I plaster a fake smile on my face and slide into the seat next to Nick, shifting the chair so there is the maximum amount of space between us. “Hi, everyone. Thanks for saving me. I thought I was going to have to forage the vending machines for sustenance.”
“Of course!” Hannah is way too bright and cheerful for someone who is snowed in at a hotel upstate just a few days before Christmas. “I wanted to chat with you about your new book idea anyway, so this is perfect!”
The last thing I want to do is talk about my enemies-to-lovers second-chance romance in front of my now-enemy, former lover who will not be getting any sort of second chance, but I think this is another one of those situations where I have to play nice.
Gina smiles over the rim of her coffee cup. “Perfect timing, Nick was just about to tell us about his new project too.”
Nick shoots her a look like he was definitely not going to be doing that, but she just smiles and sips.
“So what are you working on?” Hannah asks.
“An enemies-to-lovers second-chance holiday romance.” I say the words and then check the room because there seems to be some kind of echo.
It takes a second to realize there’s no echo, there’s just my ex-boyfriend stealing my book idea.
Okay. That might not be totally fair. Plenty of books have the same tropes while ending up being totally different from one another. But seriously, what are the odds?
My stomach sinks as I absorb the full impact of the situation, and I no longer feel hungry, only sick. There’s no way my publisher is going to pick up my option if my proposed book is so similar to their stupid star writer’s. This project of mine is grounded before it’s even had the chance to take off.
Gina’s eyes dart back and forth between us. “Wait a minute, you’re both writing a second-chance holiday romance?”
I nod, keeping my eyes far away from Nick’s. I can feel his gaze boring into the side of my head, but I ignore it, focusing instead on calming the nausea. Maybe if my book publishes a year after Nick’s, SVP will still buy it. I can’t really afford to go a whole year without publishing a book, but it might be the best offer I get at this point.
Nick clears his throat. “Yes. The idea came to me a couple of weeks ago.”
My mouth goes dry. “Yeah. Me too.”
Hannah and Gina exchange a look.
“How…how has that been going…for both of you?” Hannah’s eyes are wide, like she’s afraid of what we’re going to say next.
“Fine,” I say.
“Great,” he says. “I’ve made a lot of progress.”
I immediately know Nick has been struggling just as much as I have, that he’s lying through his teeth. It makes me feel a teeny bit better. The nausea abates, replaced by the all-too-familiar sensation of being really, really annoyed with Nick Matthews. Why does everything between us always end up in a competition? My favorite thing about being a writer is my community of fellow authors. How much we love and support one another, how much we are there for each other. Nick has never wanted to be a part of that, and I hate how he holds himself at the top, without ever reaching a helping hand to those who make the community so special.
“It’s weird though. I can’t seem to picture how they come together in the end. I’m finding it hard to make the male main character’s arc believable. Can he actually change? Could he truly make her happy the second time around when he failed so miserably the first?” I allow my gaze to drift Nick’s way, just in time to see an angry flush darken his cheeks. “Why would she even want to give him a second chance when he fucked it up once already?” I normally wouldn’t speak this way in front of publishing professionals, but one glance at Nick and I forget the need to hold back.
“Interesting. I’m struggling with figuring out my couple’s backstory. The female main character seems to place sole blame for the breakup on the hero, even though she wasn’t a completely innocent party. But she seems incapable of realizing how her own actions played a role in their split.” Nick’s eyes narrow as they meet mine.
“Maybe you should combine your stories and write a book together.”
Both of our heads whip around, our gazes locked on Gina.
She shrugs. “Don’t look at me like that. It sounds like you’re writing similar books anyway. And you’re both stuck at opposite ends. Plus, who knows how long we’re going to be trapped here? Might as well accomplish something.”
Hannah leans forward. “You know, it isn’t a terrible idea.”
“Isn’t it, though?” My voice screeches loudly across the room, turning more than a few heads in our direction because I don’t think I’ve ever, not once in my life, heard a worse idea.
“If nothing else, it might be a good exercise to get you both past the tricky parts. Even if the project itself doesn’t turn into anything, maybe the brainstorming will unlock something about your current projects.” Hannah is so smart and cool and yet in this moment, all I want is to punch her in the face.
Nick turns to me with a wide smile stretched across his face and my blood runs cold at the sight of it. “I think it sounds like a fantastic idea.”
And there he goes, sealing my fate. Nick knows as well as I do that if he is on board to cowrite a book with me, even if it does turn out to be nothing more than an “exercise,” there’s no way I can say no.
What I can do is make sure he regrets his decision.
