AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Is Marcella ever happy for very long?”
He nodded. “Good point.”
“I think she’ll be satisfied—and we’ll end up with good covers.”
“Good. I’m golfing this afternoon. Try not to burn the place down.” He flashed another chilly smile and headed for the door.
Sometimes she wondered at his sense of humor. She grabbed her yogurt and returned to the studio to find that Marcella had disappeared into her office, while Linda was sitting on the floor, paper bags and wrapped sandwiches spread out around her. From the aroma, Linda had gone for delivery from their favorite deli. And, as she often did, she’d included something for Anna, who didn’t hesitate to trade key lime yogurt for a pastrami on rye that smelled like spicy heaven.
The elevator hummed and pinged, and Gage strode back into the studio. Somehow, he filled the space—it went from seeming industrial and huge to narrowing in on just him. He scanned the area as if looking for threats. He must not have found any, because he relaxed a little and asked, “Any of those sandwiches spare?”
Anna lifted her eyebrows, but it was Linda who asked, “Didn’t you eat?”
“I tried a burger at the bar down the street.”
Anna and Linda swapped stares and groans. “Binky’s?” Anna asked. “Their food is scary.” She held up half her pastrami sandwich. “I’ll share.”
He sat down next to her. She wasn’t sure how a guy with that much bulk could move so gracefully, but he was mesmerizing to watch. As much as she loved still photography, she couldn’t help but think it was a shame to reduce him to a static image. “Any chance I could get some more water?” He offered up a smile that warmed her like the sun on her face.
“Of course.” She scrambled to get him another bottle—it was a great excuse to hide the heat on her face.
Once she’d returned and they were enjoying their food, he asked, “Have you worked here long?”
“Three years,” she answered.
“You like it?”
Shrugging, she said, “It’s okay. The shoots are fun, but there’s a ton of work involved in achieving something that Marcella will like.”
“She seemed a little…intense,” Gage said diplomatically. “What’s her role here?”
Linda wrinkled her nose. “She’s our resident pain in the ass.”
Anna nudged her with an elbow. “She’s the art director—the person we must please.”
“Which, believe me, isn’t easy,” Linda added. “Though she seemed to like you. Maybe that means we’ll get an easy pass on the pics from this shoot. Lucky for us you came along, really. How did you hear about us, anyway? We usually get all our models through an agency or referrals.”
Gage shifted, and Anna had the oddest feeling he was about to duck the question or lie. “Guy I knew. His wife writes romance novels and mentioned this company. Maybe you know her? Natalie Smalls?”
Linda chuckled. “We’re supposed to read what we publish, but, y’know, I just work here. I’d feel bad about not being all that into the books, but I don’t think the boss man reads them, either.”
“Boss man?”
“Yeah, Coran Williams himself,” Linda said cheerfully. “I mean, he pretends like he reads them all, but when he talks about the new titles in company meetings, he kind of sounds like that kid back in school who was always faking his way through book reports.”
Gage laughed. “Sounds like you’re not very impressed with him.”
“Oh no, I totally am,” Linda insisted. “I mean, he’s worth five billion dollars. Five.Billion. It’s hard to get more impressive than that. And honestly, kudos to the man for still working even though he clearly doesn’t need to anymore. If I had that much money, I’d be somewhere sipping cocktails with little umbrellas in them.”
“He made five billion dollars publishing romance novels?” Gage let out a slow whistle. “Damn, I had no idea the business was raking it in like that. I should be charging you guys more for my services.”
“Oh, he didn’t make all that from publishing,” Anna explained. “The publishing house is more of a hobby for him. He started it after he made his fortune.”
“Then howdidhe make all that money?”
“Something to do with the military—and some kind of tech, I think? He’s kinda squirrelly whenever it comes up,” Linda said, taking the reins of the conversation again. “My boyfriend thinks he’s into something illegal.”
“Linda!” Anna shook her head.
