18. Chapter 18 #2
“Ms. York, wake up,” came a deeper voice. Firm, commanding, but sexy. It was the one that haunted my dreams, waking and asleep.
A giggle from the other voice. “Annie! We kind of need you to wake up now,” she said, louder this time.
It was Sofia, I realized, turning my head toward the voice and immediately regretting it as my neck screamed in response.
I opened my eyes slowly to find two pairs staring at me.
Sofia and Kylan were crouched with the car door open, and I was slumped at an unnatural angle in the backseat.
“I—” I croaked before clearing my throat.
“I am sorry, I must have dozed off for a minute or so.”
Sofia’s rich laugh filled the small space. “More than a minute or two. We let you sleep a bit longer. But it’s time for you to go run the book club meeting now.”
“It’s almost 7 o’ clock,” Kylan said, sounding irritated.
But when I met his eyes, I saw something that didn’t look like irritation.
It looked like … something. I had no idea.
Interest? Was he showing interest in me?
My brows furrowed in confusion, and then my spirits deflated.
If anything, it was probably interest in Sofia.
They’d let me sleep a while, so who knows what they’d been doing in the meantime.
I rubbed my eyes, sitting up slowly, when his words suddenly clicked. “Seven? You guys let me sleep this long? I have to set up!” I said frantically, wild eyes darting around as I launched myself out of the car.
“Relax, Annie. We got you, girl. We saw Sai arrive a while ago and told her to set up. And then we told her little boy crush Zach to go help her,” Sofia said, smirking. “She should be thanking us.”
I couldn’t help but grin at the idea of that. I hurried toward the door, the other two on my heels. Kylan overtook me just before reaching the door, opening it for both of us.
“Such a gentleman he is, Annie,” Sofia said to me, but her soft smile and shining eyes were on him. Gritting my teeth, I forced my eyes forward, toward the gathering book club crowd.
“You’re late,” Sai declared with her usual scowl as I claimed the empty seat next to her.
It was 6:59, so not quite late, but it wasn’t worth arguing about. “Sorry, Sai. Thanks for setting up. You did a great job.”
Sai mumbled a sullen-sounding “Thanks,” but I thought she was biting back a grin. Could Sai be won over with praise? I’d been wondering if Sai might want to co-lead the book club with me or at least facilitate some book discussion meetings herself, but I wasn’t sure how to bring it up.
Maybe I could ask her when she’s —
“Annie?” Carlina whispered loudly from a few seats away. “I think we’re all here.”
My face felt warm. How long had I been lost in my thoughts?
It was 7:04 now, and everyone was looking at me expectantly.
I cleared my throat and pretended to look at my small notebook.
“Yes, right. Sorry about that, I was just … thinking about the, uh, effects of women’s fiction on our society. I …”
What the hell am I saying? I sound like a total idiot.
“Well, let’s dive into part 2 of the book discussion following up from last week, shall we?
Mental health is certainly a theme in this book, both with the main character and her mother.
How do you think the setting of this book—outside the U.S.
—affects how the issue of mental health is handled here?
Or maybe it doesn’t?” Fortunately, I always came prepared with question prompts written beforehand, exactly for situations like this where my brained ceased to work.
I’d almost forgotten to prepare the questions though.
What with beta reading Viviana’s book, tux fitting appointments, and long hours at work on some impending manuscript deadlines and contract negotiations, the past two days had given me almost no time to think, let alone sleep.
I could’ve asked Viviana for an extra day or two, or even more, to read her story, but I hated to go back on my word, especially given that we’d just reconciled in our friendship.
Carpooling to the bookstore with Sofia and Kylan had been the last thing I wanted to do, but we were all working late at the office that evening—and every other evening that week—and Sofia had insisted on driving us, since we’d all planned to return to the office after the book club anyway.
I was too tired to argue against it, so I’d reluctantly agreed.
Despite my embarrassment at falling asleep in the back seat of Sofia’s car, a little part of me was relieved.
It was kind of my worst nightmare to ride as the third wheel as the two of them chatted and flirted and laughed in the front seat.
And flirt they did. A vile sensation filled my stomach at the thought.
There was a growing awareness that Kylan might actually be interested in Sofia and that—worse yet—I would have front-row tickets to their courtship.
Courtship.
I almost let out a laugh, but my eyes felt too heavy.
This isn’t a Jane Austen novel.
But if it were, I’d be the sad, lonely one … the—
“What do you think, Annie?” Kylan’s voice suddenly cut through my disjointed thoughts. His eyes were curious, his expression serious.
Panic set in. I had not been following the discussion at all.
“I think … well, I always—” Some non-word sounds came out, and I desperately glanced at the clock over his head.
It had been nearly 40 minutes, and I’d been spaced out the entire time.
“It’s actually a great time to take a break.
Let’s return in five minutes, everyone, and then come back to discuss some more and decide on our next book, OK? ”
As soon as I stood up, Sofia and Sai were rising with me.
“Annie, are you OK?” Sofia asked, her brows furrowed. “You seem a little distracted. Or maybe really tired. Are we working you too hard? You can tell me, you know.”
When I shook my head and started to respond, Sai raised an eyebrow. “Are you high?”
I sighed. “No. I … all right, I’m a little tired.”
Sofia crossed her arms. “A little? You fell asleep in a 5-minute car ride on the way here.”
“Maybe more than a little.”
“OK, I’m bored now. I’m going to sit back down,” Sai said, pulling out her phone and sneaking a glance at Zachary, who was sneaking a glance at her.
Just then, I felt a certain heated masculine presence directly behind me, perhaps just a few inches. I sidestepped a few inches, my breath catching.
“Annie, I’ve called Rainn to take you home. Sai,” he said in a commanding voice, staring down at the teenager. “ou can facilitate the rest of the discussion, right? ”
Her mouth gaping, Sai just stared up at Kylan for a moment. “I guess so. Can’t be that hard,” she mumbled.
I felt dizzy as my gaze bounced between them. “Wait, what? You called me a ride … home? Wh–why would you do that?”
He gave me a look of impatience before sitting down to talk to Sai quietly for a brief moment, and then he rose again. “Rainn should be here soon. He concurred that you likely need rest.”
“What—how—you don’t get to decide that for me,” I sputtered. “In what universe do you think—”
Sofia put an arm across my shoulders and spoke in a soothing tone. “Yes, it’s a bit heavy-handed, but it’s sweet. We’re just worried about you, girl. You look really pale, and your eyes, well, it’s not you. Go home and rest. Take care of you. Work can wait till tomorrow.”
I wanted to protest, to scream that Kylan of all people had no right to decide this for me, but my outrage was dwindling along with the last of my energy.
I couldn’t deny that I was bone-tired. At least it was Rainn driving me home and not Kylan.
I couldn’t resist glaring at him for good measure before turning to leave, but he didn’t seem offended.
He looked somehow … grateful? OK, so maybe he cared about my basic well-being at some rudimentary level.
So what?
As if that mattered.
Except it does.
Oh, it does.
On Friday morning, I was considerably more awake, having slept like a rock for the past two nights, but my embarrassment lingered as I avoided eye contact with Sofia and then Kylan when they entered the conference room.
Fortunately, we were surrounded by many others, as this was the weekly agents’ strategy meeting, which meant that all agents and assistants would be there as usual, along with our manager, Francis, and apparently Kylan too .
Francis, who hated when people arrived to meetings late, didn’t wait for the two latecomers and simply started without them.
Ambrose and Jessa were only half a minute late, but their eyes clearly conveyed their nerves and regret, which Francis ignored as they spoke of some general company business first.
My nerves were so high in my new boss’s presence, which had been relatively rare so far, that I hardly paid attention to my former lover in the room. I was starting to become used to his presence at work—if you could call not having a panic attack becoming used to it.
After speaking for a long while, Francis paused and pinned Laina with a stare. “And now, Laina has an announcement to share.”
“Thanks, Fran.” Laina’s mouth curved into a half-smile.
Only she could call Francis by the nickname; apparently the two of them went way back.
“I don’t want to make a fuss, so I’ll just say it: I’m retiring.
” Gasps were heard around the room, but before anyone could respond, she added, “In July. You have two months.”
Once again, I forgot that Kylan was in the room.
Laina’s leaving.
Laina’s leaving!
I could …
“Two months for one of you assistants to prove yourself capable of being an agent,” Laina said, giving a cursory glance to each of the four of us. “If any of you are.”
Kylan frowned and cleared his throat. “I’ve no doubt they are. I’d actually like to help—to support the team, which is part of the reason I’ve joined you for the weekly meeting today.”