazing, or at least I thought it was. My boss is nice, but I keep having to write about fashion and trending hairstyles.”
She makes a pinched face at that last part. “And that isn’t what you want?”
She shakes her head. “I want to write about politics and foreign policy. I want to tell stories that matter and can change someone’s mind because I was able to provide an alternate view or because the facts were laid out in a clear and concise way. Most of the time I read articles and have no clue what’s real, because it’s an opinion piece.”
“So what’s stopping you?” I ask.
“You have to be assigned those stories.”
The defeat in her voice makes me want to let her boss know he’s a fucking idiot. Doesn’t he see how brilliant she is? Ainsleywas meant to set the world on fire and create something beautiful from the ashes.
She’s a force that can’t be contained.
