My So-Called Sex Life (How to Date, #1)(13)

Cady’s jaw drops. “There are tours like that?”

“People like to be scared, hon,” Aaron says, sagely.

Ramona cuts in. “We won’t be sending you bungee jumping. But we had this great idea that, since The I Do Redo is set in France, we’d send you on a week-long luxury train tour across Europe with several lucky VIP readers. You’ll stop in various cities and do signings and events along the way, and you can show readers some of the locations from the book. How does that sound?”

Like a premise for another book. Like fodder for a train romance. Like…gah.

I can picture it now, all elegant and Orient Express-like. Maybe they even want me to dress up in a velvet evening gown, with jewels and satin gloves, and offer toasts to old-fashioned luxury as we rattle along the coast. Then when I go back to my sleeper car at night, I’ll plot a swoony story where our heroine meets a handsome stranger on the train, perhaps somewhere in the French Alps.

No, wait. He’ll be a billionaire from a small French village. He’ll step on the train wearing a tuxedo, and his dark gaze will be full of dangerous secrets. When he seduces her, they’ll have the kind of sex I’ve never quite experienced but want to—book sex.

Well, it’s the best kind. The lady always Os. Usually two or three times. I’m seriously jealous of my heroines.

“I can leave this weekend,” I say.

Cady and Aaron chuckle, then clap. “I knew she’d say yes,” Cady says.

Ramona laughs briefly then gets down to business. “Great. There’s a brand-new luxury train service that just launched. We’ll be partnering with them. JHB Travel,” she begins.

“Oh! I heard of that endeavor. It’s owned by some reclusive billionaire who made his money in green energy,” I say. Perhaps Mr. B will be the billionaire I meet on the train. Yes, life imitating art, indeed.

“Exactly,” says Ramona. “It’s perfect for VIP tour groups and such. We want to start in Rome, have you make a stop in Spain, then a few stops in France. Paris, of course because of The I Do Redo.” Immediately, I hope the trip aligns with Rachel’s, “And then we’ll finish in Copenhagen.”

Copenhagen isn’t a common setting in romance, but I do love a Viking hero too, so…yay. “I’ll get to check Denmark off my bucket list,” I say.

“We need to get everything set up, but we’d like to send you in a month. If you’d like any basic lessons in any of the languages, we can arrange for that too.”

“That sounds great.” Like pinch-me level great. I can say a few French words, including bonjour, though, like Belle in Beauty and the Beast, I usually sing it. I can’t say anything in Danish. And I can only say ciao in Italian.

“Perfect,” Ramona says, then takes a beat before she adds, “Oh, and there are a few other authors doing this too. It’ll be a group tour.”

Makes sense. That’s expected these days. Maybe TJ has been asked. He’s written a few books set in London. We’d have the best time.

Only, he has a different publisher. Lancaster Abel probably wants to send someone from the same house.

“We’ll send Kennedy too,” Ramona says. “You two comp so well.”

I brighten. She’s always up for adventure. Can this day get any better? “Pretty sure she’s my long-lost twin,” I say. “Plus, her last book has the Danish hero. So, Copenhagen makes even more sense now.”

“That’s what we were thinking too,” Ramona adds.

Aaron squees. “I knew we had to tell you in person, Hazel,” he says, then grabs Cady’s shoulder. “Right?”

“So right,” Cady seconds.

“And,” Ramona continues, “Axel Huxley will be on the trip.”

My world grinds to a halt. “Axel?” I croak out.

Ramona’s gaze turns serious. She doesn’t know the details of our split, but she knows we didn’t finish our last book. Well, everyone knows that.

She tactfully explains their thinking rather than addressing the elephant in the room. “Most of his romantic thrillers are set in Europe.”

Damn my overeager brain. How did I miss that city in Spain hint? That was an anvil-sized clue that Axel would be a travel companion. His heroes have traipsed all over Barcelona and Madrid, not to mention Italy. The hero of The Perfect Lie—Jett—foiled the villain’s plot to hack into an international bank in Rome then captured the bad guy in the Trevi Fountain itself, tackling him in the water. Of course Axel will be going on a trip to Europe. Axel loves Europe. He took off for the fucking continent the day he walked out of the coffee shop when our partnership fell apart.

“Will that be okay?” Ramona asks with genuine concern.

A concern that tells me I can’t say no.

Yes, I do understand why the publishers are sending Axel, but I don’t understand why they’d pair us, knowing we’ve split. An hour-long Q and A at an expo is one thing. A seven-day, close-quarters train trip is entirely another.

Still, it’s not my place to say, It’s not okay because I can’t stand his smug face, and I also can’t stand how much he’s not smug.

“Totally okay,” I say, faking it once again.

Cady cheers. “I knew it! You two are just so fun together. Since the expo, everyone’s been talking about how well you two get along. It’s all the rage.”