Page 93 of Good Girls Don't Kiss and Tell (Rock Canyon, Idaho 7)

Gracie, new glass in hand, paused with the drink halfway to her lips. “And how does the ending leave me?”

“Oh, you haven’t read it?” Vanessa quirked her perfect Liz Taylor eyebrows. “I wouldn’t want to spoil anything. I just assumed that since you were his girlfriend, you’d have read it.”

“Well, I haven’t, so why don’t you stop playing games and be straight with me.”

Vanessa, for the first time, seemed uneasy, which was good. It meant the witch wasn’t stupid. “It’s just a work of fiction—”

“Then you should have no problem telling me.”

The woman gave her a one shouldered shrug, as if she couldn’t even muster the energy to life both. “Fine. At the end of the book, Eric leaves town…and you’re heartbroken.”

Anger coursed through Gracie, pouring out of every pore. Which was why the steady calm of her voice was so surprising to her own ears.

“Does he, now?”

Chapter Thirty

“A man’s pride can only take so much.” - Miss Know-It-All’s Gossip Column.

Eric couldn’t believe he’d lost Gracie in this madhouse. When the band had started playing, he’d thought the crowd would thin a bit and he’d find her green dress like an emerald amongst the coal. But nope, and he was getting impatient. Ready to step up onto the stage and steal the lead singer’s mic in order to start calling her name.

He walked through the doorway toward the restroom, and that was when he saw her. She was sitting on a settee, reading something on her phone. He strode over to her, elated.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

Without even glancing away from her phone, she said, dryly, “Well, now you’ve found me.”

Eric frowned at her sarcasm. Was she upset because she thought he’d ditched her? “Sorry I got pulled away and when I tried to find you, the crowd was too thick.”

“Mmm…mmm.” Was all she said.

Irritation swept over him. He was

already in a uncomfortable social situation; he didn’t need her getting butthurt with him because he’d gotten lost for an hour or so.

“What are you doing? Bored with the party already?”

Gracie’s voice came out high, almost sing songy. “Oh no, the party has been really interesting. Everyone seems reeeeally excited about your book.”

The hairs on the back of Eric’s neck stood up at the way she drew out every word. “What have you heard?”

Finally, her eyes met his, and he saw the hurt, the anger, and the betrayal, and cursed. “It’s not what you think,” he said.

She slipped her phone into her clutch and shot him a disgusted look. “Really? It’s not what I think? Because what I think is it’s a revenge piece.”

“A revenge piece? What the hell is that—”

She broke in before he could even finish asking his question. “It’s something you write in order to inflict the maximum amount of pain on someone without actually using their name. It’s just a work of fiction, right? Not based on anyone?”

“That’s right, I used my Miss Know-It-All column as inspiration, but the whole book is made up.”

Gracie’s skin had taken on a crimson hue as she spoke. “Then why did your fucking editor feel like she knew me?”

Damn it, why were women so crazy? Why would Vanessa even bring up the book with Gracie. “There was a character who’s short and blonde, but that’s all she is—”

“No, no, that’s not all. She is also a ‘man-eater’ who toys with the hero’s emotions. She is a horrible, selfish person, and when she finally admits she’s in love with him, he leaves her. Hell, even I was cheering for him to dump her ass and the character is based on me!”

Eric could feel other people’s eyes on them and the murmurs of a crowd forming, but he refused to look. “Gracie, please, let’s just go somewhere and talk about this.”

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