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I stared down at her, nostrils flaring. I noticed Travis watching with a self-satisfied smile. Kenzie was backing me into a corner. She wanted me to admit offering her the job was about more than finding someone to watch the cat, didn’t she?
“Fine,” I blurted. “But you aren’t keeping him. You can just watch him until I’m back from the writer’s conference. I may not have time to keep up with him, but he’s my pet. I’m not giving him away to a stranger.”
“Deal,” Travis said, reaching to shake my hand again.
“I’m not touching that,” I said.
He looked at his own palm as if my words had wounded him.
I went past him to Mr. Meatball and knelt down. I rubbed behind his ears. “I’ll come back for you in a couple weeks,” I said.
“Well,” Kenzie said. “I guess we should go clear my things out of your place, right?”
I stood up, looking at her in the doorway. She was wringing her hands together and looking down.
I knew exactly what I should do. I should nod my head, speak as little as possible, and let Kenzie Rosenthal walk her enchanting little self right out of my life. Maybe the last couple days would be enough to spark some creativity and get me writing again.
I opened my stupid mouth instead. “There is one other thing I could use your help with.”
19
Kenzie
“You’re sure about this?” I asked.
Sebastian and I were waiting in the airport terminal. I had my backpack in my lap and he was carrying a small laptop carrier. “It’s a little late for changing plans, don’t you think?”
I shrugged. “It’s never too late to run away. That’s what I say,” I muttered.
“That must’ve been what you were thinking after you threw the coffee at my book signing.”
I grinned. “I’m not sure what I was thinking, actually.”
Sebastian’s assistant, Nilla, came toward where we were sitting and sat on Sebastian’s other side. She was around my age, but maybe a year or two older. She was pretty, but in a “I’ll cut your throat if you don’t love me” sort of way. She had severe, black hair cut in a perfect horizontal line above her shoulders and then one shorter chunk above her eyebrows. She wasn’t wearing much makeup, but her eyeliner was dark.
“Are you sure about this?” Nilla asked. She’d apparently heard my question.
“Yes. And it would be nice if people stopped asking me that,” Sebastian said. “And you already told me you’d need to stay here to keep things civil with Dennis.”
“Who’s Dennis?” I asked.
“His boss,” Nilla said.
“Authors have bosses?”
“No,” Sebastian said.
“Yes,” Nilla said at exactly the same time. She shot Sebastian a look, pursing her lips. “Sebastian likes to believe he is above the need for promoting his books or a publisher. But, yes, his boss is the CEO of Ink House, his publishing press. They’re the best in the business, and they have the rights to Embers for another seven years, so, ideally, we’d like to keep our relationship friendly with them.”
“Yeah,” Sebastian said. “The best in the business, but hurting for money so badly they are relying on my next book already?”
Nilla frowned. “Actually, I was meaning to tell you this. I was waiting for a better time, but I think you should know… I overheard a conversation from outside Dennis’ door. I think he owes money to some bad people. I’m just saying I’d be careful with him going forward. He may be more desperate than either of us realized.”
Sebastian sighed. “Great. Well, none of that really matters if I don’t write another book, does it?”
Nilla gave him a serious look. “You’re going to write another book. If you don’t, I’ll be out of a job.”
“Your concern is touching, Nilla.”
She clicked her pen and wrote something down. “I’m worried your little friend is going to be a distraction. The point of this retreat is to help you write that book. Remember?” she said, speaking as if I wasn’t even there. I’d learned she was very good at that. We had driven back to Sebastian’s place after confronting Travis about his catnapping. It was almost worth the stress to get to see the look on Lance and Trinity’s face when they learned what happened, but not quite.
Sebastian said he wanted me to come with him to the retreat to act as a personal assistant. I’d run to town to pick up food if we needed it and help with any other random tasks he needed. The perk was he’d let me write whenever he didn’t need my help, which was more than I could’ve hoped for.
I’d always dreamed of going on a writer’s retreat. I pictured a scenic cabin on a mountainside with lake views and birds chirping in the morning. I could practically imagine the chilly breeze on my back when I sat on the deck and wrote with the sounds of tree branches whooshing overhead. So I’d agreed to go. I even held my tongue and avoided pressing Sebastian for more information. Namely, I hadn’t even asked him what his real reason for inviting me was.
