Without a Net by Jill Blake Read Free Book Online

She was here to do business, nothing else. She might have fallen for a charming rogue once, but she was smart enough to learn from her mistakes.
    Time to take control of the situation. “You mentioned you needed a cover. Did you have something in mind?”
    “Not exactly. I’m open to suggestions.” He lifted his mug and took a sip.
    She watched the movement of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed. Followed the slide of his tongue across his upper lip, where the cappuccino had left a bit of foam.
    She blinked. “Right. Why don’t we start with what the cover is for?”
    It turned out he had a medical thriller that he planned on publishing. Eva jotted notes as he spoke. For a man who otherwise struck her as supremely self-confident, he seemed surprisingly reticent in discussing his writing. She had to prompt him repeatedly with questions about the plot and characters.
    “Sounds like a great story,” she said, when he fell silent yet again.
    His green eyes brightened. “You think?”
    “Yes. I can’t wait to read it.”
    “I can forward you a PDF, if you like.”
    “Thank you.” She flipped to a fresh note page. “Now, about the cover. We could go as simple or elaborate as you want. The quickest, easiest approach would be to design something around a stock photo. Or we could set up a custom shoot with real models, though that would take more time and money. Did you have a particular budget in mind?”
    He shrugged. “I don’t know what the going rates are. I haven’t actually done this before.”
    Neither had she, though she wasn’t ab out to admit that to him. Besides, she had plenty of experience with multimedia design, and this project sounded pretty straightforward. “Why don’t I email you some figures tonight, and you can think about it?”
    “I’ll need more than a book cover.”
    “Of course.” She cleared her throat. “I can do Facebook cover images, make a custom blog template, build a website, do a newsletter. Whatever you need to help market your book.”
    “The full range of à la carte services,” he murmured.
    “Yes.” He was still talking graphic design, wasn’t he? She pulled up a page on her laptop and turned the screen toward him. “If you can enter your info on the ‘contact us’ line, I’ll work on some cover ideas tonight. Maybe start with a stock photo, and have something for you by tomorrow. If you like it, we can go from there.”
    H e dragged his chair closer and leaned in to take a look. “Is there an ‘us’?”
    Her heart skipped a beat. “Excuse me?”
    “Here.” He rested one hand on the back of her chair, and pointed to her website with the other. “The ‘contact us’ line.”
    “Oh. No, it’s just me.”
    He nodded and pulled the keyboard closer. Eva experienced a mixture of relief and disappointment when he removed his hand so he could type his information into the appropriate fields.
    “You do it, too,” she said.
    “What?”
    “Use the royal ‘we.’ When you go in to see a patient, you say, ‘How are we doing today?’ Right?” She thought back to the countless hours she’d spent in doctors’ offices and hospital rooms. A bubble of resentment floated to the surface. “You know what I’ve always wanted to answer? We are not doing so well, otherwise we wouldn’t be here.”
    His fingers stopped typing. The silence stretched for several moments. Embarrassment set in. She opened her mouth to apologize for her outburst when Max beat her to it.
    “You’re right,” he said, nodding slowly. “If I haven’t said it before, I’m sorry about your husband.”
    She glanced at him, and the compassion in his eyes was almost her undoing. “Thank you.”
    She felt his steady gaze as she gathered her things.
    “You sure you’re not hungry?” he said.
    “Positive.” She shouldered her bag and rose. “I had a late breakfast.”
    He stood as well. “Maybe next time?”
    She hesitated. “I’ll email you the package options and some preliminary