Page 74 of Player For Hire
It had to be.
I pulled the pencil out of one of my space buns and flipped open my notebook to a new page. Just because my hormones were on a parallel track with my research and the charming man next door didn’t mean I could lose momentum with my book.
My severance period was a short one, so I had to make this count.
My phone rumbled in my pocket. I pulled it out to put it on focus mode when I saw the text from Colder.
Colder:
Inspiration.
Then a link for a music playlist came through. I grinned and pulled my headphones out of my drawer. I was learning that music was one of the many pieces of Colder that I adored. I wasn’t the type of writer to generally use music, but as I scanned the list, my heart turned over in my chest.
They were instrumental scores from movies.
The first song was a slow build that urged me forward in my chair. I opened my word document, and the rich and powerful surge of notes filled my head, and I found my fingers racing over the keys as the words tumbled out.
This man knew exactly how to open so many of my internal locks.
I chased the scenes that had been log jammed in my brain for years. The day’s trivia with the shit talking between the two teams morphed into an after-battle celebration in my story. I’d already had the rich imagery with the hall in the castle, the food, the revelry, but now I could see the interaction between the male characters. Then the tone difference between women and of course, when all of us had leaned into the competition—I used it all.
Now the scene came alive.
I lost hours to the pages. Finally, my writing culminated with a scene between Kiera and Novak. The life and death of the fight translated to a need to live in the moment.
They finally got their first love scene in my book.
I was so revved after getting the first draft of it down I couldn’t wait to show Iona. It felt like I was finally clicking with everything.
I took my laptop back out to the living room where she was hidden under blankets with an array of cups on the coffee table in front of her. Plus, her vitamin water as well as a few other bottles of regular and a sleeve of...
“Are those Thin Mints?”
Iona snatched the cookies under the blanket. “You saw nothing.”
“Mean.” I pushed her feet to make room on the end of the couch. “Can you read something?”
Instantly, she sat up. “Of course I can. You’ve been very stingy with sharing lately.”
“I know.” I set the laptop in front of her. “Just this scene. It’s…sexy.”
She raised the top, tapping keys to make the screen come alive again. “Hell yeah.”
“It’s just a rough draft. I’ll make it better.”
“Shh.” She held up a finger. “I’m reading.” She shooed me. “Go get ready to see your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” I flushed. “Besides, how did you know we had a date?”
She just shot me a look with an arched brow.
“Right. Never mind.” I peered under the blanket. “Can I just have one cookie?”
“Fine.” She pushed them at me. “Only because I’m getting the goods here finally. Go get prettied up and I’ll read.” She scrunched down on the couch with her blanket wrapped around her shoulders and head. “Go away.”
“It’s not that long.”
“Whatever. I’m reading the hot stuff then I’ll find the updates. I mean, I know it’s all good, but I need the smut. I haven’t had a good dicking in months, man.”