“Well, that’s not what it sounded like,” Alex said.
Riley picked up her drink. “I know.”
She took a sip and was just putting down her Santa mug when a blast of cold air hit her full force, as someone came in the front door.
Riley shivered, but not from the cold. Because standing in the doorway was Margo, her agent, and her expression was as icy as the weather.
“Oh boy,” Riley said underneath her breath and then met Margo’s frosty stare. “You found me.”
Chapter Six
Riley sat up even straighter as Margo marched toward her.
“It wasn’t too hard,” Margo said, her tone matching her demeanor. “You always come here.” She turned to Alex. “Hello, Alejandro.”
Alex smiled. “Margo, good to see you. It’s been a while.”
Margo looked at Riley. “Yes, it has. Some of my authors have been keeping me a little too busy.”
Alex chucked. “Understood. Can I get you anything?”
Margo never took her eyes off Riley. “Yes, you can get me an author that doesn’t disappear on me after she’s just walked out on a national TV interview.”
“So that’s a no?” Alex asked.
“That’s a no,” Margo confirmed. “I won’t be staying.”
Alex gave Riley a sympathetic look and moved the plate of fries back in front of her before retreating to give them some privacy.
Riley picked up a fry, took a big bite, and slid the plate over to Margo. “You sure you don’t want to stay and have some fries, order a drink?” Riley asked. “These fries are amazing.”
Instead of a fry, Margo picked up Riley’s phone from the bar and flipped it over so she could see the screen. There were dozens of missed messages. She held the phone up to Riley.
“I’ve been trying to call you. Mike’s been trying to call you,” Margo said, exasperated. She looked at Riley’s phone again. “Apparently, everyone’s been trying to call you. You need to answer your phone.”
Riley rarely saw Margo this upset. One of the things that made Margot such a great agent was how calm and unflappable she usually was. But when she finally did get mad, it wasn’t pretty. They’d become friends over the years, but Riley knew and respected that Margo never let that fact get in the way of being her agent first.
Margo pushed the fries out of Riley’s reach. “I don’t have time to sit here and have a drink, and neither do you,” she said. She dug inside her tote bag and slapped an envelope on the bar in front of Riley.
“What’s this?” Riley eyed the envelope. “A Christmas bonus?” she joked. She never got a Christmas bonus . . .
When Margo smiled, it made Riley nervous. She knew that smile, and it always meant Margo was up to something.
“I guess you could call it a bonus,” Margo said sweetly—too sweetly. “It’s your boarding pass. Your ticket to Colorado. You leave first thing in the morning.”
“In the morning?” Riley asked as she grabbed the envelope, opened it, and took out the printed boarding pass. “How can I leave in the morning? I still have a whole day of interviews to do tomorrow that you and Mike have planned for me to promote this Christmas Camp and my novel.”
Margo shook her head. “Not anymore. All your interviews have been canceled.”
Riley’s jaw dropped. “Everyone called off my interviews? I can’t believe they would do that.”
“They didn’t. Your publisher did,” Margo said without blinking.
“Wait? What? Why?” Riley asked, giving Margo her full attention. “I thought you said I needed all this publicity if we were going to save my career.”
“I did say that, and we do,” Margo answered. “That was the plan until your little stunt of running out on your live interview. Now everyone’s doing damage control. They’ve canceled all interviews until they can figure out what they want to do.”
Riley’s heart beat faster as she fought to stay calm. “What do you mean, while they figure out what to do? What is there to figure out?”
Margo met her stare and didn’t blink. “They’re trying to figure out if they still want you as their author after you walked out on a national television interview this morning. An interview most authors would kill to have the opportunity to do.”
“Margo, come on,” Riley said. “What did you want me to do? I wasn’t going to sit there and let that guy tear my personal life apart on national TV.”
“He was a jerk,” Margo said. “There’s no doubt about it. And honestly, I would have probably done the same thing.”
Riley looked relieved.
“But,” Margo went on.
Riley didn’t like the sound of that.
“There are consequences for your actions,” Margo said. “I’ve been trying to call you, to explain, as maybe this could have been avoided, but . . .”
Riley shook her head, disbelieving. “But now all my interviews are canceled.”
“That’s not even the worst of it,” Margo said. “The guy running the place where you’re supposed to be doing this Christmas Camp is upset.”
“What’s he upset about?” Riley asked. “He got a lot of great coverage in that interview. They rolled video of the place and everything.”
“Haven’t you watched the segment?” Margo asked. “It’s online everywhere. It’s gone viral.”
Riley shook her head vehemently. “Are you kidding? I don’t want to watch how I was humiliated on national TV. It was bad enough that I had to live through it once.”
“Then let me enlighten you,” Margo said. “After you stormed out, they had to fill the time somehow, so the guy who runs the lodge had to go on in your place at the last minute.”
Now Riley looked even more confused. “What do you mean he had to go on in my place? He’s in Colorado.”
“No, he came to the TV station to meet you,” Margo corrected her. “He apparently had to be in town for some other business, so Mike set up a meeting for you after the segment. Anyway, the point is, this guy had to go on national television totally unprepared and talk about
