Page 71 of A Billion Dollar Romance

I held the phone to my ear for a long moment after hearing the soft click of him hanging up.

I have something to tell you.

I burrowed down into my bedsheets, the smile on my face going unseen in my empty moonlit room.

I was pretty sure I knew what it was.

I closed my eyes, but I could tell I wasn’t going to fall asleep. I sat back up, reaching for the werewolf duke and turning my lamp on again. I would read until I was tired.

Edward, seventh Duke of Lanchestershire, awoke face-up in the gutter, unsure of exactly where he was and what he was doing there, but positive that the woman who was frowning down at him was the most beautiful he’d ever laid eyes on,I read again, and smiled to myself. A first page meet-cute was not messing around.Next she’ll help him up, and he’ll get a little too close. We’ll all choose to ignore that no one back then ever brushed their teeth…

I sat up straighter, then went to my desk, returning to my bed with the ghostwritten manuscript and my laptop. I flipped through to where she spilled the coffee–a classic, and a good one–and reread the first meeting. I crossed out a line, scribbling a few words in the margin, and then froze.

What was I doing?

I could edit this ghostwritten book–or…

I opened my laptop.

I pulled up a blank document.

I was a writer.

My hands hovered over the keyboard.

Title TBD, I typed.Pen Name TBD.

I deleted the last.

Edie Taylor,I wrote, then deleted that, too.

I grinned, my fingers slowly picking out the unfamiliar name.

And then they flew.

CHAPTER34

James

“You look tired, Edie,”I said, then grimaced even as she laughed.

She was leaning up against my desk, fiddling with my pen, twisting the sterling silver top to retract and reveal the ballpoint nib.

“I didn’t sleep much this weekend.”

“Without me in your bed,” I said, sliding in closer in my desk chair and pulling her into my lap. She came without resisting, slotting perfectly against me, her arms coming up to wrap around my neck.

“Something like that,” she murmured as I tipped her chin up to kiss me. She was dressed demurely, as she always was in the office, and it only made me want her more. Did we have time for a quickie before Bridget and Lyle inevitably showed up?

I released Edie’s lips with a soft sound to see her gazing up at me, fond.

“I have to tell you something,” she said, and I raised my eyebrows.

“Tonight, Edie,” I said, and she grimaced.

“It’s about that. Can we postpone?”

With my hands on her shoulders, I moved her back. “If you aren’t ready, sweetheart…” I started, looking between her eyes, searching for doubt. I hadn’t been particularly secretive about my confession, even if I hadn’t said the words; we both knew what I wanted to say, but if she wasn’t ready to hear it…