Page 33 of Can We Skip to the Good Part?

FIFTEEN

Yip!

E lla stretched like a cat and smiled without opening her eyes.

She’d had sex last night. Mhmm. She sure as hell had.

She hugged her sheets and took a moment to revel because damn, it had been good .

Every inch of her sore and satisfied body reminded her of that.

She finally opened her eyes and took in the beautiful sunlight streaming in through the slanted blinds of her room, mirroring the high she was still on.

Not only that, but she had work waiting for her that morning. Actual paying work that she’d been personally selected for, which, quite honestly, had done wonders for her self-worth in the wake of her unceremonious dismissal.

Floating on air, she made her way to the kitchen, realizing it was nearly nine and Rachel would have long ago left for work.

She poured herself a bowl of Hoopties and moved to the fridge for milk.

Hanging on the fridge was a light-blue Post-it with Rachel’s friendly and rounded handwriting on the front.

Hope it was good last night. -R

Next to the sentence was a rudimentary sketch of a pair of boobs.

Forgetting for a moment that she was one hundred percent betraying her best friend, Ella laughed and pulled the Post-it off the door.

Reality set in as she walked to the trash can and discarded it.

Rach would have had a very different response if she’d known the truth.

Ella rolled her lips in, sobering significantly.

None of this was okay. She was focusing on her own happiness with blinders on, because, apparently, it had been so damn long since she’d experienced that emotion.

Ella felt like the main character for once and didn’t want this moment in time to end.

Maybe she was reading too many romance novels and allowing herself to dream about love finding its way to her.

Is that what was happening with Max? Surely, it was too premature to say, but the question, what if, certainly played on repeat in the back of her head this morning.

However, the situation was nearing a precipice, and she needed to act before she fell off entirely.

She didn’t have an exit strategy for this situation and needed one fast. She could walk away from Max forever and bury this secret, which would likely find its way to the surface anyway.

No, thank you. Or, she could be an adult and come clean to Rachel for real this time. Maybe even today. Definitely today.

After breakfast and a quick shower, Ella stood barefoot with wet hair in the middle of the bedroom, scanning her email.

Mostly junk. An ad or two she might be interested in.

And then there it was. A familiar name in the subject line: Inquiry Re: Alexandra Raymond.

She opened the email and read in mystification.

It was someone from the publishing company checking on her availability for an upcoming cover design.

Alexandra was impressed with her work and had requested her personally.

Holy hell. She whirled around to the empty room and said it out loud. “Holy hell, empty room.”

She spun back and typed a quick response, which she, of course, reworded in a panicked frenzy, because the Raymond books were in all the major big-box stores and these people were trusting her quite a bit, not that they shouldn’t, but oh my God .

It was only an hour later when she heard back from the woman, Stacey, with a firm booking and a deposit to secure the spot on her calendar.

What was happening? A big-time publisher in her inbox already?

All because she’d been standing in Doug’s Books at the exact right moment. Life was such a shocking place to live.

Stacey set up a consultation and would share the publisher’s drive to go over inspiration and direction. Ella was so over the moon that she wanted to yip or scream. No, definitely yip because it seemed unique, and so did today. “Yip!”

She called Max because she couldn’t imagine not in this moment, an urge she would examine more fully later. Max picked up on the third ring.

“You call me at work now? I think I like it.” God, how was her voice this sexy? It was just last night that she was naked and on top of Ella, too.

“You don’t even say hello?”

“I don’t have to. The readout told me in advance it was you. Hot Blond Woman From Last Night, it said. I’ll have to change it tomorrow.”

“You go to a lot of trouble.”

“It’s like you haven’t even met me.”

“I’ve more than met you now. And we’ll circle back to that because I have news. Do you have time?”

“I’ll make it.”

She heard the sound of shuffling papers and grinned.

Max was working, which was mundane on anyone else.

Incredibly sexy on her . “So … I just got hired to design the cover of Alexandra Raymond’s next release.

” She covered her mouth, marveling at hearing the words said out loud.

Telling someone just made the whole thing that much more real.

“What? How in hell did you manage that?!” Max shouted into the phone. As someone who played most everything cool, her show of emotion made the moment extra fun.

“That’s what I’m sitting over here screaming!”

“Well, now we’re screaming together!” A pause. “Sorry. No. Everything is fine, Sonya. We’re just celebrating a minute. Tell the Simons I’ll be right in.” Another pause. “Maybe you should chaperone in the meantime.”

“Oh, wow. You’d better get in there. They might kill each other.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time. Marriage, am I right?

” Max laughed, and Ella started to laugh along with her, but she honestly wasn’t sure if they were being serious or not.

They’d never discussed things like hopes, dreams, beliefs, and values.

She was startled to realize that someone who read romance novels regularly might not actually believe in romance.

But then, she spent most of her hours helping them unravel in a conference room.

She blinked and shook herself out of it. They’d slept together once. Twice if you counted Stevie’s living room. No one was proposing. The rest of the details would come in time, or they wouldn’t—no reason to burn the house down because there was a spider in the kitchen.

“I’ll let you return to work, but thank you for taking a moment to scream with me.”

“My favorite part of the day so far. I promise. I’m super excited for you. You need to put this news on the Weepers group thread.”

“You think it’s worthy?”

“More than worthy. Stevie updated us an hour ago on her bacon crisping technique.”

“Yeah, but it’s bacon.”

“Tell them.”

Ella grinned, giddy again. “Fine. I will! Bye! Go be a hot lawyer!”

“Well, now I’m motivated. I’ll message you later.”

Ella slid off the call, leaned against the counter, and sighed in that dreamy way people did in the movies. Her phone began to vibrate in her hand. Max, again. “You couldn’t stay away. I knew this was bound to happen.”

“Let me buy you lunch.”

“What? Really?”

“To celebrate. Come downtown. There’s a little place around the corner from my office that I think you’ll love. Every time I pass it, I think of you. Today would be the perfect day to sit by the window and enjoy the gorgeous sunshine.”

“Listen to you. Why are you so cheerful today?” Ella asked, but she knew. She felt it, too, and kept checking her shoulder for bluebirds. None yet.

“Let’s just say it’s been a much-needed fifteen hours. Are you coming downtown?”

“I’ll be there. A corporate lunch.”

“If you ask a few legal questions, it certainly could be.”

The thought of Max explaining the law to her made her have to adjust the way she was standing. It took so very little to set off the sexual energy that bopped between them to its own unpredictable rhythm. “Well, now I have to. How about noon?”

“You’re on. I’d better go so Sonya can stop tap dancing for this couple. Today we’re discussing their Disney points and who should retain them.”

“Don’t give them to the wrong person either, Max. Make the mouse proud.”

“Says the real-life Disney princess.”

“Gasp out loud. Me?” She grinned, amazed that’s how Max saw her.

“Don’t get me started on the fantasies I’m not going to have the second we hang up.”

“Just know they’re encouraged,” Ella said, leaning in. “How are your boobs, by the way? Do they miss me?”

She was greeted with silence. Until finally, “You know they do. You are going to be the death of me in the best way.”

She grinned. “And on that note, I’d better go.”

“If you say so. Bye, Cinder-Ella.”

For good measure, she picked up her imaginary gown and walked sideways through the kitchen.

Max pushed open the café’s glass-paned door, and a soft chime rang overhead, a delicate sound that suited the place perfectly.

Inside Sugar and Bloom, the air was warm and rich with the scent of espresso and something buttery, like fresh croissants just pulled from the oven.

Sunlight spilled through lace-curtained windows, casting patterns onto the checkered tile floor.

Tiny tables, each adorned with a single bud vase holding a fresh flower, were arranged in cozy corners, and the walls were lined with shelves of mismatched teacups and framed sketches of Parisian streets.

It was the kind of place that felt tucked away, like the sort of café a romantic would stumble into while wandering a charming European side street. And it was exactly the kind of place that made Max think of Ella.

She glanced around, feeling just a little out of place in her usual business suit, but at least it was cream today and not black.

She exhaled. There was something about the whimsy of it all—the delicate china, the handwritten menu on a chalkboard, the soft hum of French music—that made her smile.

She hoped Ella would feel the same way. This was kind of fun, an impromptu lunch.