Chapter 6 #2
All that said, this was definitely going to put a hindrance on writing a whole book with a convincing romance.
“What are you thinking about so much? I feel like you left the building already, and I just got here,” Charlie said, waving a hand in front of her face.
The beige knit sweater he had on was pushed up to his elbows, which she could have sworn he hadn’t been wearing moments ago when he walked in. Eyeing the black jacket slung over the seat next to him, though, she felt a little less crazy as she focused back on him.
“Book stuff,” she answered finally.
Charlie nodded as he pursed his lips. “Oh, very fun. Know what your book will be about already?”
She lifted a shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. “Sort of. I have a general idea but need to start working on outlining it and stuff.”
Technically, she needed to solve her little research problem first, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Let me know when you finish it. I’d love to read it,” he said, throwing her a wink. She couldn’t help but smile at that, responding by gently kicking his leg underneath the table.
“I didn’t take you for a romance reader.”
He shrugged. “I’m not usually, but I would if it was yours. That’s beside the point. What’s going on in that head of yours? Not like you to completely space out like that.”
“Really, it’s nothing. I just hit a bit of a… roadblock,” she said carefully, “and I need to figure it out. Don’t worry.”
She wasn’t sure how else to phrase it, but it only seemed to make him more curious.
“Come on. Tell me!”
When she remained silent, Charlie sighed and propped his elbows on the table again dramatically, flashing her one of those puppy-dog expressions he was notorious for. The one that somehow made his blue eyes stand out even more than usual, like the sun reflecting off the ocean’s surface.
Damn him. He was good. “You’re getting too good at that, you know.”
He grinned. “I’ve had a few years of practice. Now, spill. What’s up?”
“It’s just… I came up with this idea to write a smutty romance,” she said, lowering her voice to a whisper, “but I kind of realized that I don’t exactly know much on the subject.”
Charlie’s eyebrows shot up, as if he hadn’t expected that level of honesty. Neither had she, to be fair. It was both a gift and a curse that he was so easy to talk to, so really, he only had himself to blame.
He covered his mouth with his fist to conceal a laugh, only making her regret saying anything at all. “Romance experience?”
“Don’t laugh. This is a serious problem! How can I write something that people will enjoy if I’ve never really gone through any of it myself?”
“You’re worried you won’t be able to write romance… because you haven’t experienced much romance firsthand?”
“Exactly!”
“Hm,” he hummed. “That is an interesting problem to have.”
“You asked! Don’t patronize me.”
Charlie held up his hands defensively. “I’m not; don’t worry. I thought you read a lot of romances, though? Shouldn’t you be an expert by now?”
She jutted her chin out at him at the comment, earning a laugh from him. The sound was warm and familiar enough that it sent a trill of heat up her spine. “I do, from time to time, but it’s different reading about romance and writing it. I need to do research.”
“Research? You want to research… romance?” he asked incredulously.
“Yes, research,” she hissed. “See? Now I wish I hadn’t said anything. Go back to work if you’re just going to tease me. I have a lot to figure out.”
Charlie laughed, reaching across the table and rustling her hair before she smacked his hand away. “Oh, come on. Don’t look so stressed.”
“How can I not be? I’ve already talked to Angel about it, which means she’s definitely already mentioned it to my publisher. So, even if she hasn’t formally proposed anything to them, they already know that this is the direction I’m going, so it’ll be nearly impossible to back out now.”
He shrugged. “So? Just tell them you decided to go in a different direction if you’re not feeling up to it.”
She closed her eyes to take another deep breath. She’d already word vomited more than she needed to with him. The last thing she needed was to make it worse. Angel was the only one who knew about the crunch she was under with her contract, and she didn’t need Charlie worrying like he always did.
“You know how I get when I make up my mind,” she said instead. “I’ve got it stuck in my head to write this book now. And you know how much research I’ve done for some of my other books. So, it would make sense that I’d need to do the same here, right?”
“I guess so, but how does one do research on something like romance?”
She threw her hands up in frustration. “I don’t know.
That’s what I’m trying to figure out! I need to work with someone who is willing to go out with me and show me what dating is like right now without making it weird or expecting anything out of it.
Like, how on earth am I supposed to propose that to some random guy?
Like, ‘Hey, I need experience for a book I’m writing.
Are you open to dating me for a bit until I’m done, and then we can part ways for eternity?
’ Not to mention the research I need to do for the more physical aspects of a relationship—for the spicier scenes—like, what am I supposed to do? ”
Charlie blinked a few times at her, and it was then that she realized that, once again, she needed to button her lip. “You’re serious?”
She tried to ignore the heat that suddenly flamed in her cheeks at the odd look he was giving her.
It wasn’t one that said he was wondering whether she’d grown another head or if he needed to check her into the nearest mental institution like she might’ve expected.
But she couldn’t quite place exactly what it was.
“Yeah, so?” she asked, a little defensiveness seeping into her tone. “You got any better ideas?”