“Unless we’re at Kink.”
“Sharing you there is hard enough. You noticed I didn’t do so well with that the other night, I’m assuming.”
“Really? What would sharing me well have looked like then? Encouraging Paul to take me up the ass?”
“Hardly.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “I’m saving that particular area for me.”
She snorted, pretending his words didn’t give her a little tingle of anticipation. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You are so a cheater.”
“Uh-huh.” He cleaned up and then gestured for her to lead the way upstairs to the bedroom. “Go on, get ready. I’ll just make some calls.”
“Of course. Can’t waste a perfectly good lunch hour on recreation.”
He swatted her bare ass. “It wasn’t a waste, believe me. Now get a move on before I have to dock your pay.”
“You wish.” But she was grinning when she headed into the bathroom.
She emerged ten minutes later, freshly soaped and showered and smelling like his manly man soap. Her cheeks were glowing and she was pretty sure the restorative benefits of amazing sex followed by a cool shower could cure most of the world’s ills. She felt incredible, wide-awake and able to tackle the world.
And as for the man currently sprawled on his messy bed, discussing something in low tones on the phone? She definitely wanted to tackle him too.
When she caught the words “trying new things” and “innovate”, her pulse kicked up. Then he said her name to whomever he was speaking to and she lifted her brows.
“Who was that?” she demanded the moment he ended the call.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” he said lightly. His forehead bore enough tension lines that she knew the phone call hadn’t gone well.
“Was that the Sinclairs?”
“Maybe. C’mere,” he said, sitting up and drawing her closer with a quick tug on her hands.
She stood between his knees, frowning down at him. “Why can’t you ever be straight with me? Do you have any idea how it makes me feel to have you shut me out at every turn?”
“I like smelling me on your skin,” he said, pressing a kiss between her breasts. Then he let out a breath. “That was Mr. Sinclair. I sent him a proposal with some of your ideas. I suggested meeting with you to see what we could come up with as a team.”
Kelly struggled not to hyperventilate. “You did what?”
“I suggested we have a meeting to discuss some of what you mentioned—”
“I heard what you did. But I can’t believe you did it. You liked my ideas? You took them seriously? I got the feeling you thought I was talking out of my ass.”
“Well, I’m not sure about the feasibility of some of it. But getting everyone’s views on the table is a reasonable start.”
“But…” she prompted when he fell silent.
“But the Sinclairs aren’t biting. They want to stay the course and wait for the tide to turn back to what’s familiar to them. The old model of browsing readers drinking coffee and eating cookies before purchasing an armful of new releases. That isn’t where we are now. Or not only where we are. I’ll try again,” he added. “I don’t give up easily.”
“Why would you push for something you don’t believe in? Aren’t you also waiting for that reader to drop their phone and return to the comfort of a paperback in their hand?”
“I never said I didn’t believe in it,” he said, smiling a little when she sniffed. “Okay, maybe I indicated that. But I’m curious to see what we can come up with. I did a little research and I think you may be right. Whether I like these new developments or not, we can’t ignore current conditions. Hybrid approaches seem to be the future—and that future is already here.”
Kelly took a breath. “I’m…surprised.”
“Why? This isn’t the first time I’ve asked for suggestions from the staff. Nor the first time I’ve taken steps to see how they could be implemented.”
“Yeah, but this is riskier than offering free whole cookie samples like Leigh came up with at the last management meeting. Digital reading is changing our whole business.” She rubbed her damp hands on her hips, warming up to her topic. “I’ve been reading some things about how bookstores are coming up with new niches to get people in the door. If we promoted a rare books section, for example, and touted our ability to get any title still in print—and maybe even some out of print, if we utilized used outlets—we could get the collectors into our store too.”
When Spencer remained silent, she took a deep breath and went for the rest. “We could even investigate doing special editions in concert with indie authors for both of our benefits. Books with special features that would excite more readers—add-ons like foiled edges and stylized maps or character lists. Unique hardcovers. Beautiful collector’s edition books that make readingfunagain.”