Page 5 (1/2)

Zach stared at her a moment The last three writers he’d worked with had been men in their late fifties and early sixties Never once had he seen any of them in their paja as Nora Sutherlin

"You’re shorter"

"Thank God for stilettos, right? So what’s the verdict? JP said he’s giving you total control over the book andtime since I’ve let a man boss me around I kind ofjury then Better give me a retrial"

"You’re very clever"

"You’re very handsome"

Zach shifted in his seat He wasn’t used to flirtation froain, she wasn’t one of his writers

"That wasn’t a compliment Cleverness is the last recourse of an amateur I look for depth in my books, passion, substance"

"Passion I have"

"Passion is not synony and not entirely without merit At one point I even detected a heart inside all that flesh"

"I hear a ‘but’ in there"

"But the heartbeat was very faint The patient lanced away Zach had seen that look before--it was defeat He’d scared her away as he’d planned He wondered why he wasn’t happier about it

"Terminal…" She turned her face back to hi in her eyes "It’s almost Easter--the season of Resurrection"

"Resurrection? Really?" Zach said, astonished by her tenacity "I leave for Royal’s LA offices in six weeks Six weeks is not nearly enough tinitude But six weeks is all we have"

"You just said six weeks isn’t long enough--"

"But it’s all I have to give Fix it in six and it’s off to press If not--"

"If not, it’s back to the gutter for the guttersnipe writer, right?"

Zach stared at her in stunned silence

"John-Paul Bonner’s the biggest gossip in the publishing industry, Mr Easton He told me what you think of me He told me you think I’ll fail"

"I’m quite certain of it"

"If you’re my editor, my failure will take you down, too"

"I’"