“You don’t—”
“Number three, I write about classic television because I choose to do so. My work may be trivial to you, but it’s important to me.
“But—”
“Number four, I am a reporter, not a PR flack.”
He’d given up trying to interrupt.
“And number five, I cannot believe that we’re having this conversation. I told you during our very first date why I do what I do, and I thought you understood that.”
“I have every respect for what you’ve done. I only thought you’d be ready to move up.”
“Meaning that I’m beneath you? Thanks so much, you pompous son of a—” She stopped herself. “Look, Quentin, you’re a nice guy, but this isn’t going to work out. I think you should leave.”
“But why?”
“Because if you don’t get my work, then you don’t get me.”
When she told Cooper about it over dinner that night, they both agreed that it had been a wonderful exit line. Unfortunately, Quentin hadn’t seen it that way, and it had denigrated him into apologizing, then backtracking, and finally whining. Only when he’d worked himself up to a good mad-on did he finally stalk out the door, as if the breakup had been his idea.
If it had been a Cowtown episode instead of real life, Quentin’s departure would have been a cue for one of Arabella’s classic voice-overs:Sometimes the happiest trail is the one a cowboy rides alone. No boss, no pards, just the big blue sky and the knowledge that you’re doing exactly what you were born to do. That’s the Cowtown Code.
AVAILABLE IN HARDCOVER
Wolfsbane and Mistletoe
Hair-Raising Holiday Tales
15 All-New Werewolf Tales by
DONNA ANDREWS
KERI ARTHUR
PATRICIA BRIGGS
DANA CAMERON
KAREN CHANCE
ALAN GORDON
SIMON R. GREEN
CHARLAINE HARRIS
TONI L. P. KELNER
J. A. KONRATH
NANCY PICKARD
KAT RICHARDSON
DANA STABENOW
ROB THURMAN
CARRIE VAUGHN
Edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner
penguin.com
Who Killed the Pinup Queen? Page 26
