Cover Girl. Nic Tatano
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were a good friend to her, Keira. And the woman was an absolute gem.”
“She was the best. So, did you just call to check on me, or have you got something that will brighten my day?”
“Like I said, I read the article in The Post, and I’ve got the answer to your prayers. No disrespect to your dear friend, but I found the next Rose Fontaine.”
Keira and Gretch both sat up straight, eyebrows up. “And this person would be…”
“Debut author named Alex Bauer. The book is called Ring Girl. Honest to God, the best romance I’ve read in years. Funny as hell and will make you cry at the same time. A lot like Rose’s books with the same snarky voice. Went through the whole manuscript in one shot, kept me up till three in the morning. The author has an incredible style. Anyway, I’m calling you first.”
“And how many editors are you calling today?”
“One. You. I’m giving you an exclusive. You’ve always been fair with me, Keira, I trust you and consider you a friend. Besides, the universe and the New York Post tell me you need some good fortune and I need a good deed to balance out what I’m gonna tell the priest in confession this week. But I will tell ya, if you want this book, it’s gonna cost ya. Because after the exclusive, you’re gonna have to take a number to get it.”
“If you found the next Rose then money is no object. How long do I have?”
“Till close of business Thursday. If you don’t want it or your offer isn’t acceptable to the author, I’m sending it out Friday. And then I guarantee it will go up for auction. If you want it, you gotta pre-empt it. So you’ve got four days. But guess what, Keira?”
“What?”
“You’re only gonna need one of those days.” Keira heard a keyboard tapping. “Okay, it’s on the way to your inbox. Enjoy.”
“Bella, I can’t thank you enough. I really appreciate you thinking of me.”
“You’ll be thinking of me tomorrow, honey. And when you do, be thinking of a big number that will knock my socks off. Tell Jill to open up the vault. Operators are standing by.”
“I’ll start reading right now. Bye, Bella.”
“Talk soon, kiddo. And smile. God and Bella love you.”
Keira hung up, quickly flipped open her laptop and clicked on her email as Gretch got up and moved behind her. She looked up at her assistant. “Gretch, I can forward it to you.”
“Nah, we gotta read the first part together. I wanna see the look on your face that you had when you found Rose.”
Keira smiled as she maneuvered the mouse over the email attachment from Bella. “Ready?”
“Let’s rock.”
The manuscript opened and page one filled the screen.
By page ten, both women were beaming.
“So who was that?” asked Alex.
“The number one editor in romance, Keira Madison. She’s the one who discovered Rose Fontaine.” Bella reached behind her and pulled a New York tabloid from the credenza, flipped it open, then handed it to Alex. “Here’s an article about her that was in The Post on Friday. It’ll help you get familiar with her, since I think it’s a stone-cold lock she’ll buy your book.”
Alex looked at the paper and studied the photo above the article. “Hey, this is the editor I saw at the writer’s conference. The one who said romance was the easiest genre to crack. She’s indirectly responsible for the book. What a wild coincidence.”
Bella reached for her candy jar, grabbed a Hershey kiss, unwrapped it and leaned back as she popped it in her mouth. “Small world. Serendipity is a beautiful thing.”
“She single?”
“Why?”
“I’ve got a thing for redheads. And she seemed pretty cute from a distance.” He looked at the photo again. “Looks even better here.”
Bella rolled her eyes. “Ah, so that’s why your heroine is a tall, skinny redhead and looks exactly like Keira. Ring Girl is your own personal fantasy.”
He shrugged. “It’s fun creating Miss Right on paper. Anyway, is this Keira available? When I heard her talk she went on this funny rant about how she never meets men in her profession. I listened to her for a few minutes and she sounded like she had a lot of spunk. Also my type.”
“She wrote the book on spunk. Well, let me ask you this… is the male love interest in your book based on you? Emotionally, I mean.”
“Pretty much. Why?”
“I’ve known Keira a long time. And what you’re written describes her perfect man.”
His eyes widened. “Really.”
“Yep.”
“You didn’t answer my question. Is she currently seeing anyone?”
“Had lunch with her a few weeks ago, and she’s still spending Saturday nights with a bubble bath, a book and a bottle of wine.”
“Terrible waste of an attractive redhead.”
“Huh. I always thought she was kinda plain.”
“She’s my type. All men have a type, you know.”
Bella put her palms up. “So, you want I should fix you up?”
“I wouldn’t mind meeting her. You know, see if there’s any chemistry beyond the initial attraction. Since, you know, you think I might be her type.”
“Hmmm, let me get this straight. You want me to play Jewish mother with a woman you can’t meet because she has to think you’re a woman despite the fact that the qualities of the male character in your book are basically yours and those she has conveyed to me that are necessary in her dream guy. Please explain how I am supposed to make this happen.”
“Yeah, I guess that might be a problem. This sounds like a romance novel in itself.”
“So, you want a date with the redhead, figure out a plot twist.”
Keira looked at the clock, saw it was ten minutes till six and hoped her publisher hadn’t left for the day. She dialed the extension and drummed her fingers on the desk while it rang.
“Keira, I was just about to leave—”
“Jill, hang for sixty seconds. I’ll be right there.”
“This important?”
“Extremely.”
“Okay, but hurry. I’ve got a dinner date.”
Keira hung up and bolted out of her office, dashed down the long hallway that led to the corner office occupied by the publisher. The door was already open and she saw Jill Howland looking at the skyline. “Thanks for staying,” she said, out of breath.
The forty-year-old publisher turned to face her as Keira leaned over and rested her hands on her knees. “Sweetie, you gotta get out of your office and work on your cardio.”
“Later. Anyway, I found her.”
“Found who?”
She stood up straight. “The next Rose Fontaine.”
Jill’s eyes widened and she plopped down into the chair behind her desk. “Seriously?”
“Bella Farentino sent the book over this morning. We’ve got an exclusive for four days, but you’ll want to pre-empt this. It’s incredible. I spent the entire day reading it. Didn’t even go to lunch.”
“You didn’t have lunch?”
“Okay,