Page 1 of Accidentally Yours
Chapter One
“Ishouldn’thavekilledhim,” Paige admitted into the phone, even though she didn’treallyregret what she’d done. Honestly, she couldn’t stand one more second with Hans. He needed to die. She didn’t have a choice—not if she was going to keep her sanity. “Hindsight is twenty-twenty, right? And it won’t ever happen again.” Paige lightly chuckled, trying to brush off her blunder as if to say,No big deal, right?
“That’s for sure,” Kaylor, Paige’s editor, squeaked back. “I’ll make sure of that. You pull a stunt like that again, and we’re both toast. Blacklisted. Banished from publishing forever. Poof! Our careers, gone! No one will remember our names. Vanished into the ether!”
Paige raised a brow, taking in Kaylor’s dramatics. At twenty-five, Kaylor was twelve years her junior, and sometimes Paige wondered if they’d been born on different planets. Thirty-seven felt light years from Kaylor’s boundless energy and overuse of the word “slay.” Not to mention, in the month they’d been working together, Kaylor had shot down every new story idea Paige had come to her with. They didn’t see eye to eye. Unfortunately, right now, Kaylor was all Paige had.
“I had a lapse of judgement,” Paige mumbled, referring to Hans, the FBI agent she’d killed off in the last book of herLove, Lies & Alibisseries. “I was just . . . done writing him.”
“You weredonewritingthe fan-favorite love interest of your ten-book series, so you blew him up with a booby-trapped margarita machine at his sister’s beachside wedding?” Kaylor’s voice escalated with each word. “Do you have any idea how unhinged that is? You write romantic suspense. You’ve been building a romance between Tessa and Hans for an entire series. They needed a happy-ever-after. Not a deadly explosion! How did youthinkyour readers were going to react?”
Paige winced, gripping the phone tight, knowing Kaylor was right. In fact, she was even surprised when her revisions were approved by Windy City Press. But after Paige’s longtime editor—her mentor and friend—took a leave of absence to be with her sick mother, Paige slipped through the cracks . . . and made a colossal mistake. Before her manuscript went to the last round of edits—the proofreader—Paige rewrote the last chapter. Which was how her death-of-a-hero revisions made it past editorial and thoroughly pissed off her entire fan base.
“It wasn’t just a margarita machine,” Paige explained, trying to get through to Kaylor. “It was rigged by the cartel! And tied into the subplot about Hans going undercover to take down—”
“I read the book,” Kaylor interrupted, sounding exasperated. “Which Iloveduntil the last chapter. I still can’t believe nobody caught your last-minute changes before publication.”
Paige sighed, pacing the polished floors of the Chicago Field Museum. She turned and strode back toward the wooly mammoth display, her sneakers squeaking in the busy hall. “It was a stupid decision,” she admitted through gritted teeth. “But I couldn’t let Hans live! After ten books of brooding, staring into the distance, and refusing to admit his feelings, he reminded me too much of my ex . . . but with a better jawline.” Paige didn’t add that Hans was quite literally based on her ex-fiancé, Derek Han. When she’d started writing the series, she’d been in love. Or completely naïve. She wasn’t sure which. “If I had to write one more scene of him smirking while dodging bullets, I was going to lose my mind.”
Kaylor didn’t miss a beat. “He reminded you of your ex, so you killed him with frozen margaritas and a fiery explosion?”
Paige groaned, pacing again. Rubbing her temple, she avoided a pod of strollers as she neared the gigantic T-Rex skeleton. “It’s not the worst way to die, you know?” She stopped, looking up to admire the ancient fossil that loomed over her. The Tyrannosaurus Rex was one of her favorite displays at the museum. Its open mouth, razor-sharp teeth, and massive skull entranced her. Crouched over a wildebeest skeleton, enjoying a feast, she could practically hear it roar.That looked like a bad way to die.A margarita explosion was tame in comparison. “I wanted to clear the way for a new love interest in book eleven.”
Kaylor snorted. “There won’t be another book. The Internet almost tracked you down and burned you at the stake. You’re lucky Windy City Press only put you in literary purgatory instead of completely terminating your relationship with them.”
Paige closed her eyes and took a breath. She was in purgatory. Her publisher had already paid her an advance for book eleven, which she needed if she wanted to keep her apartment and eat anything other than ramen noodles for the foreseeable future, especially since her royalties forLove, Lies & Alibieswere bound to dry up. In order to keep her advance, she needed a new story idea approved by the end of the month. Which was three days away. And Kaylor had already shot down a dozen ideas.
“Okay, hear me out,” Paige started, mentally amping herself up for another pitch. “Indiana JonesmeetsThe Notebook.” She waved her hand through the air, as though she’d just completed an amazing magic trick, even though Kaylor couldn’t see her.
Kaylor was silent for a beat too long. “You really need to start using current comps.”
“Current comps?” Paige gasped. “Indiana JonesandThe Notebookare classics. Everyone loves them!”
“That’s a broad statement.”
Paige huffed in disbelief, but was determined to get Kaylor’s approval. “Okay, but you’ve seen both movies, right?”
“Yes. Even though I cringed through most ofIndiana Jones. Weren’t there acting coaches in the 1900s?”
Paige pressed her lips together, forcing her mouth to stay quiet and not chastise the career-lifeline on the other end of the phone. Later, she’d work on expanding Kaylor’s narrow horizons.Aftershe approved a pitch.
“Can you picture what the two movies might look like mashed together?” Paige asked, not able to stomach the thought of another rejection. This was the first idea she’d had in the past month that she’d truly been excited about.
“I’m listening,” Kaylor replied, giving Paige a small surge of hope.
“I’m thinking of a dual-timeline, with adventure and a love story, and lots of heart.” Paige’s words tumbled out fast. “Present day, there’s a modern heroine—think sharp, witty, but a little lost—who’s struggling to find her footing after getting dumped, fired, and finding herself homeless on the same day.”
“Hmm,” Kaylor replied, sounding bored. Paige caught theclick-clackof a keyboard in the background which meant she had about thirty seconds before completely losing Kaylor.
“With no other options, she goes back to her hometown, to live with her estranged mother while getting back on her feet,” Paige quickly continued. “She and her mom have to move her grandma into an assisted living center. During the move, the heroine discovers her grandmother’s journal, which tells the story of how Grandma and Grandpa fell in love. The heroine and Mom read some of the journal to her grandma every evening. Reading and reliving the story brings the women close again, strengthening their bond. And the love story ultimately gives the heroine renewed hope—in love and life.”
Kaylor let out a considering hum. “Okay, I’m halfway intrigued. But where does theIndiana Jonespart come in?”
Paige eyed the T-Rex’s jagged teeth, as if their sharp tips gave her courage. “The story flashes back to the 1940s, to tell the love story of the grandma and grandpa, which was ignited during the hunt for a missing ruby necklace. Picture a roguish archeologist. Charmingly arrogant, ruggedly handsome. And unwillingly teamed up with a refined, whip-smart journalist to find a valuable necklace and keep it out of enemy hands. There’s danger, forbidden romance, and a daring escape, all on the way to finding love.”
“Not bad,” Kaylor said, like she was mulling over the idea.
“Not bad?” Paige bounced on her tiptoes. That was the best reaction she’d gotten out of Kaylor yet.
