Page 39 of Breaking All The Rules
Molly nodded. “He’s hot.”
“And he’s obsessed with pie.” Bea flicked her gaze around the group. “I mean, you gotta be into a guy who loves pie, right?”
“Hell yes.” Marley raised her glass. “Eat pie, kill demons. Cheers to that.”
Everyone clinked glasses and drank, then Marley said, “If you haven’t seen a lot of TV in the last fifteen years and you’re looking for some other television recs to while away the days, I can highly recommend Friday Night Lights.”
Molly nodded. “God yes. Team Riggins for the win.”
“True Blood,” Winona suggested. “Team Eric.”
“The Walking Dead,” Mia added. “Team Daryl.”
Bea laughed at the rapid-fire suggestions. “Hang on.” She grabbed her phone and opened a new note. “I’d better write these down.”
“If you’re looking for something to do,” Winona said as Bea’s thumbs flew over the touch screen of her phone, “you can come visit me out at the lake. I’m building a house out there, which has taken a bit longer than I’d hoped. I’ve just moved into a caravan on-site this week now that the worst of the weather is over, but I’m happy to show you around. It’s really nice out there. Peaceful and pretty.”
With the recommendations duly noted in her phone, Bea placed it on the table. “You mentioned something to Tucker about finishing a book. Are you a writer?”
Molly grinned. “Winona writes erotic romance novels.”
Bea blinked. She wasn’t sure what she’d thought Winona might write, but this hadn’t been it. Something deep and literary maybe. Or grisly—spy novels or murder and mayhem. Not love and sex. But there was a definite hedonistic bend to the way Winona spoke and ate and drank and laughed and flirted that Bea could imagine went well with writing in the erotic romance genre.
“Really?” Bea asked her. “Like…for a living? You’re published?”
Winona nodded. “Yes, I write full-time and earn decent money. I’ve hit several big lists and won a couple of awards, and I’ve just finished book sixteen.”
“That’s…” Bea didn’t know what to say. She’d occasionally met authors—big-name ones—when the firm had been handling national advertising for particular publishers, and she’d always been fascinated by the tenacity that must be required to finish a book. Her job was creative, too, but in a very different way. “That is awesome.”
“I know, right?” Winona agreed with a grin and took another drink.
“Well, I guess reading one of your books just went to the top of my to-do list.” Once upon a time, during her teen and college years, Bea had read a lot. Now, she was lucky to read a couple of books a year, and that was usually in dribs and drabs at airports and on planes.
“Here.” Winona delved into her bag and handed over what appeared to be a bookmark with all her details on it, including a very interesting tagline. No yucking on someone else’s yum.
Bea glanced over at Arlo, then back at Winona. Interesting…
“Check out my website,” she continued. “If you want me to recommend something, let me know.”
“Thanks.” Bea took it and slipped it into her bag. “I will.”
“Well, that’s one thing sorted for your list,” Mia said. “What else can we hook you up with?”
Bea shrugged. “A cat, I guess. I might as well go ahead and get one, seeing as how everyone around me is under the impression I actually have a room full of them.”
“But do you want one?” Mia frowned. “If you don’t mind my saying, you don’t sound that enthused.”
“I do want one. I like cats. Well…actually, I don’t have an opinion about cats or any other domestic animal, really, because I’ve never owned a pet—” There was a general gasp at the admission, but it was true. Her grandmother disliked animal hair getting everywhere. “But I would like to get a cat now that I have the time to look after one.” She shrugged. “They’re cute and fluffy and low-maintenance. It’s not like I have to walk one or anything, and I quite like the idea of a warm, purring body to snuggle into at night.”
Winona cocked an eyebrow. “I thought that was what Austin was for?”
The other women laughed, and Bea actually blushed as her gaze slid to the man in question, drinking a beer and listening to whatever Drew was saying. As if he knew she was watching, he looked over his shoulder and their eyes met, and Bea felt the same yank of connection she had from the first time she’d laid eyes on Austin Cooper.
She blushed some more as she returned her attention to what was going on in her booth. “It’s not like that,” she dismissed. “He’s just being friendly.”
“Uh-huh,” Winona said drily, and they all laughed again.
Desperate to steer the conversation away from Austin and how friendly she was avoiding getting with him, Bea asked, “So how would I go about finding someone who might have a cat or kitten, even”—how much fun would a cute little fur ball be?—“they want to offload?”
