Page 30 of Toni and Addie Go Viral

“Best friend before being your agent, sweetie. I know you. Tails. Vest. Several interchangeable pieces. You’ll look like the most dashing Victorian gentlewoman that Cape Dove has ever seen.” Emily’s voice softened as she tried to point out the upsides of this damnable Victorian-immersion weekend.

“Hat?”

“But of course!” Emily laughed. “I’m really looking forward to the publicity photos, you know.

I think we ought to use one on the back of the second book.

There’ll be a photographer there to take some shots of just you if you cooperate.

Honestly, if you like the look, we could order a whole Victorian wardrobe for promo events for future books. ”

“I can’t think about another contract, Em.

Let me finish the second book and…” Toni hadn’t planned on the first one succeeding like this, so she’d accepted that two-book deal.

Instead, she’d already paid off the worst of the debt, and with careful planning and a bit of belt-tightening, she could live off the rest of the incoming money for literal years.

“What if Book Two sucks? What if the show fails? What if tastes shift and lesbian detective books are not viable and… I can’t sign a new contract to write a third book, too, Em. I can’t.”

“There’s a name for this panic, you know,” Emily said, cutting through the rising flood of fear that was filling Toni just then. Lightly, Em added, “Imposter syndrome. What you’re feeling is normal.”

“Em.”

“Toni.” Emily mimicked her tone. “You need to face facts when you feel this way. Your book has legs, Toni. It’s back on the List this week.”

“The List,” spoken with a capital letter, meant The New York Times bestseller list. This, in publishing speak, was said the way “tenure” was spoken by the younger members of an academic department.

Of course, tenure came with long-term job security, and the List simply meant that publishers wanted to buy more books—preferably of the same genre and success level.

I can’t guarantee the same success level. In fact, I’m pretty certain it won’t match this.

“Can we argue about this later?” Toni sank back deeper into the sofa, trying to focus on the here and now.

Tangible things. The moment. Doing that was one of those grounding techniques she’d read about.

The sofa was everything Toni had dreamed of when she fell in love with the Victorian era—but with one critical update.

It might look like a stiff, gaudy purple-and-gold fainting couch, but it was deceptively plush.

A paw swatted Toni’s ankles before she was able to get clear of the fuzzy menace. She let out a muttered word and added, “I’m going to sell you, beast.”

“Oscar Wilde’s awake?” Emily asked.

“Whatever possessed me to get fringe on the edge of the damn sofa?” Toni was grateful for an excuse to change the subject.

She had accidentally created what Oscar Wilde considered his own personal den, so the sofa was a bit of a war zone between them.

So far, the cat was losing, but Toni’s ankles were rarely left naked thanks to the claws that flashed out when she disturbed his “curtains.”

“I’ll come down to feed him while you’re away.” Emily’s offer to take an almost three-hour train from Manhattan to Washington, DC was enough to say how important this weekend was. “That way he’s not alone, and I can be there to debrief when you get back.”

“Thanks. Do you want to crash here?” Toni offered, flopping back into the sofa.

“Planning on it. I could use a Smithsonian day.”

“Fine. Visit the cat and paintings instead of me. I see where I rank. Just don’t let him convince you to give him extra food. You can’t ply him with treats to win his love, no matter how much he claims otherwise. He’s just fur and claws.”

“Oh, I’m used to besties with claws.”

Ignoring the jab, Toni said, “I have grading to do. Go away.”

“So about Addie…,” Emily said casually, bringing up the topic Toni still wasn’t sure how to address. “Have you talked to her since LA?”

“No. Like I said, friends with no strings,” Toni said, just as casually.

Emily paused a few beats too long. “You didn’t text or call, then?”

Grumbling to herself, Toni stretched her feet out on the sofa to protect them from the monster under the fringe. “I had a book to write, essays to grade, events—”

“You will need a date for a few promo things coming up, you realize. Maybe Addie—”

“No. That’s like asking for public speculation now that there are cameras aimed at her. Whatever I do with her is behind closed doors—”

“Unless it’s for the show! These promo photos sound fabulous,” Emily interjected.

“Fine.” Toni refused to think about seeing Addie, about having a chance to be near her and talk to her. Clearly there was something wrong with Toni that the idea of talking to Addie was almost as appealing as getting her naked again.

Friends. Friends talk, Toni consoled her inner panic.

“Sweetie?” Emily prompted, pulling Toni away from dangerous thoughts. “I’ll be at your place if you need me to talk about whatever happens when you see her.”

“There’s no need. She’s a casual friend, and this is a work event.

That’s it. You’ll do just fine for any promo events where I need a date.

Agent or bestie, either way you can be my arm candy.

” Toni let out an oomph as Oscar Wilde crept out of his fringed den and landed on her chest with his sizable self.

“It’s you or Oscar Wilde, and he’s grumpier than I am most days. ”

“Oh, twist my arm.” Emily chortled. “You’d think ranking only above that adorable cat would be an insult, but I know you, Toni. You want my moral support, and I’m here for it. Always have been. Always will be. And who knows? Maybe I’ll meet someone at these events.”

“As long as it doesn’t get in the way of you being my plus-one,” Toni said. “Maybe you ought to come this weekend. The last thing I need is to do something newsworthy at one of these things because you’re not there to manage me.”

Emily paused for a moment. “They are sold out. Maybe I could room with you. It’d be just like high-school sleepovers.”

Toni looked away. “I am hoping to have Addie in my bed for the weekend.”

“Right… Should I be worried about you and Addie this weekend?” Emily asked, no longer joking at all. “Your self-control where she’s concerned hasn’t been the best.”

“I haven’t even texted her, Em. I’m sure I can manage one weekend without doing something foolish.” Toni sighed. “I had an itch, and she had a curiosity. That’s all it was.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I want more, but right now, I doubt she’ll even want to come to my room.

If she does… I have it under control.” Toni certainly had hopes of spending whatever free time she had naked with Addie, but that’s why doors had locks.

She knew how to be discreet. That one incident in the garden was a bit indiscreet, but she’d had terrible news that night, and she slipped up.

“You can call me, you know,” Emily said. “If you need to talk…”

“I’m fine, Em. Nothing to worry about,” Toni reassured her. These days she had to think about being a public figure, as a professor and a writer, and both meant that Toni was not doing anything to risk tarnishing her reputation.

Nothing will go wrong, Toni thought. Some publicity pictures, a little book-signing, and then I’ll have Addie alone. We’ll talk out whatever made her go silent, and if I’m lucky, she’ll be naked and in my arms again.

What could possibly go wrong?