Page 140 of Booked on You
By the time the sun sets, I’ve made several pieces and I’m drunk.
Scarlett
Made it home safe. The apartment feels strange.
Ezra
Really?
Scarlett
Yeah. Not sure I like it. I’m going to bed, I think. I’m exhausted.
Ezra
Good idea. Hope you get some rest. Call me tomorrow?
Scarlett
Definitely. Night.
Ezra
Goodnight.
I clean up the studio and head downstairs. Willow is waiting by her food bowl even though I fed her hours ago. I give her a few treats before returning upstairs. I fall back on my mattress, staring up at the ceiling until my eyes grow heavy.
This must be what it feels like to be lovesick. Unfortunately, the only cure is having Scarlett back in Charleston again.
She will choose me. She has to.
CHAPTER 31
SCARLETT
My hand is cramping by the time I sign the last book.
Seven hundred copies of my backlist titles for a book club partnership Natalie set up months ago. I’ve been at the publisher’s office since nine this morning, and it’s now after three, and my signature looks like a scribble by the end. My wrist aches, and there’s a knot between my shoulder blades from hunching over the table for hours.
“All done,” I say to the assistant who’s been stacking them.
“Thank you so much.” She smiles. “These are going to make a lot of readers happy.”
“It’s the reason I do it,” I say with a grin as I pack up my stuff. I take the elevator down to the ground floor and head into the afternoon chaos of Midtown. The sidewalks are packed with people rushing to happy hours and weekend plans. Someone’s shoulder clips mine, and they don’t apologize. A car lays on its horn for no apparent reason, even though there are fines against it. The smell of hot garbage and exhaust fumes makes my stomach turn. I have to dodge three different groups of tourists taking photos in the middle of the walkway, and by the time I get to the subway, I’m sweating through my shirt and my head is pounding.
The train is delayed, because of course, it is.
I stand close to the grimy tile wall, and the smell of hot trash and metal makes me want to gag. I pull out my phone just to have something to focus on.
Scarlett
Just finished signing 700 books. My hand is dead.
Ezra
That’s amazing though. How do you feel?
Scarlett
