“Because yesterday I told him to send me what he had so far.” I push back from the table. “Radio silence.”

“So.” BD raps her long nails on the table. “Noa Callaway is a putz, and he’s got writer’s block, just in time for your provisional promotion. This is not good.”

“I keep coming back to the moment when I finally understood who he was. We were at the chess house in Central Park. And this thing passed between us. It was like both of us knew everything was about to change—and not for the better.”

“So, you weren’t the only one nervous about the reveal?”

“He wasn’t nervous,” I say. “He was ice-cold. He brought me to a location that meant something to us both—you know, our online chess games?”

“Legendary,” she concedes.

“And then he played me like a fiddle.”

“A pawn would be a more apt metaphor, here, Editor.”

“Whatever! He also mocked my suit!”

BD’s brows shoot up. “The Fendi?”

I nod, daring BD to defend him now. “Characterizing, wouldn’t you say?” I sigh. “I wore it because I think I was expecting him to be more like . . . you. Less like . . . himself. Honestly, it’s hard for me to remember now who or what I’d been expecting. Oh, BD, why couldn’t it have been you?”

“Well, I’m flattered, but I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“Really?” I say, amazed. “You’ve read all Noa’s books. You’re honestly telling me you suspected Noa Callaway had a . . . you know . . .”

“You can say penis to your grandmother, Lanie.”

“Oh jeez. Fine. Penis.”

“Manhood,” BD says.

“Dick.” I put my head on the table. She runs her nails along my shoulder like she did when I was little, and it helps.

“All I’m suggesting is,” she says, “there’s a reason he’s been hiding behind a pseudonym.”

“I wish I knew what that reason was,” I say, lifting my head off the table. “It might make him seem more human. Less like the Great Red Spot of Jupiter settling permanently over my life. Then again, knowing my luck, I’d probably discover things about him that would only make me hate him more. Can you believe, he actually asked me why it bothers me to find out he’s a man?”

“Did you have an answer?”