Chapter Twenty-One
ISOBEL
Boston
My mind drifted while I sat in a chair outside of Sloane’s office, daydreaming about the last few months with Adrian. Things had shifted after the baseball game a month ago, and it was totally unexpected in the best possible way. While I never doubted Grant had loved me, Adrian was borderline obsessed. He couldn’t get enough (not that I was much better), but things weren’t purely sexual.
He talked to me while we ate dinner together after work at either one of our apartments, sent me text messages throughout the day—of both the sweet and spicy variety—and he hadn’t been a total dick at work in weeks. We spent as much time as possible with each other when we weren’t actively working, although our lunch dates had set off the office gossip mill. I should’ve been horrified that my coworkers were speculating about my sex life, but frequent orgasms had a way of desensitizing you to pointless office politics.
Every day, tiny pieces of his actual personality slipped through the cracks of his facade, and he showed me he was serious about trying to have a real adult relationship outside of work by behaving in the office. He didn’t intentionally try to provoke Kristine, and he even helped the receptionist, Andrea, with her coursework when no one else was watching .
He’d also successfully calmed me down when I freaked out that Chase and Evan had seemingly disappeared after his book was released and only resurfaced long enough to tell me they were writing a book together and Chase was putting her own upcoming book series on hold.
“You ready?” Sloane smiled as she appeared in her office doorway, motioning for me to follow her.
She’d mentioned when she met with me over a month ago wanting to pass down some of her duties as head of publishing while Vivid restructured to expand into a television streaming platform. Details had been vague at the time, but as the hiring process was already underway for the genre editor positions opening in a few months, she was clearly ready to fill in those blanks.
“When we talked earlier, I know I didn’t have any concrete information for you, but now that we’ve figured out how to cover some of your day to day, I wanted to bring you in so I could pitch what we’d like to be your new role with Vivid.”
Other than stepping into her job, there wasn’t much advancement possible on an editorial level, so I was intrigued by the thought of taking on more while still maintaining my role as the head of the romance genre department in Boston.
“We’d like to create a hybrid position and promote one of your interns to take over the less critical parts of your job duties. Kristine would be the natural choice, but we can revisit that later since it looks like she’s one of the final candidates for the position in New York.”
“What would that mean for me?”
“You’d be given the title of publishing manager and oversee all the genre heads at a production level. That’d mean less time spent on your individual authors and more time making sure each department had what they needed for their releases.”
Nodding, I mentally processed what I’d be willing to give up taking on this new position. “So, I wouldn’t work directly with any of my authors anymore? ”
“Not exactly,” she hedged. “You could pick a handful to continue to be a primary contact for, but the rest would fall under your new intern supervisor and the rest of the copy-editing team.”
While this opportunity would be amazing, I wasn’t sure I wanted to completely leave behind the creative process. Even if it was only in a limited capacity, I loved working with authors. And with Chase dropping the bomb on me she was working on something secret with Evan, I didn’t want to give up control of that manuscript to someone else. It meant working directly with Adrian again, but that would go a lot smoother than the first time.
“The management team discussed it, and whenever the next book tour begins for your department, we’d like Kristine to manage it to test out her ability to step into your role.”
“Does that mean less travel for me?”
She shook her head. “No. Just a different kind of travel. You’d be based out of Boston, but we’d need you to travel to all four locations on an as-needed basis. The California office will be restructured to take on the television production, so we may be able to find someone to work under you from that pool of editors, but you’d be responsible for the department heads here, New York and Chicago.”
Meaning I’d become Adrian’s boss.
“If there is a conflict of interest in supervising one of the editing heads, would that be a problem?”
Sloane chuckled as she leaned back in her chair. “As long as you and Adrian can keep it professional in the office, I don’t see why it would be.”
My cheeks heated as her smile widened, knowing she’d easily hit the mark. “Do I have your permission to share the details of this offer with him?”
“Let’s wait a few weeks until your contracts are ready for specifics, but I don’t see why you can’t tell him about the opportunity. A few months ago, I would’ve expected him to protest this kind of change in the management structure, but I don’t see that being a problem any longer.”
“Let’s hope so.”
“I’ve seen how he watches you. Really, how he’s watched you for years. I don’t think he’ll have a problem with it. He respects you a great deal. I wouldn’t have had you two working together if that wasn’t the case. Think of Stone’s book as a trial run for your professional relationship.”
“I wasn’t exactly in a position of power over him then.”
“Not so sure that’s entirely accurate,” she replied with a knowing grin. “He was quick to defer to you during that process more than I think you noticed. That’s a good quality to look for in a partner. It’s not always easy for men to put their egos aside to let a woman tell them what to do professionally. I know I’ve dealt with a lot of fragile masculinity in my career.”
Adrian didn’t seem the type to try to get in the way of this promotion, but we were equals when things started to change between us.
“The job isn’t officially yours yet, but I’d like to get the contracts drawn up for you to review if you’re open to negotiating the change.”
“Does the offer have a time limit?”
“It’ll be a few weeks until everything goes through legal and the management panel, so think about it until the offer is ready. You’re our first choice for the position, and I’d like you to seriously consider it before turning anything down.”
“I will. Thank you for considering me.”
“There wasn’t anyone else as far as I’m concerned. You’ve put in your time, and you deserve it.”
Nodding, I stood, reaching forward to shake her hand before I saw myself out of her office.
My mind raced during the elevator ride down to the lobby. I was meeting Adrian to have lunch at a restaurant a few blocks away from the office. He’d know as soon as he saw me there was something on my mind. Keeping the details from him was going to be a challenge, but Sloane had already told me it wouldn’t be forever. I also needed to talk to him about other things.
My bloodwork and tests had come back from the fertility clinic and while I hadn’t initially been hopeful, they didn’t find anything that would prevent me from getting pregnant or carrying a baby to term. We hadn’t set anything into motion, but after my IUD was removed, there wasn’t anything holding me back from trying. All I needed was someone to get me pregnant, and I didn’t think I’d have to look too long.
It all seemed almost too good to be true. I was being offered a promotion I’d be stupid to turn down; I wasn’t barren like I’d believed, and I was falling for Adrian harder than I’d ever thought possible. If only I could have it all without sacrificing something.
I wasn’t even sure if Adrian would want to have a baby with me, but I was resolved to try whether or not he was on board. At this point, I wasn’t willing to put trying for a baby on the back burner again. He would either be the father of my child, or I’d do it alone.
The promotion would make it a challenge, and being a single parent would be hard, but I needed to try. I’d lived with regret for too long.
One small text from my best friend had me halting in my steps in the lobby of my office building.
LJ: Since when do you like the Red Sox?
Isobel: What are you talking about?
LJ: Kiss cam footage of you and Dickhead is trending right now on IG. Seems his little macho display of possession hit Bookstagram with the hashtag #bookboyfriendgoals.
A link followed and my eyes widened when I opened it, a brief shot of me sitting next to Hutch appearing followed by Adrian reaching around me to palm his brother’s face. Even though I’d been there, a blush rose on my cheeks while I watched Adrian kissing me in front of tens of thousands of baseball fans.
LJ: You lucky bitch.
Isobel: Should I be worried about this?
LJ: It could be worse. You didn’t go viral for saying something wild like that hawk-tuah girl.
Isobel: You really need to let that go. I’m more concerned about what my dad will say if he sees that.
LJ: Who gives a shit. I’d be saving that shit on my phone to show your grandkids.
Isobel: Adrian hasn’t agreed to anything yet.
LJ: He will.
Isobel: We’ll find out later. Testing showed everything is fine on my part.
LJ: I’m so happy you’re doing this.
Isobel: I’m scared shitless, but I also don’t want to give this up yet.
LJ: And you shouldn’t have to. Pull up your big girl panties and go ask that hottie for a sperm deposit.
Isobel: Such a romantic .
She sent back a middle finger emoji, and I resumed my way across the lobby, pausing as another text came through.
LJ: Grant sent me the link. He asked me if I knew about your boyfriend.
Pausing, I sat down on a bench and tried to calm my racing heart. The last thing I wanted to think about right now was Grant.
Isobel: What did you tell him?
LJ: That if he wanted to know, you’d have told him. And that the hunky guy in the video was more than happy to give you everything he refused to.
Isobel: Should I message him?
LJ: Fuck him and that skinny bitch yoga instructor. What he did to you is in the past. All you need to worry about now is riding your hung stallion until he puts a bun in your oven.
Isobel: That was way too many idioms in one sentence.
LJ: You know what I mean. Go get your cavity filled.
Isobel: You’re almost as bad as Dickhead.
LJ: Maybe that’s why you like him.
My body was on autopilot as I headed toward where Adrian and I planned to meet, slowing down to watch him leaning against the side of the building, waiting for me. He truly was a beautiful man, and some part of me ached to confess everything I felt for him, but I wasn’t ready to lose him .
I also wasn’t letting myself dwell on the fact my ex-husband only reached out when he was worried about me moving on. Well, fuck him. He didn’t deserve any real estate in my brain. He’d made his decision, and I was making mine.
“Hey.” He smiled, pushing off the wall to reach for my hand. He didn’t give two fucks about the office rumor mill and took every opportunity to touch me while we weren’t actively working. The copy room tryst sadly hadn’t been repeated. Stolen brushes of fingers and secret smiles had been the only physical contact between us once we got to our floor every day.
“Sorry if I made us late,” I apologized, starting to walk toward the restaurant with his thumb tracing the back of my hand the entire way.
“You know Sloane doesn’t care if we take a long lunch break as long as we don’t fall behind on our work.”
“She knows about us,” I confessed, not wanting to keep too many secrets from him.
“I figured. She kept glancing back and forth between us during the meeting last week. I think I might have been too obvious when I complimented your willingness to be a team player during collaborative efforts between departments.”
“You’ve been obvious for a while,” I teased. “But I think it was probably the way I blushed when you stared at me across the table after bragging about me in front of all the other department heads.”
“You know I love it when you blush.” His gaze was affectionate as he looked over at me, my cheeks heating, which caused him to smile wider. “Just like that. Although, I like it even more when you’re wearing a lot less clothing.”
“Quit. We’re in public.”
“No one gives a shit, Is. I don’t care who knows I want you. You’re all I think about. You have to know that.”
We arrived at the restaurant before I could respond, but his words strengthened my resolve to talk to him about my plans and his place in them .
My leg bounced under the table as we went through the motions of ordering. When the server finally left to turn in our orders, I exhaled slowly, preparing to ask him if he wanted to consider being involved beyond just dating. This decision wasn’t one I could take lightly, but he’d continually surprised me, and automatically dismissing him as an option because of his previous behavior wouldn’t be fair.
While I tried to formulate my thoughts, his phone buzzed on the table and he looked down, eyes widening at the notification on his screen.
“Something wrong?”
He grabbed the phone, his eyes frantically scanning while his mouth dropped open.
“Holy shit. Check your email.” He didn’t even bother looking up, continuing to scroll down whatever he was looking at.
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my work phone, surprised at the notification waiting.
Chase Rodgers and Evan Stineman have shared a PDF with you.
They were done already. Holy shit was right.
Wanting to stay ahead of things, I pulled up her name in my contacts and pressed the call button. Adrian pulled his phone up to his ear across the table at the same time. Clearly, he needed to talk to his wayward author about what was in that PDF as much as I did with mine.
“Adrian is already losing his shit over this.” I didn’t even bother with a greeting when she answered, just jumping straight into it as Adrian spoke animatedly into his phone. “We’ve worked together a long time, Chase. Pitch me.”
“Sexy thriller centered on a Dominatrix and her long-term sub with a serial killer who keeps going after her clients one by one. She doesn’t know who to trust until her sub disappears and she’s kidnapped with no hope of escape. ”
“So, it’s one of your feel-good rom coms,” I teased, watching Adrian across the table. While he would have been skeptical of this kind of storyline a few months ago—automatically dismissing it because it wasn’t Evan’s usual niche—I had a feeling he would be all in on this project.
“Evan’s freaking out a little bit, so please tell Kristine to be gentle with him. Whatever Adrian is saying has him almost pulling his hair out.”
The server returned with our food, and I rushed Chase off the phone with a promise to send the pitch through to Sloane. Adrian ended his call with Evan moments later and grinned at me across the table.
“Eat up, babe. We’ve got a book to pitch. And some serious reading to do. Did you see the word count?”
“I didn’t open it yet, but I’m sure the detailed sex scenes Chase is known for will push it over a hundred.” She left nothing purely to the imagination.
“A little long, but I think we can make it fit.”
“Yeah, we can,” I teased with a wink, grasping his hand across the table. Adrian looked almost proud that I was the one making the inappropriate comment this time.
“Spend the night at my place tonight?” he asked, his hand turning to lace with mine. “This might dampen my plans for you, but I think it’s probably good to read this one where we can talk about plot points in person.”
“If it’s as hot as I’m expecting, you probably don’t want your first read through to be in the office.”
“Think I can’t handle a little spice?”
I shook my head, signaling the server and handing him my credit card. “Can we get this boxed up to go?”
Adrian tilted his head as I picked up my work phone to fire off a few texts to Kristine and Sloane that I’d be out of the office for the rest of the afternoon.
“We still have time to eat. It’s not that time-sensitive.”
“You know you’re not going to sit on that document. You’ll be itching to skim that PDF in five minutes, so we might as well dive into it.”
He grinned, grabbing the bag of our food while I put away my card and pulled up the Uber app. “You’re probably right. What’s the plan?”
“You head back to the office and settle whatever you need to work from home tomorrow. I’ll go home to pack a bag and meet you at your place. You’re gonna want me there when you go through it.”
He’d be horny as fuck at work if we read it there, and while it was fun to skirt the line of professionalism, I wasn’t getting caught doing something at the office with this promotion on the table. And he was going to want to do something after reading that manuscript. Or more specifically, someone .
“Don’t trust me to behave myself with the comment feature?”
“No,” I laughed. “I don’t trust you to not try to fuck me on my desk.”
His eyes widened, and he almost choked on air, his Adam’s apple bobbing while he tried to regain his composure.
“You don’t think I can control myself?”
“I know you can’t. And this way you won’t have to. And neither will I.”
I had a feeling that solo sessions with my vibrator after going over sex scenes were a thing of the past. Now I had a real cock to play with if the words made me horny.
Women all over the world had better sex lives because of romance novels. Why shouldn’t I? It was time I started reaping the benefits of my job.