Page 25 of Solitary Man

Riley’s head tilted to the side. “You’re a Smith?”

“Yup. Cash and I are cousins, though distant. Same with Beau and Hank. There are Smiths all over the area. We’re obviously not a very adventurous bunch. We seem to put down roots and then hang in for the long haul.”

“You don’t get lonely?” Riley asked, her head tilting to the side.

Tucker’s throat worked, but he grinned wide. “Nah, suits me this way.” He took a sip of his drink. “So you two met online, huh?”

“We did.”

Tucker glanced at me. “Guess that means you finally caved, followed Beau’s advice, and got satellite internet and a computer?”

I shook my head. “Just the internet, for Riley.”

Riley frowned and turned to me. “You don’t have a laptop?”

I shook my head.

“Then how did you email me?”

“Landon.”

Riley frowned. “So you flew all the way to the general store to message me?”

I shook my head again. “He’d call. I’d tell him how to reply.”

Her frown deepened. “Oh.”

She didn’t like that. My gut gripped tight.

“So what do you write?” Tucker asked, breaking the silence.

Riley turned back to Tucker. “Romance.”

Every muscle in my body went rock solid. I hadn’t even asked her that question. Why the hell hadn’t I asked her what she wrote? And now I was sitting here in front of Tucker, looking like someone had just slapped my ass.

Tucker’s brows rose. “Really?”

She nodded and took another sip of her drink before her gaze slid to me again. Her cheeks got pinker. “I love a happy ending.”

“And how will that work now that you’re living with Cash? Can you still make it work living out in the middle of nowhere?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem.” She glanced at me. “Like he said, Cash got me satellite internet. Hopefully, I can carry on without any hiccups.”

Why hadn’t I thought of that? Her writing and her readers were important to her, she’d told me that in one of her emails, and I hadn’t even asked her what she needed or what I could do to help. I scowled, angry with myself, and angry that Tucker was the one asking her questions that I should have.

“So what kind of romance do you write?” Tuck asked.

“Erotic, mainly.”

I choked on my drink.

“How interesting,” Tuck said, his gaze sliding to me and grinning so wide I had to physically stop myself from strangling him.

Erotic romance?

“So you write about your couples being…intimate?” Tuck asked, eyes glittering, obviously enjoying himself.

“Yep, the bedroom door is wide open in my books. It’s through sex and intimacy that their relationship grows and evolves.”