Bartender with Benefits
Page 67
“What’s this for?!” I ask, turning toward Sebastian.
“Your book releases tomorrow. You put so much work into it. So I invited your family, friends, and some of my family here to celebrate.”
I see the faces of my good friends and family. My mom, sister, Crystal, and Crystal’s little sister are all here.
“Wait. So Mom, you knew about this all along?”
“Macy told me.”
“Oh my gosh.” I stare at Macy. “I thought I was doing a good job keeping this book a secret. Apparently not.”
Crystal’s little sister shrugs. “My mom says I can’t read your book until I’m eighteen. But I like the pictures you are putting up on Instagram. And that cover? So hot. I wanna be an author someday. And knowing that Macy’s big sister became an author? That inspires me to think if you can do it, I can do it too.”
I meet Sebastian’s mother and father, too, as well as his brother Liam and his girlfriend.
Sebastian’s grandparents are there too.
For a while, we mingle and have drinks, and I’m peppered with questions about the new book. I answer questions as best I can, and everyone pulls up my Instagram and ogles the cover model. Finally, we sit down to eat pizza.
“Bossman with Benefits,” Crystal says, holding a slice in front of her face. “However did you decide on that topic?”
Sebastian chimes in. “We’ll never know,” he says sarcastically, wiggling his eyebrows. “This book will go down in history as being totally made up. Historians some day will try and figure out how Brett came up with the idea.”
I push Sebastian’s shoulder, and my face goes a little red. “You know, I don’t think it’s necessary to talk about where I got my inspiration. I’ll just let you guess for yourself.”
“What I want to know,” my mom adds, “is where you got such a sexy cover model. I hear they are expensive.
My hand finds Sebastian’s leg under the table, where no one can see what my hand is doing.
My mom absolutely doesn’t need to know that I asked Sebastian to be the cover model, and then cropped the picture from just above the mouth to make sure no one would recognize him.
“Ah, I’m not sure,” I say, pretending to squint off into the distance. “I think my cover designer found him on some random site or something.”
“I swear I’ve seen that guy before somewhere,” Crystal says, staring at me as she shovels a piece of pepperoni pizza into her face.
Sebastian’s hand meets mine underneath the table, and he squeezes it. It’s a small gesture, and it’s not erotic, like so many of our adventures have been. But there’s something about the way he does it. Lightly touching my hand, he runs his middle finger back and forth on my palm.
He sends a chill through my entire body.
Sebastian changes the conversation topic away from my book, and refocuses it on my sister’s offseason soccer training regimen. I take a deep breath and space out for a minute, remembering that fateful night years ago when an asshole customer went off on me for some pizzas that didn’t get delivered.
Sebastian had my back then, and he has my back now. I originally thought I might feel embarrassed to tell my friends and family I’m writing those books—the ones where blow jobs are described in full and no details of sexual encounters get away.
With Sebastian at my side, stroking my hand, I feel so liberated and so lucky to have a man who is cocky on the outside but a humble country boy at heart, and who supports me no matter what kind of crazy ideas I come up with.
The corners of my lips curve upward in a slight smile, and I rub his forearm. To my left sits Sebastian’s grandparents, and as I glance at them I notice something. His grandmother rubs her husband's arm in the same way I’m doing right now. It’s not an erotic gesture necessarily, but it warms my heart deeply.
“Brett? What do you think about that?”
I’m jolted out of my dream, and Sebastian’s brother Liam is asking me a question.
“Think about what I just said. You write romance novels. What’s the key to a long-term relationship?”
I look at Sebastian, and he smirks at me, awaiting my response.
I shrug, glancing around the table at all of the faces who are eagerly awaiting my response. I think back on Sebastian and my torrid romance that started out as just friends with benefits and evolved into something so deep I still have a hard time totally defining it. A smile crosses my face as I picture myself wearing nothing but an apron and cooking Sebastian dinner.
“Sometimes, you just gotta get a little crazy.”
Sebastian wraps his arm around me. “That you are, Blue.”
As I fall into his arms, I notice his grandmother is smiling ear to ear at me. She winks.
“The Blackwells always fall for the crazy ones,” she says, and I don’t know if that’s a dig or a compliment.
“I’m just happy I know I’m with a man who will go above and beyond to make me happy. He’ll do everything. And I mean everything.”
Sebastian and I squeeze hands under the table, and I wonder just what our everything will be in the future.
How to get the Bonus Epilogue
I also wrote a bonus epilogue/short story. It’s called: Two Sebastians are better than one.
Yeah, it’s exactly as it sounds. It’s one of the hottest things I’ve ever wrote.
I want to send it to you! When you’re done just follow these simple instructions:
1) Make sure you’re signed up for my mailing list. Just go to
http://bit.ly/MickeyMiller
2) Reply to my mailing list confirmation (or any email I’ve sent you if you’re already a subscriber) with a link to your Amazon review for Boss with Benefits!
3) That’s it! I will send you the story via email.
Thank you for reading!
XO,
Mickey
Acknowledgments
This book is dedicated to my support network of fellow authors, editors, beta readers, fans, and friends who have supported me from day one when my first book, Playing Dirty came out last November.
For reasons I won’t go all the way into…this book was extra special, and I’m so happy to bring it to you all.
Thanks to all of the Misfits, to my editor Dani and to my beta readers Barb, Leddy, Lauren, Becky, and Virginie. And to Megan.
And thanks to those who I’ve met along the way. No matter how small or large we feel, there is no denying we are all nodes with the potential for a ripple effect that extends farther than we’ll ever know.
Lots of love,
Mickey Miller
www.mickeymillerauthor.com
Also by Mickey Miller
Blackwell After Dark - Small Town Romances
Sports Romances Series - Ballers
Playing Dirty
The Casanova Experience
Mickey Miller books cowritten with Holly Dodd:
Dirty CEO
Subscribe here to my email list here so you don’t miss out on any new releases! All of my releases are 99 cents for the first few days: http://bit.ly/MickeyMiller
The final book in the Blackwell After Dark Series is coming soon - Baller with Benefits.
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XO,
Mickey