Semua Bab HEAT BETWEEN THE LINES : Bab 1 - Bab 10

Emma stood outside the glass doors of Meridian Publishing, clutching her coffee like a lifeline and trying to convince herself she wasn't having a panic attack. The building's sleek lobby buzzed with its usual morning energy, but all she could think about was Jake Morrison's knowing smile and those four words that had haunted her all night: "This is going to be interesting."She'd barely slept, alternating between rehearsing professional explanations for yesterday's coffee shop encounter and imagining worst-case scenarios where Jake told everyone at Meridian that their bestselling romance author couldn't write a convincing love scene to save her life."Emma! There you are." Harold Morrison Jake's father, she now realized with horror approached with his familiar warm smile. At sixty-two, Harold had the gentle demeanor of a favorite professor, all wire-rimmed glasses and cardigans. Nothing like his sharp-edged son. "Ready for our meeting?""About that emergency..." Emma fell into step b

Emma sat in her favorite corner booth at Café Luna, staring at her laptop screen with the same intensity she'd normally reserve for a particularly challenging crossword puzzle. The cursor blinked mockingly at the end of Chapter 4's opening line, which she'd rewritten seventeen times in the past two hours.*Charlotte felt her breath catch as her editor moved closer, his presence filling the space between them with something she couldn't name.*Delete. Delete. Delete.*Something she couldn't name*? What was she, twelve? Jake's words echoed in her head: "Make me believe she's genuinely at risk of losing herself in what she feels for him."The problem was, Emma had no idea what that actually felt like."You look like someone stole your favorite pen and ran over your dog with it."Emma glanced up to find Maya sliding into the booth across from her, armed with an iced matcha latte and a concerned expression. Maya Patel had been Emma's best friend since their MFA program at Columbia, the kin

"What exactly do you mean by 'something real to worry about'?" Emma asked, though part of her wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.Jake's smile was enigmatic as he moved back to the kitchen, resuming his dinner preparations with casual efficiency. "I mean we stop hiding what's happening between us and start using it to our advantage.""Using it how?" Emma followed him, her wine glass clutched like a lifeline. "Jake, I need you to be specific. My career has already been destroyed once by someone who claimed to care about me."Jake paused in his chopping, his expression growing serious. "Emma, I would never""I know. I think I know." Emma set down her wine and wrapped her arms around herself. "But I need to understand what you're proposing before I agree to anything."Jake set down his knife and turned to face her fully. "Marcus and Caroline are counting on you being afraid, being isolated, being too scared to trust anyone with your career again. They're also counting on me being

Emma sat in the Meridian Publishing lobby at exactly 8:45 AM, clutching a coffee that had long gone cold and rehearsing the speech she'd practiced in front of her bathroom mirror for the past hour. Three days had passed since Marcus's phone call, three days since that devastating kiss with Jake, and three days since she'd fled his apartment like a woman running from her own feelings. Which, she admitted to herself, was exactly what she'd been doing. Maya had spent those three days alternately lecturing Emma about self sabotage and bringing her comfort food, but it was Maya's final words this morning that had driven Emma here: "Em, you can't let fear make every decision for the rest of your life. Sometimes you have to choose what you want over what feels safe." Emma checked her phone for the fifteenth time. 8:47 AM. Jake would be in his office by now, probably wondering why she'd been avoiding his calls and emails since Wednesday night. Probably assuming she'd decided their profess

Emma stared at her laptop screen in Jake's home office, the cursor blinking mockingly at the end of Chapter 4's latest revision. Three days had passed since their coffee shop encounter, and she'd rewritten the same scene seventeen times. Each attempt felt more forced than the last. The problem wasn't technical her prose was as polished as ever. The problem was that Jake's challenge echoed in her mind with every sentence: "Make me believe she's genuinely at risk of losing herself in what she feels for him." Emma rubbed her temples and reached for her wine glass. Jake had insisted she work at his apartment tonight, claiming his home office would provide fewer distractions than her Brooklyn place. What he hadn't mentioned was how distracting his presence would be, even when he was in the next room allegedly working on other manuscripts. "How's it going?" Jake appeared in the doorway, his tie loosened and sleeves rolled up. He looked like every fantasy Emma had ever had about sexy, in