“I have exciting news,” she said.
Max started the car. “Does it involve tying you up?”
“No, but put a pin in that thought. My good news involves my game.”
He grinned. He’d been wondering when the subject of Scarlet Woman would come up. “What about your game?”
“I didn’t want to bring it up at dinner in case anyone was listening but we got an offer from a major developer. They’re flying Tiff and I to Sydney to discuss a contract.”
Max reached across the console to take Julia’s hand. “That’s amazing, Jules. Congratulations. So no more deleting porn, huh?”
“Not if I can help it,” she exhaled excitedly. “I never thought we’d ever get a break like this.”
Max made a mental note to send Jeremy a bottle of scotch. He’d known Jem was impressed with the website but if DMX was flying Julia out this week, they were really gunning for Scarlet Woman. This had worked out better than he hoped.
“Max?” Julia stared at him with narrowed eyes. “Why do you look like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re not surprised in the slightest that my game was picked up for what could be a multi-million dollar contract?”
“Because I’m not surprised. You’re incredibly talented. I’ve seen your website.”
Julia’s face went pale. “You’ve what?”
“I’ve seen your website. I played the beta version of your game. It’s amazing.”
“You’ve seen my game? You’ve seeneverything?”
Max laughed. “Yeah, and it’s cool. Really professional. Awesome designs.”
He decided now was as good a time as ever to let the ball drop. “I particularly liked a certain dark-haired man who appears at the end.”
“Pull over.”
Julia looked like she was going to throw up. Max braked and steered the car off the road. “Baby, are you okay? What’s wrong?”
“You know about Eli?”
“Is that his name? I thought he was just called ‘me’.”
The joke did nothing to restore Julia’s color. “You know I was drawing you? You know I created a character based on you?”
“Well yeah, I looked Scarlet Woman up after we left the property office. I wanted to know what your game was like.”
Julia buried her face in her hands. “Oh God.”
None of this was going the way he’d planned. Far from giving him a million eternally grateful blowjobs, Julia looked like she was going to cry.
“Jules, don’t be embarrassed. I thought it was amazing. Flattering as hell. That’s what I said to Jeremy when I told him to check it out. He loved what you did because it’s smart and has merit. Although I’m not gonna lie, he gave me a fair bit of grief over that dude, said he looked like Keanu Reeves on steroids.”
Julia made a sound somewhere between a gasp and a retch. “You—you know Jeremy? You’re the reason we’re going to be picked up by DMX?”
“Jeremy’s a family friend of Bonnie’s,” he admitted. “She suggested I give him a call. But I swear all I did was suggest he check out your website. He’d never have offered to fly you to Sydney if you weren’t unbelievably talented.”
Julia’s eyes were wide. Feverish. “So your ex-wife knows about the game too?”
Max cringed.