It seemed unlikely that Carter Mathson had read her article in Salon and been swept away. Or in The Cut, unless he was really into Working Girl. Very unlikely indeed.

She looked up at Vivian, who regarded her with a smug smile.

“I overheard Allie mentioning your upcoming birthday to Simon,” she said. “I have no idea why you didn’t mention it to me. I know it’s early, but I assumed you wouldn’t object.”

Jules looked back down at her phone. “You set this up? An article in Modernity for my birthday?”

“Well, I couldn’t exactly send my assistant out to buy something for you. Besides, what do you get for the woman who already owns every boho necklace in New York?”

“This, I guess,” Jules said slowly. Time to puzzle through her own reaction, which wasn’t as thrilled as Vivian was no doubt expecting.

To say this was an incredible opportunity was an understatement. Magazines like Modernity solicited articles from well-known writers, people who won awards and gave guest lectures. People like Jules submitted to the slush pile and never heard back again.

Instead of that, Vivian had all but guaranteed her a spot. Jules hadn’t gotten there on her own merits.

That wasn’t the worst thing in the world; Jules wasn’t naïve. Most writers would never make it big, no matter how hard they worked or how good they were. It was all about who you knew. That was and always had been the deal. And hadn’t Jules wanted to work at Du Jour so she could make those valuable connections? What connection was more valuable than the editor in chief? Jules should be thrilled about this.

She was quiet for a few seconds too long. “Wow, Vivian! Thank you. This was so sweet.”

Vivian was frowning. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing!” Now Jules’s reaction was too fast. “I appreciate that you did this.”

“It didn’t take much,” Vivian said dryly. “Out with it. What’s the matter?”

Nothing should be the matter. It didn’t make sense that Jules felt weird about this, especially since she couldn’t pin down why it was weird. No matter what she said, Vivian had gone to some effort for this. She was a busy woman and didn’t have a lot of spare time to contact magazine features editors.

Plus it showed that Vivian had been paying attention to what Jules cared about—given a lot of thought to what would please her. It was just like watching a fashion show and thinking about Jules in the clothes. Wasn’t it?

Of course it was. She was being ridiculous. Besides, it called back to how offended Vivian had been when Jules had asked Simon for assistance with Salon and not her. Vivian only wanted to help.