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“Like a big author signing?”
“Exactly that. Sloan Chase has a new book coming out in a few weeks. What if we booked her as a special guest and had a book signing following the podcast?”
“I’m sure she’s already got all her publicity lined up. Besides, Sloan Chase sold more copies than the Bible last year. I think she might be a little out of our league.”
“She wasn’t before she got famous. Who knows, maybe the nostalgia of coming back to where her first book signing happened will be enough for her to say yes. She’s a local girl. Do you still have her contact info?”
“Yes.” A bubble of excitement tickled her belly like champagne on her tongue.
“Then what’s the harm in asking?”
“Nothing,” she said with more conviction. “I’ll tell her my mom, who gave her her first big break, will be there. That we can discuss where she started and where she is now.” It was a brilliant idea. But on the same day as Wes’s opening?
“Why do I feel like there’s a but?”
“Because I don’t want to sabotage Wes’s opening.”
There was a long, pregnant pause where Cleo’s mouth gaped open like she was a fish out of water. “You’ve slept with him!”
Summer didn’t want to lie but she also didn’t want Cleo’s wrath. “We have shared a bed, where there may have been a cuddle.”
“And?”
“I might have kissed him.” Summer closed her eyes. “In the river. While I was nearly naked.”
Cleo was silent again. She reached up and fiddled with one her of space buns. Her expression was one ofI’m considering slashing your tires.“You went skinny-dipping with him?”
“I just told you I kissed him and you’re concerned with the state of my dress?”
“Skinny-dipping. Kissing. A faux-wedding. Deep and meaningful conversations. Are you feeling him?”
The real question was, was he feeling her?
Summer exhaled a deep breath. “I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”
“What do you mean your boss didn’t approve the time off?” Summer asked Autumn, who was sitting looking guilty as hell in her pajamas. “I thought it was a work trip.”
“It was,” Autumn explained. “Just not how you think.” Autumn puffed her chest out and put her shoulders back. The expression on her face was one Summer knew well. She was about to drop a bomb—one that would derail Summer’s life.
“Explain,” she demanded, but she almost didn’t want to know the answer. She’d been so excited about this new podcast idea that she didn’t want to ruin her mood. But she needed to know that she’d be able to pay the mortgage this month.
“I’m going to become an influencer,” Autumn said proudly.
“Do you know how many fashion and makeup influencers there are out there?”
“Not just fashion—I’m going to become the face of ‘Dress for Sex-cess: How to snag a man in thirty days by manifesting sex-scess.’ Sure, there will be hair, makeup, and fashion tips, but it’s more about building the inner goddess. How to find that right guy and reel them in,” she said, as if all she had to do was put up a few pics and videos and she would become social-media famous. “I mean, look at me and Randy! I was dressed for sex-cess when I met him. I had put in the hard work upfront so that when he appeared I was ready. All the guys and steps before led me to the one.”
“You know that I am the first person to be pro-love, and I will always support you in following your dreams, but quitting your job? That’s a little premature, don’t you think?”
“I didn’t quit. I got fired,” Autumn said, without a hint of remorse or fear of the uncertain. “You took out a loan and gambled your savings on a bookstore—what’s the difference?”
The differences were numerous. “I had Mom and Auntie to help. They let me slowly buy them out, supported me through the transition, and I made sure I had the money to pay for a year of payroll, mortgage payments, inventory, and utilities. I didn’t get fired, then decide to start a business and pray for it to rain Benjamins.”
“That’s why I need your support,” Autumn said, and her confident tone turned saccharine-sweet. There was a big ask coming. “The money I borrowed, I have a few thousand dollars left, and I wanted to know if I could hold onto it for another few months.”
Anxiety soured Summer’s stomach. “What about your end-of-quarter bonus?”
“Turns out when you get fired there is no bonus.”