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"Ten minutes?"
"Ten minutes, and then you can go in."
"I—"
The man shrugs, and I know I can’t do anything to make him change his mind. I sit in one of the folding chairs behind the table that has been set up for Charlie and wait.
Ten minutes later, I can't believe my eyes. The door opens, and the man I had been following exits.
No, I hadn't been following him—that makes me sound like a stalker.
He looks at me, and his eyes travel up and down my body. When he looks me in the eye again, I can't tell what he is thinking. I can't tell what I am thinking either. I am lost in the dark eyes, swimming around in the burnt chestnut, until I realize I am watching his ass as he walks off.
"You can go in."
I look up at the man at the door, and he raises an eyebrow at me. "What? I can't take a look?"
He chuckles once as I walk past him and into the room.
I had seen Charlie before at the office, but never with this many people around. There is a whole entourage, and from how they are dressed, they are business associates and not friends.
"It's wonderful to see you again, Miss Morton." I stick out my hand, and she takes it with both of hers.
"I do not believe I have seen you in the office when I have visited, my dear."
"They like to keep me hidden away," I reply with a wink.
Charlie does not let go of my hand initially, and I don't pull it back. She smiles at me, but I can see her gaze flicker down to my cleavage,
The great Charlie Morton, the fifty-year-old woman who has written ten pretty successful romance novels for Good Relations Publishing. Each of them follows the exact same premise—a guy and girl hate each other, they fall for each other, they are driven apart, and they come back together for a happy ending.
Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?
And even though it has not been confirmed, there are strong rumors that Charlie Morton has a penchant for women—young ones, at that. Hence, why I am here.
She finally lets go of my hand, and I sit on the opposite side of the desk. Charlie and the four men in suits all stare at me; however, she is looking at me very differently than the men are. It is unsettling that it is she who is ogling me and not the men. It feels as if the whole world has been turned upside down.
"So, to business," says Charlie. "I do not owe Good Relations anything,"
"Okay," I say.
"You have been very helpful in getting my books published, but they have earned your company a lot of money."
"Hey, I get it," I say. "But I'm far from being anyone in the company. I'm as far down the ladder as they get."
"Yet, they sentyouout here as their representative."
Shit! I have already talked myself into a hole.
"Have you ever thought about switching things up?" I ask. "Have it be two girls instead of a girl and a guy?"
I hate what I am doing, but this is all I have at my disposal right now. I have no power in the company, but I have power as a woman.
Charlie looks over at me with a smirk. "I might have thought about that before, but I'm not sure how well it would sell."
"Oh, I think there are some who would lap it up."
Charlie's smile grows wider.
