Page 157 of Lucky Shot
The tears are back.
“I miss him too.”
“Same. He’s working on a new song for you.”
Molly knocks again and before I’m ready, Nick unlocks and opens the door to reveal my very anxious-looking agent on the other side.
“Oh, good.” She smiles and her shoulders relax. “Ready?”
I’m not, but Nick steps away from me. He’s smiling as he walks out the door. “Later, Red.”
I’m in a daze as I follow Molly through the hotel. Nicklovesme. He wants to make this work. He showed up todayfor me. I don’t think I could be any happier. Maybe he thinks I need time to think about being with him, but I don’t. I’ve known since the moment I left Moonshot.
Doreen is waiting for us in the hotel coffee shop. She stands as we approach. I blink away the happy-tinged haze as I greet her.
“Hi.” My voice wavers.
“Thanks for meeting with me before I go.” She sits and waves a hand for us to do the same.
“Of course. Is everything okay? I thought the reception of the book went over well.”
“It has. We’re all thrilled for you. I was right to trust my instincts,” she says with only a tinge of ‘I told you so’ in her tone. “You’ve proven you have what it takes to write across sub-genres and your readers are happy to take the ride.”
“Wow. Thank you. It all feels so surreal.”
Her lips purse as she considers me. “The question now is, what do you want to write next?”
“I…” I start to give her the pitch for theLove Bitessequel but I’m certain Molly has already sent it to her. “I’m not sure what you’re asking.”
Her red lips curve into a small, but satisfied smile. “I’ll cut to the chase because I know you’ve had a long day. Whatever it is that you write next, I want to publish it.”
“You do?”
“If it’s the book you’ve already pitched, great. If it’s more sports, that’s fine too. Or perhaps you want to detour intotime travel, fantastic. Whatever it is, I want it. I love the Ruby Madison universe. It’s fun and unexpected. I think we could build something truly special together.”
My jaw drops as I mentally press rewind and replay her words, turning them over in my brain. She looks to Molly while I process. “I’ll send over my official offer for the pitch, as well as two additional books of your choosing.”
“Holy crap.” A huge smile spreads across Molly’s face and her voice lifts an octave. She schools her expression before speaking again. “I mean, that’s great. I look forward to receiving it on behalf of my client.”
I’m still frozen in stunned silence. She wants my book. She wants my book andtwomore!
Doreen pins her gaze back on me as she stands. She lifts her large purse onto her shoulder. “Congratulations on writing a fantastic book. I’m excited about the future, Ruby.”
I get to my feet, still not quite sure that I’m not dreaming. “Thank you so much.”
“No need to thank me.”
“You took a chance on me when no one else did.”
Her lips twist into one last smirk. “And every other publisher will spend the rest of their careers regretting it.”
34
NICK
Training camp is in full swing. We’ve done medical reviews, on and off-ice testing, small group practices, social media promotional interviews, as well as talking to the media.
The rookies just finished with their practice and our veteran group is taking the ice to warm up before we start.
