Explicit by Roxy Sloane

Author:Roxy Sloane [Sloane, Roxy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Roxy Sloane Books
Published: 2016-03-21T04:00:00+00:00

17

I waited until mid-morning to try reaching him on the phone. He wasn’t picking up. Finally I texted: “Would love to talk with you this morning—sadly it’s business, not pleasure.” I knew I had to ask him about the outline; I just couldn’t put it off any longer.

I was wrapping up a meeting with a potential new author I’d reached out to directly when Carolyn buzzed: “Jackson Ford, line one.” The young writer’s face was priceless. “The Jackson Ford?”

“The one and only,” I smiled. “And please do let me know what you and your agent think about working with us in the future.” I shuffled my protégé out of the office and picked up the phone.

“Hi, Jackson. Thank you.” I sank into my chair with a little sigh, not looking forward to the conversation we were about to have.

“For what?” he said playfully. “I thought this was a business call.”

“Oh, it will be. But I really loved the gift. Except I’m still wondering. . . any chance you can get down here sometime soon?” I asked, unable to mask the need in my voice. “For a meeting? A. . . professional meeting. Strictly professional.”

“Why Ellie Parker, are you distracting me from my work?”

“Never.” I laughed. “How are the pages going?”

“Well,” he said, but something in his voice shifted, and he didn’t elaborate. I could sense him withdrawing again, and the last thing I needed was for him to get defensive and avoidant again.

“Hey, I saw Sol yesterday,” I said, hoping the change of subject would smooth over Jackson’s sudden reticence.

“Oh really.” I could hear a smile in his voice. “How’s he doing?”

“He’s great. We had dinner. He loves you.”

“And I’m his biggest fan,” he said.

I relaxed, leaning back in my chair and kicking off my heels. “Yeah, we ran into each other at the Mark Stella launch.”

“Oh, right,” he said. “That’s Jennifer Carpenter’s book?”

“Yes it is.” I sat up, a bit surprised. “How do you know Jennifer Carpenter?”

“She approached me about taking over for Solly, actually. She lobbied pretty hard,” he said with a loaded laugh.

“Really.” I was instantly perturbed. “What do you mean, ‘She lobbied pretty hard’?” Knowing Jennifer, I didn’t like the sound of what I was hearing.

“It was nothing, Ellie.” He dropped his voice to a soothing tone. “The right person got the job, and that’s all that matters.”

“You’re really not going to tell me?” I said. “It was that scandalous?”

“You’re adorable,” Jackson said. “You’re jealous.” He was enjoying it a little too much.

“Maybe, a little bit,” I huffed, spinning in my chair to look out the window, hoping the view would calm me. “You don’t have to sound so happy about it.”

“Ellie, I want you. All the time. Never doubt that.”

“Jackson.” I closed my eyes, pressing a cool hand to the instant flush he always seemed to put in my cheeks. “Why don’t you come down for the weekend?”

“I want to,” he said, “but I need to focus right now. You know the book has priority. You’re the one who insisted on that.

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