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“Oh, Zara! There you are,” she said, like she was relieved. There was a thick stack of paper in her hands. It appeared to be a manuscript. “Listen, Heath passed this manuscript over to me. Apparently, it’s for a new author he wants to acquire, and the author only wants to work with you on it. Since you’re my assistant, we will have to work on it together.”
“What?” I asked, confused. “Why would he want me?”
“I don’t know,” Darla said, handing me the manuscript. “But we will be having a conference with him in an hour, and I need you to at least skim it so we can discuss it with him. I already read it. It’s good, and this guy seems to be a big deal, so we have to be on it.”
I dropped my gaze to the manuscript and read the title page. “C.J. Porter?”
“You know him?” Darla asked, reading my expression. “He even has your last name.”
“No. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of him.”
“Well, who knows? Maybe I’ll give you the reins on this one, see what you’ve got. Sci-fi isn’t my thing, but I know you love it, and you know I’m here to help if you need me.”
“Right. Yeah, that would be great. I’ll start on it.”
“Great. Conference will be in room two. See you in an hour.”
I had plenty of time to read a third of the manuscript and get a feel for the story. It was really good, but it sounded awfully familiar. I couldn’t figure out if I’d read this story before, or if I’d seen a similar plot in a Netflix film. I would definitely have to ask about it during the conference.
When I saw Darla going to the conference room, I picked up the manuscript, a notepad, and two pens and made my way toward the room too.
“Oh, good. You’re here. He’s coming up the elevator now. What’d you think of the story?” Darla asked.
“From what I’ve read, it’s good, but it seems really familiar, like it’s already been done before.”
“Hmm. Strange. Heath said it was one of the most original ideas he’s heard in a while.”
I sat in a leather chair in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and cracked open the manuscript to the last page I’d read. Darla walked to the coffee station to fix herself a cup of coffee, and as I skimmed through, I heard voices. Heath appeared, opening the door to the conference room and saying something over his shoulder.
And then a man walked in behind him, a man who was all too familiar to me and one who made my heartbeat stutter.
I sucked in a breath as the two men walked deeper into the room. The man behind Heath smiled at me, his gray eyes landing right on mine. Oh my God. It was him. Cole.
But…the author name, C.J. Porter? That wasn’t his author name. It was Cole King the last time I’d checked. His last name had been inspired by Stephen King.
Cole revealed two perfect rows of teeth and said, “Hi, Zara.”
I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I hadn’t seen him in so long, minus a few FaceTime sessions, but in person he was even more handsome than I remembered. There was stubble on his jaw, and he wore a tan sweater with jeans. Circular glasses rested on the bridge of his nose, and he looked so smart with them, more like a professor now than he had when I was in college.
I smiled at the thought and then stood. “Cole. Wow.”
“So, you two do know each other?” Darla inquired, stepping up next to me.
“We go way back,” Cole confirmed, then he extended an arm, offering a hand to Darla. “C.J. Porter, but you can call me Cole.”
She took it and shook, giving him a wide smile. “Darla Bridges, and it’s nice to meet you, Cole.”
Cole’s eyes moved over to mine again as Heath asked Darla for a word. The two walked away to a corner, murmuring over where Brad, the publicist, was and leaving me and Cole standing alone.
“Cole, what are you doing here?” I asked, smiling so hard I thought my face would break. “And C.J. Porter? Using my last name? Really?”
He chuckled. “Ah, don’t worry about that. I only used that hoping it would catch your attention. It’s not permanent…unless you want it to be.”
“I mean…it is easy to remember.” I laughed, shrugging. “I can’t believe this. How did you get through Heath? He’s so tough!”
“Oh, my agent is a wizard. And speaking of, he should be here soon, hopefully within the next couple of minutes.”
“Wow.” I looked him over again and smiled. “You look so great.”
“As do you.” He took a step closer to me. “I told Patrick I wanted in with Breaker Publishing and I wanted to work with you. He made it happen for me.”
