Page 107 of A Bookish Story

He blinks. “What? No note? For God’s sake, I want my money back.”

I laugh and slug his shoulder. “I should have figured it out but I was too hurt to believe it. You should have called me. Three months is too long.”

“Why do you think I’m here?”

“You have a panel tomorrow.”

He shakes his head. “It was canceled.”

“So…you came here anyway…for me?”

“What do you think, genius?” He cocks his head and grins, resting his hand on the nape of my neck and tugging me even closer. “I decided I’d punished myself long enough and I was going to take a chance that you’d want to see me again. And when you chased me out of the room, I knew.”

“Oh, so that was a test, professor?”

He takes my hand and brings it to his lips to brush a kiss across my knuckles. I lean forward, kissing his shoulder, and then we both lean in the world’s most beautiful choreography, and kiss. The kiss is soul-deep, torching every part of me and changing it for the better. I fall into him, forgetting we’re in a public place. He has this way of kissing me that feels like an all-body hug.

I finally break for air. “B-but what if I was with someone else?”

“Then it wasn’t meant to be, or at least not this decade. I would have had to accept it as long as you were happy.” He presses his forehead to mine. “But I would have been heartbroken.”

“You’re a much better person than I am.” I reach to tug on his beard. “This is interesting but I kind of like it.”

“It’s how I look when I’m near the end of a book.”

“Oh, I finished my first draft.”

“I know. Kate has kept me up to date. I managed to ask about you frequently, professional reasons only, of course.”

“Of course. What happens now?”

“Anything you want. We’re on an even playing field. Nice to meet you, I’m Ryan Brady.” He holds out his warm hand and this time, I’m sure he’s never going to let go.

“I’m Luci Santana also known as Elizabeth Brogan.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“And one more thing. If we’re going to be together, you can’t just take off every time you want peace and quiet to finish a book. We have to figure that out.”

“Agreed.”

I smooth down the lapels of his coat. “Um, I’m staying here, you know. On the 12th floor.”

“Yeah?” He kisses me again.

This time when we break apart I take his hand and tug him toward the elevator doors. When we hop on, we’re sharing the elevator with two other people, and the woman glances at me.

“Oh, Elizabeth Brogan.” She reaches into her cart full of books and pulls out Soulmates. “I didn’t get your autograph at the signing this morning. The line was too long.”

“Who should I make it out to?” I address it to her, then sign and hand it back. “This is Ryan Brady, by the way. He’s an award-winning author of historical fiction.”

He rolls his eyes at me but gives the woman a smile and nod.

“That’s nice,” the woman says.

She gets off the elevator first, and Ryan and I ride up the rest of the floors. We laugh some of the way, we kiss the rest of it, we’re unable to keep our hands off each other.

But when we get closer to my room, fear rises in me. Fear and nerves. Excitement. Throw in a little angst, too. I’m at the start of a romance book that could practically write itself. The ingenue in a romcom, riding up in the elevator with the man who headlines her dreams. Depending on the spice rating, we were either going to stop the elevator and shag right in that tight space or wait until we opened the door to my suite.