Page 18 of Toni and Addie Go Viral

Toni

Toni stared at the assorted clothes in her hotel closet.

She’d brought what she’d dubbed “author clothes,” which worked for the meetings and stock signings she had to do, but they felt wrong for a date.

This was a date . What was she thinking?

She didn’t date, but it didn’t feel like a hookup after she’d named a character after Addie and now she was in the show and—

A tap on her door had Toni panicking, but then she heard Emily’s voice. “Open the door.”

“What if I’m half-naked?” Toni called back. She dropped the blouse she’d been holding and went to open her hotel room door.

“Unless there’s someone in there with you, I don’t care.” Emily’s laugh was the kind of thing that washed away Toni’s worst moods. Friends for life. Sisters since childhood. And now, her agent. How in the hell did that even happen?

“You better hope no one with mimicry skills ever knocks at your door,” Emily teased as she brushed past Toni. She looked over her shoulder. “Did you even look through the peephole?”

“Nope.”

Emily glanced at the chaos on Toni’s bed. “Did your luggage explode?”

“Maybe.” Toni sank into the desk chair that she’d left in the middle of the room earlier. “What am I doing, Em?”

“Having dinner with a beautiful woman you’ve been emailing for a year, apparently, even though you never told me.

” Emily picked up the one pair of jeans Toni had packed.

“Or having a business meeting with the lead actress in your book adaptation?” With her other hand, Emily held up a pair of trousers. “You tell me.”

Toni sighed. “So we met at the bar that last night in Scotland.”

“I know.”

“And we messed around some.…” Toni snatched the jeans from Emily. She wasn’t going out with Addie in business trousers. “And for the last thirteen months, we talked. A lot. But just on email.”

And I lied to her, hid my name, hid the book news.

“Which is weird for you now because she’s in the show,” Emily guessed.

“No.” Toni pulled on the jeans as she weighed how much to confess. Until Addie, Toni had always told Emily everything—from her first fumbling attempt at oral to the time her father’s gambling meant a late-night visit from a man with a gun. “So I invited her to my hotel that night.”

“And? Was it bad or something? Too drunk to stay awake for you…?”

Toni leveled a glare. “No. She ran away.”

“Isn’t that usually your signature move?” Emily sorted through Toni’s clothes and pulled out a black sleeveless top that Toni typically wore under a blazer or button-up. “Here.”

Silently, Toni pulled the top on as her best friend in the world started refolding the remaining clothing on the bed.

“She ran away instead of coming to my hotel.” Toni squirmed, feeling like a bit of cad in the retelling of that night. “We were in the garden by the bar and then she took off, and I was there with my pants around my knees. And I worried, so I sent an email.…”

“Hmmm.”

“‘Hmmm’ what?” Toni wasn’t ready to unpack the way she felt, but Emily was never a fan of waiting until Toni was ready.

“You like her,” Emily pronounced, staring at Toni as if daring her to disagree. “Tell me why.”

“She’s sexy—”

“This is me, sweetie. There are always sexy women willing to fall into your bed or go to the garden with you—” Emily gave Toni a wry grin. “Tell me you’ll use that in a book? It sounds like an excellent euphemism.”

“Okay, so she strolled into the bar with her hair pulled back in this long braid,” Toni said, picturing Addie. “She was dressed in a nearly transparent white cotton nightdress, faux Victorian.”

“Sexy, right. You said that.”

“No. Victorian sexy. A trembling Lady Godiva. I swear, Em, it was like she was plucked from my dreams. She was obviously afraid, innocent, and… she picked me. There were a lot of other women, but she met my eyes and stood there trembling.” Toni paused at that detail.

If Addie had been at the conference, had she sought Toni out?

“Okay, sexy, has good taste, likes history.” Emily ticked the list off on her fingers. “Should I be worried?”

“And every time shit got too real this year, I emailed Addie. I didn’t tell her what was happening in my life, just… she was this safe place for me to be just me. Not a new professor. Not a debut author. Not daughter to a woman who barely remembers my name lately. Just me. ”

Toni and Emily continued folding her clothes. Toni shoved down the unfamiliar flush that Addie had picked her as a protector, that she’d undoubtedly known about the book for a while, that she’d heard Toni speak. She couldn’t think about that; it could change something precious if she allowed that.

Most women were more apt to see Toni for what she was: a good time with no expectations. Addie looked at her like she was worth more. Addie knew her and still looked at her that way. It changed things on some level Toni couldn’t explain.

Toni shook her head and snatched a pair of socks up. “Remember doing this when we were kids?”

“Your laundry skills aren’t much improved,” Emily teased. “And if you bring Addie back here to finish what you started…”

“I probably shouldn’t,” Toni murmured. “Maybe business meeting is better.”

“Was she boring to talk to?”

“No.” Toni grinned, thinking back to the wicked edge hidden under Addie’s innocence. “She was quick-witted. Funny.”

“Sexy, funny, likes history, brave—”

“Brave?”

“She walked into a bar half-dressed. That’s either brave or stupid,” Emily pointed out, not wrongly.

“She definitely had that ‘hell with it, I’m going to meet a woman’ energy.” Toni shook her head. “I was probably like that as a teen.…”

How had someone so vivacious and beautiful been able to avoid being caught up by dozens of people? Unless she really wasn’t innocent… but her reactions were definitely inexperienced. When she’d been attempting to—

Emily poked Toni’s shoulder, pulling her into the present.

“Sweetie, I mean this in the nicest way, but you’re like a bear in need of nourishment after a long hibernation.

Your logic for changing your sexual habits is all well and good.

As your agent, I’m even grateful that you aren’t out there causing a scandal. ”

Toni stared at her. “Did you just compare me to a bear ?”

“A starving bear,” Emily said without even the hint of a smile, even though her eyes sparkled with mischief. “And that lovely creature, the one who wowed you enough to name a character after her, is looking at you like she wants to have you for her main course.”

Toni looked at the ceiling, as if praying.

Then she poked Emily in the ribs. “All I’m saying is if you ever decide to get on one of those dating sites, Miss Haide, I reserve the right to edit your profile.

‘Funny lady who likes either a stick and berries or a honeypot. Either welcome so she doesn’t turn into a hibernating bear. ’”

Emily snorted in laughter. “Too true. I’m not subtle about what I need. Sort of like my best friend used to be… Remember her?”

“Oh, I remember.” Toni sighed. “Damn, Em, I feel like I got suddenly old. I went to a bar last week, and I was talking to this woman. It was going well, and you know what happened?”

“What?”

“She asked if I wanted to go back to her place and sign her book. ” Toni shuddered at the thought of how awkward that could’ve been.

“What do I do, Em? Lead with ‘Hi, are you barely literate?’ or ‘I’m looking for a woman who hates books.’ I can’t sleep with fans, students, or anyone who might feel pressured or swayed by… my job stuff.”

“Try ‘I’m hoping to hook up and not have you leave your terrible manuscript on the table the next morning,’” Emily commiserated.

They were silent a moment, but then Emily said, “Was Addie the last person you were with?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Toni hedged. She turned away and put the last of her clothes in her suitcase.

“Sweetie?” Emily prompted.

“The last I touched, yes.” Toni forced herself not to squirm. “She was a bit of a pillow princess, which is fine usually.…” Toni sighed loudly. “She had my trousers around my knees, and her hand in my shorts, and then she just left.”

“Dear Lord, someone who rejected you and left you unsatisfied?” Emily tsk ed. “No wonder you obsess over her. You have a case of UST.”

“UST? No one says that, Em.” Toni rolled her eyes.

“Unresolved sexual tension,” Emily singsonged. “Better?”

“Not really.” Toni grinned, though. “Still rather unresolved a year later.”

“And yet you were chatting with her weekly.…”

Toni sighed. “I almost offered her a ticket to fly to LA or meet me on tour.… I mean, I had no idea she lived in the States now.”

Curiously, Emily asked, “Why didn’t you?”

“I was afraid of putting it in writing,” Toni confessed. “And I like her. What if she stopped talking to me once she found out about…” Toni gestured at the room and Emily. “The job.”

Emily rolled her eyes. “You’re a writer, not a contract killer.”

“I think you underestimate how vulnerable writing makes me feel,” Toni said levelly.

This was the part she thoroughly failed at.

Yes, writing was a dream. It also meant putting your raw heart on the pages and inviting the world to judge you.

What if she wrote something that was accidentally revealing?

She had one interviewer actually ask if there were “spicy” sex scenes ahead.

Not that the Victorians were prudes, despite what the media often portrayed, but her character was single in the book.

“I didn’t want to tell her I was a writer and have her read The Whitechapel Widow, ” Toni finally said.

“Well, that ship has sailed.”

“No shit. She’s going to be the character in front of cameras, Em.” Toni stared at her best friend. “We’ll end up doing events together.”

“Odds are she’ll be at the Dove Manor show launch,” Emily slipped in casually. “They are looking forward to hosting after you couldn’t do a book launch event there.”

“There was a conflict—”

“Which you created,” Emily countered. “I’ve known you most of our lives, sweetie, so I can tell when you’re trying to con me.”

“Em…”

“You cashed the checks, and they were for the book and promotion of it. So you will put on your big-girl drawers and be charming.” Emily’s tone was firm.

“I’m not charming,” Toni tried.

“Bullshit. Case in point, Adelaine, who has longed for you for a year over email.” Emily shook her finger at Toni. “You charmed her.”

“But… she heard me talk, and maybe she wanted sex or Victorian era consultation and—”

Emily laughed. “Toni, I met her. Trust me, she likes you. Real you. If it was just sex, she wouldn’t have emailed for a year.” She paused and caught Toni’s eye. “Did you talk a lot about the Victorians?”

“No. Maybe the occasional question, but… no. That wasn’t it.

” Toni couldn’t pretend that Addie was interested in that, and they’d never even had phone or video sex—although Toni would’ve been more than willing—so it wasn’t just sex.

“She knew about the book, though. She read the book. I don’t sleep with fans. ”

“Jesus, Toni. You hadn’t even sold it when you were with her.” Emily threw up a hand in exasperation. “I swear, it’s like you’re trying to talk yourself out of sex.”

“I’m really not. I just don’t want… drama,” Toni finished weakly.

“Go handle your hibernation issues with your friend who obviously likes you enough to stay in touch for an entire year. ” Emily stood and walked toward the door.

“Seriously. You’re not hard to look at, and she’s into you.

And you’ll be at events here and there, not just Cape Dove. Two problems, one subtle solution.”

“Subtle?”

“Friend with benefits,” Emily said casually. “It’s an easy solution. You aren’t her boss. You aren’t the one who gave her the role. She likes your book, but she obviously liked you first since the books hadn’t sold yet. Easy friends with benefits setup.”

“ You’re recommending friends with benefits?” Toni echoed. “Is there something you want to confess about your life? That’s not a very looking-for-my-one-true-love comment, and you are—”

“Stop.” Emily’s features were pinched as she looked back. “Sometimes it’s about getting what you need right now. Less complicated.”

Toni folded her arms over her chest. “Do I need to show up at someone’s door with my old baseball bat?”

“No, but thank you, sweetie.” Emily’s expression relaxed. “Eight A.M. pickup tomorrow. We have a meeting in the restaurant and then stock signings. We’ll head to the airport after that. But right now, text Addie.”

Emily waved over her shoulder and left.

Toni looked at her phone. It was just dinner. Maybe it would be business. Maybe it would be something else. Not texting her would be stupid, though.

About tonight…

Are you bailing now that I know your last name?

Toni paused. She had an opening to avoid potential drama. She should take it. She glanced at her bed, picturing Addie there, imagining her sprawled out naked there. Quick on the heels of that, she imagined no longer emailing. The loss of that would be tragic.

Not at all! Do you have any modern clothes?

…

None my drawers fit under.

For a moment Toni closed her eyes. Not a business meeting. Not even a little.

So don’t wear any.

For a moment, Toni thought she’d made a mistake. She started to type an apology.

Then Addie replied.

As you wish. 7PM? Hotel or meet somewhere first?

First? Toni smiled to herself. This was exactly what she needed, and Addie obviously was done pretending to be an inexperienced Victorian maiden—or oblivious to who Toni was. It was time to address both things.

Hotel lobby. I’ll have a car waiting.