The Arrangement by Simon Smith-Wilson

aisle.
    Scarlett
turned to face the man. At first glance he wasn’t someone she
knew, but there was something about him that she recognised. The man
was a good head and a half taller than her. He had long brown hair
that was tied back into a ponytail behind his head. He was clean
shaven and had a smile that could charm the panties off a nun. His
brown eyes were so deep that if she fell into them she wasn’t
sure she would ever be able to get out. Unlike most of the men she
had seen today, he was casually dressed in a dark blue t-shirt and
black jogging pants. Even though she wasn’t sure who this man
was, Scarlett was very much sure that he was drop dead gorgeous.
    ‘Yes?’
she accepted his out stretched hand.
    ‘I
thought it was you. I’m Brandon Grey.’ The name sounded
familiar. Where had she heard it before? ‘We met at the
publishing office.’
    It
hit her.
    ‘Brandon
Grey!’ She blurted out his name excitedly. ‘I loved your
book,’ she said in a way that sounded far too much like “I’m
your number one fan!” The problem was that Scarlett really was
a big fan of his. The two of them had been introduced the day she
headed into her father’s office to sign the contract for the
book deal. Brandon had been there for that very same reason and the
two of them had shared a brief chat in the waiting area.
    ‘I’m
glad you liked it,’ he brushed aside the compliment. ‘I
really enjoyed your novel, but you haven’t released another one
in nearly a year. Are you planning on doing a sequel?’
    ‘I
am.’ Her face contorted into a grimace. ‘I pretty much
have the second novel complete, but I am having some problems with
the main characters and the connection.’
    ‘I
can relate to that.’ He nodded a reply. ‘I am working on
the third part, of my four part series, and I have pretty much
written the two main characters to death. I have told their stories
in a way, but the bigger story, that is the world in which they live
in, goes on. So, I am trying to write them out and bring in some new
hero’s, but not sure if my readership will like that.’
    Scarlett’s
jaw dropped open in shock.
    ‘You’re
writing them out? But I love them.’
    ‘Ha,’
laughed Brandon. ‘I think I have my answer.’ He paused
for a brief moment before asking. ‘Would you like to grab a cup
of coffee? I would love to pick your brains and talk books with you.’
    Scarlett
didn’t even have to think. ‘That would be great.’
    ***
    ‘What
have I done?’ Lucas groaned out the words. The memory of Emma’s
hand upon his groin wouldn’t leave his mind. Nearly forty
minutes had gone by and he hadn’t been able to move or get on
with any of his work. He simply couldn’t get what had happened
out of his head. ‘Did I just cheat?’ he knew in his heart
of hearts what that answer was.
    He
had.
    Had
had looked Emma straight in the eye, as her hand teased the demon of
lust into life. If Craig hadn’t entered the room at that exact
moment he would have caressed her breast and there is no knowing what
could have happened then, or how far they would have gone. Things
were getting out of hand. He wasn’t the type of man that did
this. He loved Scarlett. It was this damn deal causing this build up
of sexual frustration.
    It
had to come to an end.
    ***
    A
young waitress placed their drinks down at the table. She was about
to ask if there was anything else they wanted, but the two of them
were so busy chatting away that she doubted they even knew that she
was there.
    ‘I
have always been really interested in anything paranormal, or out of
this world,’ admitted Brandon. ‘I was the type of kid
that would sneak into those so-called haunted houses just to have a
first-hand glance at any ghosts.’
    ‘Did
you always know that paranormal crime writing would be your genre?’
Scarlett was hanging on his every word. Since the two of them met in
the book store there hadn’t been a single moment of silence. It
was a battle of questions