Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Jake and our team of editors had turned the project into one hell of a call to action.
My nervousness grew as the presenter mentioned outstanding editing, but it was for a news story. If I remembered correctly, there were nearly fifty statuettes being handed out, so it was gonna be a long night.
At one point, Jake grabbed my hand in a tight hold, and it loosened something inside me. Fuck it, we were two creators incredibly proud of our work, and we’d walked a long road to get here. I squeezed his hand and didn’t let go.
Deep breaths.
Each category made me lose hope just a little, because this was the big leagues. Everyone here tonight had worked their ass off, whether they had interviewed a president, filmed in Syria, or edited a nature documentary.
Then we were finally moving on to documentaries, and Jake and I straightened a bit in our seats. Come on, editing. Jake deserved this so much.
So focused on the damn editing award, I was taken aback to suddenly see Currahee as one of the nominees for Outstanding Social Issue. I tensed up, and Jake held my hand harder. If editing was his field, this was mine. My research, my groundwork, my interviews.
Holy fuck.
“And the Emmy goes to…Currahee—”
“Oh my God.” I didn’t even know who said it, but a flurry of activity erupted around our seats, and people applauded. Jake and I stared at each other—we fucking won? Holy shit, holy shit! Martina beamed at us and urged us to stand the fuck up. Right, right, right, we had to go down there and, yeah, right, we were going.
“Accepting the award, Roe Finlay and Jake Denver, producers, directors.”
Oh my fucking God, my brain was spinning. Now I actually had to use the speech we’d written? We had too many important names to remember to be able to just wing it. My mouth felt dry as Jake and I walked down the aisle to get to the stage, my heart was threatening to pound its way out of my chest.
Thank fuck it wasn’t a long speech.
Okay, get your shit together and unfrazzle your nerves.
Jake accepted the award, and I cleared my throat and brought out the speech card from my inner pocket. Then we were standing at the podium with a million spotlights aimed our way, and I couldn’t fucking believe it.
“Thank you,” I said into the mic. “Jake and I want to thank Manuel Ortiz for believing in us from day one—for pushing us, for setting up appointments with networks behind our backs.” We got a little laugh at that, and I grinned. “To Seth, Martina, CJ, Yasmin, Emily, Haley, Jason, and our families. To the whole team behind Currahee. We have so many amazing and talented people whose hard work and support make us love heading into the office every morning. Thank you.”
I stepped aside so Jake could deliver the last bit.
He cleared his throat and placed a hand on my back. “Most of all, we want to thank the veterans and the first responders who shared their stories with us. As we face this mental health crisis, we want your voices to be heard. We don’t want you to fight alone. Thank you very much. It was an honor to work with y’all.”
I released a breath, and we glanced at each other.
It’s you and me.
Two scrappy condor chicks testing their wings…
It sure felt like we were flying now.
CHAPTER 4
2018
“Fuck,” I exhaled.
Just. Like. That.
“I knew you were awake…”
I grinned sleepily and pulled back the covers.
Good morning to you.
He sucked me back into his mouth, eyes filled with amusement and delicious heat. Fuck me, he was so sexy. Perfect bed head—and possibly some scratches on his neck from last night.
I folded an arm under my head and sucked in a breath as he traced his tongue along my cock. I pulled up one knee a bit too, in case he wanted more access. Then I felt something bumpy under my shoulder blades, and I dug out a balled-up towel. Christ, we’d crashed fast after our shower. I tossed it on the floor before getting comfortable again.
I groaned and wove my fingers through his hair. “I fucking love how you suck me.”
He hummed around my cock.
My man was on a mission this morning. I knew what that meant. He hadn’t gotten his fill after last night. To be fair, we’d been drunk and exhausted. It’d been an uncoordinated fuck that’d resulted in scratches and a broken lamp once everyone had left his house.
We’d hosted an awesome Halloween party, though.
The only thing that bothered us was having to hide. No public displays of affection. No lingering looks—okay, some. But the sneaking around would be over soon. Very soon.
Jake redoubled his efforts and made me moan embarrassingly loudly until I was fucking his mouth and coming down his throat. Jesus Christ. I panted and swallowed dryly, and he gave me zero time to recover. He was gonna take what was his now. I shuddered violently.