Chapter 29

When my alarm went off at 6a.m., my phone started to light up with notifications. I grabbed my phone as I headed for the bathroom and smiled at the motivational messages from my mum and dad, from Liv, Aiden and Georgina. They all wished they could join in but they had to work. I wished they could be there as my body was humming with nervous energy. It felt like my new career in publishing hung in the balance.

I got ready in record time and left my flat to walk to work, hoping the fresh air would calm me down a little bit. There had been some excited buzz on social media after we announced what was happening this morning but I knew that might not translate into a successful event. It could go down like a damp squib and my mind flashed with potential consequences. Mr Matthews would definitely fire me and sweep in with a team from New York. Noah would be disappointed. Poor Deborah Day would leave Turn the Pages and hold me personally responsible for messing up her career. I'd never see Emily or Gita again. And finally, no one in publishing would hire me and I'd have to go back to the library with my tail between my legs and beg for my old job back.

But I was staying positive, obviously.

Thank God the weather was at least dry so that wouldn't put people off. When our office came into sight, butterflies swirled in my stomach. I went up to our floor and was grateful to see Emily and Gita, as well as a few others who had come in extra early. Noah was also there handing out t-shirts for everyone to put on. Our eyes met across the floor and he smiled.

‘There she is.'

‘Oh, thank God.' Emily and Gita rushed over when Noah nodded at me. They were both wearing their t-shirts and gripped the placards they'd made in the library.

‘Is something wrong?' I asked them nervously.

‘No, we just need to go to the loos and make sure we look good,' Emily said, taking my hand and pulling me along with them. I glanced over my shoulder at Noah who was grinning, so I assumed nothing bad was afoot. I was stumped as to what was causing the panic though as Emily and Gita practically dragged me into the toilets.

‘Noah has done something,' Gita said, moving to the mirror and pulling out her lipstick. ‘He won't tell us what. He was actually teasing us about it.' Her eyes met mine in the reflection. ‘I don't know what you've done to that man.'

I hid my blush by fluffing up my hair. ‘I have no idea what you mean.'

Emily snorted. ‘Every time we said your name, his eyes lit up and he was very excited about a surprise he has planned.'

‘I have no idea what that is,' I said truthfully.

‘Someone asked him if he'd had a good weekend and I swear he blushed,' Emily said, scrutinising my face. ‘And your cheeks look flushed. Did something happen between the two of you?'

‘No!' I cried, but I knew instantly that sounded like I had something to hide. ‘I suppose we did hang out yesterday. For a bit,' I said, trying to sound casual.

‘Stevie, you can't hold out on us like that!' Gita scolded. ‘So, has he got down on his knees and begged forgiveness for dumping you?'

‘Ouch,' I said. ‘Thanks for not sugar-coating that.'

I couldn't help but smile though.

‘Kind of,' I continued. ‘He wrote me emails. When we were broken up. And they're pretty romantic.'

‘Oh God,' Emily said. ‘Love letters? How can anyone resist love letters?'

Gita nodded. ‘That's so sweet. Who would have thought Noah could be like that?'

‘I'm still not sure I trust him yet though. And my head keeps telling me exes are not a good idea even if he is…' They both waited. ‘…gorgeous,' I finished with a sigh.

‘He does have something about him,' Gita mused. ‘If you ignore the bluntness. It's that smile, isn't it?'

‘I was always a sucker for that dimple,' I admitted. ‘But, he's my boss too; it's complicated.'

Emily put some more blusher on. ‘Well, yeah, you guys would need to work out the logistics of it at work, him being your manager and all, but it's not like workplace romances don't happen all the time. HR aren't going to ban it. We're all grown-ups. But I get you being unsure based on the past.'

Gita nodded. ‘I don't speak to any of my exes.'

‘Nor me,' I agreed. ‘Apart from Noah now.' I looked at them. ‘Noah was the ex.'

‘The one that got away?' Emily checked.

‘The one who walked away,' I corrected her. ‘What would you two do?'

‘I'd need to be sure of his intentions,' Gita said, sounding like my grandmother. She was right though. Noah had told me he regretted the past but we hadn't talked about the future.

‘You're right,' I said. I checked my reflection and spluttered as Emily sprayed us all with her perfume. ‘I think you've used half the bottle,' I said, waving her off.

‘You'll thank me when we find out what Noah's done,' she replied. ‘Just see what happens, no need to rush into anything.'

That was easier said than done when it came to Noah, but I nodded, deciding not to mention that fact I'd already kissed him. That had been just a blip. Liv knew, but Liv knew what it was like to like someone you thought didn't feel the same. It had taken her and Aiden ten years to finally get together, after all.

‘Okay, ladies.' Emily assessed us. ‘We're ready to rock this, right?'

‘We are ready to give it a go,' I said.

She tutted at me.

‘We are ready to rock,' I amended. ‘I can't pull that off, can I?'

Gita chuckled. ‘No, but neither can I. Let's just get out there.'

I surveyed the scene in front of me in disbelief. We had all the remaining staff at Turn the Pages outside in their Bitten t-shirts holding signs with messages like ‘romance books make me happy', ‘love stories are the best stories', ‘romance or bust', ‘I like romance books and I cannot lie', and there was a table piled high with tote bags – because publishing loves a goddamn tote bag – with copies of Bitten in them and the ‘Love Bites' t-shirt. I was worried we would be trying to hand out the bags to disinterested commuters rushing past our office on the way to their own ones but thanks to the social media buzz, people had actually turned up to get one. No forcing them into their hands needed.

‘Well, well, well.'

I turned to see Deborah and Ed beside me. Deborah wore a black wool dress and gothic jewellery that gave me nineties vintage vibes and red lipstick the same colour as the lips on the Bitten cover.

‘Oh my God, you look amazing!' I gushed. ‘Isn't this such a good turnout?' I gestured to the crowd that had gathered to collect a tote bag, some of them filming for social media and most of them putting the t-shirt on immediately. ‘Romance fans are the best.'

Deborah's mouth twitched at my enthusiasm. ‘I have to admit this is bigger than I was expecting.'

I turned to Ed, who grinned.

‘Okay, I'll give it to you Stevie; this is pretty amazing,' he conceded.

‘Let me film you joining and picking up a tote bag and seeing what's inside then wearing the t-shirt,' I said to Deborah somewhat bossily; this was no time to be meek with her. This was our opportunity. And she seemed to realise it too and just nodded, although she did roll her eyes at Ed – but you can't have everything, can you?

I pulled out my phone and followed her to the crowd. Helpfully, Emily and Gita called out to everyone the author was here and there were even a few cheers as Deborah made her way to the table. She did what I asked and put her t-shirt on to enthusiastic applause from everyone, mostly my colleagues, but it made for a great video.

‘Brilliant, I'm posting that everywhere!' I said, frantically jabbing at my phone. I was likely to get RSI but this was no time to worry about that.

‘I'm here! I'm here!' Liv's older brother Dan arrived and I filmed him grabbing a tote bag for his TikTok. Then he told his followers that if they loved romance books, they had to get down here.

‘You're amazing, thank you,' I said gratefully.

‘Agreed,' he said, but he pulled me in for a hug. ‘Anything for you, Stevie! I hope it helps.'

‘Fingers crossed,' I said. I checked my phone and shared his video. It was already doing well. ‘This is brilliant, Dan.'

‘So, where is this Noah of yours?' Dan asked in a low voice.

I blushed and looked around. ‘He was here a moment ago.'

‘Oh my God,' Emily cried from behind us. When I turned, she pointed to the road in shock. When I saw what had caused her to have a meltdown, my mouth dropped open. A few vans had pulled up and reporters with cameras were filing out of them.

‘Stevie,' Dan said in awe. ‘Am I seeing things? Is that a BBC reporter?'

‘No way,' I whispered, rooted to the spot.

‘Yes, way,' a voice said in my ear.

I jumped as Noah briefly touched the small of my back and as usual, his touch was like an electric shock. ‘What's going on?' I asked as I looked up into his twinkling eyes. He looked thoroughly pleased with himself.

‘I may have given an anonymous tip to a few news stations,' he said softly. ‘That there was a protest happening today.'

He nodded at our colleagues holding the romance placards, walking in a circle chanting ‘respect for romance books.' He shrugged. ‘I didn't mention what the protest was for.'

‘Okay, I get what the fuss is about now,' Dan hissed at me before moving politely away from us.

In a complete lack of any decorum for the fact that this was a work situation and Noah was my boss, I threw myself at him and wrapped my arms around his neck.

‘That is genius!'

Noah chuckled as his arms wrapped around my waist and he lifted me off the ground. ‘I'm glad you approve. They might be pissed when they realise.'

I pulled back and we grinned stupidly at one another. ‘As long as they mention the book, it's all good.'

‘Put each other down,' Emily hissed at us. ‘Someone has to go and talk to them,' she said, pointing at the reporters looking around, bemused at what they had walked into.

‘Time for our close up,' I said.

Before Noah could protest, I wrapped my arm through his and pulled him along with me, beckoning to Deborah Day to join us with sharp eyes that even she couldn't ignore. The three of us faced the reporters.

‘So glad you could join us,' I said cheerfully. ‘Are we live?'