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“I’m good,” she muttered breathlessly. “Just had to get to somewhere quiet. My roommate is home.” Her eyes drifted to the other woman.
She was more or less plain-looking with features someone might overlook on the street. With brown eyes and blonde hair, she could have passed for anyone. But then she smiled warmly, and Becca couldn’t help but feel a sense of comfort. That look alone was enough to make her feel as like she was being given a hug through the screen of her phone.
“Becca, this is Saralee. She’s the editor for your project so we get it in tip top shape before we start submitting. She’s got a ton of experience with romance, and I think you’re going to like her.”
Becca gave her a little wave. “It’s nice to meet you, Saralee.”
“Now, let’s get down to business. I know we’re all busy, so we can keep this meeting short. I want to discuss your current project and bring Saralee in since she’ll be working with us on it.”
Becca flushed, biting on the inside of her cheek. “I’m sorry I didn’t have more for you. I did send a very rough draft of chapter one over to you this morning.”
The two women on Becca’s laptop screen looked at each other and Anna opened her mouth to speak but she didn’t get the words out before Saralee spoke up.
“What you had was fine,” Saralee interjected. “It wasn’t what I was expecting—certainly not what Anna had described. I haven’t read all of it, but the writing is pretty good.”
Becca felt a stab of uncertainty. It sounded like she may have to work hard to draw Saralee completely into her series.
“She’s right. I read chapter one before we got on the call. The characters feel authentic.” Anna was nodding, giving Becca a little more confidence.
“I know more needs to be done to get it ready to go…” Becca glanced back and forth between the two women. “I can talk through more about my ideas for the series if you’d like. I do have ideas, they’re just not quite pulled together yet.”
Anna glanced away from the screen, appearing as though she was reading through some notes.
Saralee nodded. “I wasn’t sure at first about you writing in another sub-genre. I enjoyed the book you submitted to Anna very much. And now that it looks like you want a chance to small town cowboy romance, I think I might be all in for that.”
“I didn’t know you were planning to make this change, Becca, but we can certainly discuss it.” Anna tilted her head and gave a quick nod.
Becca’s heart completely stopped, or at least that was how it felt. Her blood ran cold as the realization of what might have happened became clear. She opened her email in a new tab and checked the email she’d sent to Anna.
All at once, the air left her lungs and her heart slammed into her ribs. The file she’d sent her agent wasn’t the project they’d been discussing. It was the cowboy romance—herlove story. She’d sent the wrong file. It was totally irrelevant to what she had going on with Anna.
Anna and Saralee had gotten into a conversation about what they were expecting to come next, length expectations, and whether the epilogue would be an engagement party or a wedding scene. Then they both stopped and Becca froze.
Had they asked her a question? No, they were just chatting. Maybe they were expecting her to give them a taste of where thebook would go. But there was one big problem with that. She didn’t know where the story would end up.
“Anyway, when do you think you can get us the next set of words?” Anna waited expectantly. “Hopefully, the end of the chapters at least. The epilogue could come later if necessary.”
Becca didn’t dare breathe.
Ethan was her muse. No, not Ethan exactly. The way she felt when she was with him—that was what inspired her. She gave Anna a crooked smile. “I’m sure I can get you the next few chapters by the end of the month.”
“Wonderful.”
Anna and Saralee continued discussing their schedules, allowing Becca to get lost in thought once more. Her stories were fantasies in their own rights. The men were perfectly flawed, and they fought for the women they loved. But that wasn’t how it always had to be.
Why couldn’t the woman fight for the man she wanted to be with?
Ethan might just be the fantasy she never knew she wanted. But she did know. He’s the one she wanted.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Ethan sat in his truck,the world passing him by as he painstakingly pored over the printed pages he’d requested from Simon. His new cousin-in-law hadn’t been all that thrilled about going behind his bride’s back to get the book, but Ethan had to know.
Was the whole book about him and Becca? Or was it just that one scene? And more importantly, was it really about them or was it just a snip here and there she’d used to fill the story out.
By the time Simon had managed to get access to the book, there were fifteen full chapters, and nearly every one had something he could relate to their time together.
The more he read, the more he realized just how much he wanted to believe Becca loved him like the character in her book. As he reached the end of the pages he had, the interactions between the two love interests shifted to fiction—but every interaction was entirely possible to recreate.
