Page 16 of We Met Like This
“I’m okay. Well, no, I’m not. Rob rejected one of my proposals this morning. Told me to rework it.”
“He did?” That was a surprise. What Kari touched was gold. She wrote commercial, feel-good romance that sold exceptionally well. Most of the time she didn’t even run ideas by Rob; she would just turn in another beautiful family-centered, tug-at-your-heartstrings book that needed very little work before being sent along to her editor.
“Yes. He did. I thought of an idea that has taken over all my creative energy and I want to write it.”
“Why doesn’t he want you to?” I was used to phone calls where I had to talk clients down or help them figure out whatRob really said or meant. And I fully expected to play Rob Translator in this instance as well.
But then she said, “The book is a thriller-slash-romance with a horror-style ending.”
My eyes went wide. “Oh. Well, um… your readers won’t be expecting that. They’re used to happily ever afters.”
“That’s what Rob said. He said I couldn’t screw with my brand.”
“He saidscrew?”
“I speak Rob. That’s what he meant.”
“Right.” Of course she did. She’d known him longer than I had.
“You know the market,” she said. “You talk to editors. How do you think something like this would be received?”
“It might be a hard sell,” I said.
“But not impossible?”
“Definitely not impossible.” I needed to shut my mouth. She was not my client. I was overstepping here.
“Can you work on him?” she asked. “I don’t even know if Rob has readanyof my last five books. But you have, right?”
“What?” Unless I was the junior agent on a project (and I definitely wasn’t for Kari Cross), clients usually didn’t realize I was the one giving the feedback on their books. Rob would sometimes use the royalwewhen relaying notes, but mostly he just forwarded them as if they were his own. I assumed he read through my comments and agreed with them. I also assumed he read the books himself. But maybe with clients like Kari, who consistently put out good books and had for years, he didn’t feel the need to. After all, at the end of the day, her editor was the one whose opinion about content mattered most.
“You’re the one reading and making notes on my books?”
“Um…” What was the point in denying it? She obviously knew. “Yes. I love your books.”
“Your feedback is always spot-on. But I’m ready to try something new. I’m not saying I’m going to completely give up traditional romance. I love writing romance. But this idea has grabbed me by the tits and it won’t let them go.”
“Sounds… painful.”
“It is! So you’ll talk to him? Rob?”
“I’ll try. I’m sure you said everything that needed to be said. Not sure my opinion will matter.”
“I can be kind of brash, and sometimes alpha males like Rob dig their heels in and need, I don’t know, a softer ask. I hate that I have to play this game, but can you do that?”
“I can certainly try,” I said.
“Great! Because this book is getting written and I need him on board.” With those words, she hung up.
Speaking of a thriller/romance with a horror-type ending, how would me getting up and walking into his office right now, after his obvious invitation to join him, play out? Hopefully with both mine and Kari’s needs being met. The need that involved all my clothes firmly in place.
I walked down the hall and stopped in front of Rob’s closed office door. I took a deep breath and turned the handle with a knock.
He was in front of his desk, sitting on the edge, as if he thought his pull was too strong for me to resist. In the past, he would’ve been right. “I wasn’t sure you’d come,” he said, even though his position in the room contradicted his statement.
I left the door wide open, a sign ofmyintent, and stepped inside. “I actually have a few things I want to discuss,” I said,crossing my arms and staying outside the area rug that anchored his desk. “I just got off the phone with Kari.”
“I miss you,” he said, like he hadn’t heard me. He pushed himself off his desk and took three slow steps forward.
