Page 51 of Not on the Same Page

Her deepening frown tells me she clearly doesn’t believe it. “Look, I don’t necessarily want to go anywhere else⁠—”

“It’s not you,” I rush to tell her. “Or Imani.” I can feel that confidence Anastasios urged me to have earlier slipping through my fingers like sand, and a hot nugget of irritation replaces it low in my belly.

Trina reaches out and covers my hand with hers. It’s a movement so much like what my mother used to do when I was upset that it catches me off guard for a moment.

“The cream rises, baby,” my mom always used to say, usually as we were sitting at the kitchen table just like this. I’d have inevitably been worried about someone teasing me, or getting a better grade than I did without working as hard, or not making a team. Something that seems so trivial now, but Mom never made it feel that way. She approached every problem with gravity, and she pulled me into her orbit to comfort me before letting me out into the world again.

Kind of like Trina does.

I swallow hard. Mom was right—the cream rises. Ashton—if it is him behind this—can have whoever he wants. I’m better at this job than he is, and I’m prepared to prove it. Even if it’s going to be a little harder than expected.

But ultimately, Trina might end up working with him someday, and it isn’t fair to her if I taint his image. She deserves to make her own judgment calls about the editors she works with. “It’s nothing.” I smile at her. She smiles back, and fuck, she’s breathtaking. It’s enough to temper the irrational heat that started building in me a few minutes ago.

“Okay, then.” She removes her hand from mine, and I immediately want it back. The urge to be touching her in some way is so great that I almost reach right across the table and grab her.

But she insisted on business first, so I don’t. I trace a line back and forth on her counter with my fingertip and avoid her gaze as I say, “So, the offer.”

When she doesn’t respond right away, I finally look up at her. She has a strange, unreadable look on her face. But she shakes her head quickly and clears it.

“Yes. Right. I talked to her earlier, and she’s planning five books. She knows how the books need to progress, too. The fact she hasn’t finished the first book apparently isn’t about how it ends, but where she wants to end it in order to have the perfect cliffhanger leading into the second book.”

“When can she have the first book finished? And can she provide a synopsis for the others?” I start tapping some notes in my phone.

“She says within a week, and yes. She’s working on that, as well.”

Distractedly, I nod. “Unofficially, my initial offer is going to come in around fifty thousand dollars.”

Trina laughs, drawing my attention to her again. She quickly purses her lips and cocks an eyebrow. “She’s got your lead title. That’s low. You’re still connected to Anastasios and JMP, and they both have money to play with. I’m going to fight you on that.”

“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t. Unofficially.”

Her hazel eyes flash. “Good. Unofficially.” She bites her lip.

That’s all it takes for me to cave completely. I can’t resist touching her anymore. I stand, making my way to her side of the counter, and press the pad of my thumb to her lip, dragging it out from between her teeth. Her eyelids flutter, and she lets out a little sigh as she arches into me.

It would seem we’ve moved into the pleasure portion of the evening, and not a moment too soon. I want to make the possibility of competing with Ashton tomorrow’s problem, and fast.

But before I can press my lips to hers in the way I so desperately need to, my phone vibrates on the counter.

Trina whines and slumps her shoulders. “Who is calling you right now?”

“I don’t know.” Dazedly, I glance at my phone screen to see one of Robert’s caregivers names flash across the top of the screen. “Shit,” I mutter as I snatch up my phone and answer it.

“Lisa, is everything okay?” She hardly ever calls me. In fact, the last time she did, Robert had just moved in and was so homesick, she thought it’d be best that I came to see him right away, which I did.

“Hi, Casey,” she says calmly. Lisa is one of the most level-headed people I know. She’s patient, predictable, and sets firm expectations and boundaries. Caring for adults with disabilities is the perfect job for her. Robert and his roommates love her, and she loves them. She doesn’t live with them, but she is there every morning and every evening to help them cook, clean, take them grocery shopping, and do all the other tasks that need completing around the house.

And yet, her tone doesn’t settle the nerves that arose as soon as I saw her name.

“I’m sure everything is fine,” she continues. “I stopped by the house just now, and I’m a bit early. Robert isn’t here. Danny said he came home from his shift and went into his room, but none of the housemates have seen him since. Is he with you, by any chance?”

My heart stops. I look at Trina, wide-eyed. Her concern is written plainly on her features as well.

“No, but I’m not at my condo. Do you think he might have gone there looking for me?”

“Possibly. Would it be easy to get back there to see?”

“Sure. Yes. I’ll go right there and call you. Keep looking for him though, okay?”