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I suppose I am biased, though. She's got me so messed up. Seeing her standing in front of that bathroom mirror on the verge of a mental breakdown and looking for all the world like she'd been electrocuted, hair frizzy and sticking up in several places, had me ready to punch the next person who I saw just to have someone to blame for her dilemma.
It felt incredible to be able to help my beautiful, frazzled mate, though. Even if it was just to lend a hair tie to. Her gratitude was a balm to my rising frustration. I don't know where it came from when I asked to braid her hair, I just knew I couldn't go another second without touching her. Even if all I could do was give her a scalp massage and help her bad hair day, it was everything. When she started to purr for me, I think I deserve a medal for the restraint I showed. The arousal that clouded the bathroom was inevitable, but at least I didn't bend her over the sink and feast on her the way my alpha desperately wanted me to. Especially with how she looks today, work suit hugging her delicious curves in the most enticing, mouth-watering way. The second she finally registers, or acknowledges, she is our mate, I'm going to worship every inch of her body so there isn't ever a doubt of how much waiting iswreckingme.
We make it to the conference room, and just like Mr. Price said, Dillan is sitting there waiting. He stands and comes to greet me when he sees us walk in.Sorry,I mouth to him as soon as he leans in to give me a brief, side hug. He shakes his head and smiles, letting me know he isn't mad that I made him wait and wasn't there to walk in with him. Dillan freezes when he steps back, subtly sniffing me, and then his eyebrows pop up in surprise.
"What?" I ask, sniffing my shoulder and armpit to make sure I didn't forget the deodorant this morning.Oh, Goddess.What if I stink, and Summer got a good whiff of me? Before I can panic about my potential body odor, Dillan answers my question.
"You smell like omega," he grins, "did you get a little frisky with an omega on the way into work? Is that why you left me hanging?" He's laughing at me. I scowl back.
I wish.
"Wait. You don't smell like Tatem." He's met her twice when we've done drinks after meetings and Tatem joined us.
"Yeah. We broke up," I tell him matter-of-factly, not feeling an ounce of pain.
"Oh, sorry. When did this happen?" He walks around the conference table to sit back in his seat, and I follow and take the seat next to his.
"After our last meeting here, actually." I hedge. Dillan isn't an idiot. He can put two and two together.
"Right after?" he asks, surprised, but doing the math. I nod. A buzzing from my purse sounds, and I pull out my phone to see a text from Tillie, one of my more frustrating clients. For someone who has only independently published and hasn't had a best seller yet, she is already overwhelmingly self-important. She doesn't have any of the humility and grace that Dillan has. I'd drop her if I didn't think her current manuscript is going to do so well. She's a talented writer, no doubt, but a nightmare to work with. Late night texts demanding answers or calls back, rude demeanor, and turned down offers notwithstanding, her personality is not my cup of tea. "Right after you met that pretty omega assistant?" Dillan continues slowly, ignorant to my intrusive train of thought.
The swish of the conference room door against the carpet sounds as someone walks in. Still looking at my phone and fighting the urge to scowl at Tillie's complaining about a perfectly respectable offer, calling itinsultingto her craft, I barely feel when Dillan rests his hand on my forearm to get my attention. What does get my attention is the scent of gingerbread cookies filling the space.
My mouth starts to water, knowing Summer just walked in, and I look up to see an annoyed, possessive look in her eyes. I startle, having never seen her look so hostile before, when I realize she's zoned in on where Dillan is still touching my arm.
Oh.
Dillan notices the look too and pulls his hand away at the same time I yank my arm back. I try to portray my innocence through a look alone as Summer walks to her seat in the corner, but she's studiously ignoring me. I feel a pang in my chest but push past it by focusing on the fact that she gotjealous.She may not feel intrinsically that we are her mates, but she does on some level, just like Hudson said. There is some part of her, suppressed somehow, that recognizes us, and my spirits lift a little despite her current disdain because of the hope swelling in my chest.
I look sideways at Dillan to see his eyebrows hitting his hairline again and pin-balling glances between Summer and I. I know what he's registering. The jealousy in Summer's eyes, but also the distinct gingerbread scent of her all over me. Honey and nutmeg and absolutely alluring. Although a part of me wants to push and see how far I can take that jealousy in her eyes, I make sure to stay a healthy distance from Dillan for the rest of the meeting. I even go so far as to scoot my chair a little farther from his. I may want to push her, but we made a deal as a pack to not manipulate her into anything. I wouldn't dare go back on that, especially after Mason's blow up over it. I've never seen him be anything but fun, loving, and easy-going Mason, so seeing him speak so vehemently on this makes me even more sure about not testing the boundaries.
"Let's get started, shall we?" Price says, bringing the small buzz of conversation to a close as everyone looks at him expectantly. There aren't as many people here as there were for the first meeting, but there are still enough to take up the other half of the conference room table, with Dillan and I sitting by ourselves on this side. Price introduces the others as the department heads for marketing and finance, which explains their presence to negotiate Dillan's offer. "Have you guys reviewed our initial offer?" Price asks Dillan and I.
"We have. It's one we're seriously considering, but as you can imagine, my client has multiple offers, all very competitive," I answer, slipping on my professional hat and folding my hands together on the table.
"Of course. As a smaller publishing firm, we may not have the capital the larger firms can offer in terms of an advance, but we make up for that with a more involved publishing experience, and we still have a similar reach to our competitors in terms of marketing, promotion, and distribution." That is true. Their initial offer for Dillan's advance is much lower than his other two offers, which he is more interested in. I asked him to come to the table one more time though for Pen2Paper Press to see if they could offer something besides capital that the other firms won't. They already offered final say on title and cover design, which the other firms won't, but it hasn't sold Dillan yet.
"Dillan and I have talked, and although your advance is lower than he would like, we're willing to stay at the table if you can supplement that in other areas," I respond, leaning back into the chair to exude confidence and a casual air.
"Such as?" Price asks.
"We'd like ten percent royalties and five percent on all ancillary rights as well as complete movie rights." I'm starting with our biggest asks and fudging the numbers a little. Dillan got seven and a half percent in royalties on his last book and one percent of ancillary rights. His advance was just a little higher though, and this book is expected to do better as he's built his following with his previous best seller.
Price looks over at the finance guy, and I imagine they've already talked about what they're prepared to offer because only a nod is exchanged before he counters. "We can do eight percent royalties and three percent ancillary."
"We're amenable to three percent ancillary if you can do nine percent royalties," I fire back without looking at Dillan, having already discussed our goals as well.
"Deal. At this time, we aren't willing to let go of movie rights, but we would be willing to guarantee Mr. Doherty as the screenwrite." A decent counter offer. I look at Dillan for confirmation, and he shrugs.
"We can concede to that in exchange for final say on tour locations and dates and an out-of-print clause." Meaning they only have copyrights for as long as the book is in print. Once it no longer is, all copyrights revert back to Dillan.
Price is silent for a minute, mulling over our request. "I'll have to speak with my boss for confirmation, but I think we can make that happen." I smile, nod, and confirm those were the last of our stipulations. Price starts going through the rest of the contract section by section to give us the opportunity to ask questions or raise concerns. I manage to stay focused on the meeting and not the sweet omega tucked away in the corner.
An hour later, we've gone through it all and promised to have an answer by the end of the week. I try to grab Summer's eye on the way out, but she is still avoiding looking at me. She doesn't look upset anymore, so that is something at least. I follow Dillan out to the elevator near the small front desk, and watch—with what is a sad, pathetic face—Summer follow Jerrick Price back to their office space, heads tucked together and talking quietly as they go.
"So you and Summer, huh?" Dillan asks as he presses the down button.
"There isn't a me and Summer yet, but there will be." From my mouth to the Goddess's ears.
