Forbidden Pleasures Read Free

said. “How did he end up in London?”
    “Well, Michael had no sooner departed the party than J.P. was buttonholing Martin, and demanding he be fired. She claimed he had come on to her and it was all she could do to fight him off. She couldn’t work with someone like that, she told Martin. Martin, of course, had been privy to the whole incident, as had a number of other people. He had no intention of losing Michael Devlin, but he also wanted to have his cake and eat it too. J.P. is a very good president for Stratford Publishing. So he transferred Michael Devlin to our London office, which suited Michael fine. He was born and raised in Dublin. You’ll love his Anglo-Irish accent.”
    “Why is he back now?” Emily wanted to know. “J.P. isn’t a woman to forget an insult. She holds grudges, Rachel. You know she does.”
    Rachel paused a long moment, and then she said, “You might as well know, but this is also something that can’t be bruited about, Emily. Martin is going to semiretire within the year. He and Anita want to travel. Neither of his daughters is interested in the publishing business. Both are married to doctors. But Martin isn’t of a mind to sell. At least not yet. J.P. may be the company president, and Michael Devlin now the editor in chief, but Stratford is going to need a new CEO. J.P. thought she had it all sewn up, but she didn’t. Martin is undecided, which is why he called Devlin back from the London office to take my job. Now J.P. is using you to get that CEO position while at the same time trying to get rid of Michael Devlin for good. You’re right: She holds grudges, and she hasn’t forgotten he publicly refused her. The tension between them is palpable.”
    “I don’t understand, Rachel,” Emily said, shifting nervously in Aaron’s big leather chair. “What have I got to do with it?”
    “Look,” she said, “no one I know really likes J.P., including me. But she’s damned good at what she does, and what she does is run Stratford. Martin has been easing himself out for the last two years, and the responsibility has fallen on J.P.’s shoulders. She wants the title of CEO of Stratford, and all that goes with it. The truth is that she deserves it, Emily. But Martin wants the company to remain strong, and that means he needs a first-rate editor in chief, so he’s brought in Michael Devlin from London to take my place. J.P. and Devlin are going to have to learn to get along for the good of the company. And I’ve heard Martin himself hint that the position of CEO is up for grabs. He will play his little games, and J.P., for all her swagger, is just insecure.”
    Rachel sighed deeply. “J.P. has never been a fan of your books, but you know that. The company makes a tidy little profit off of you, but it’s a sure bet that with your name and track record they can make an even bigger profit if you write sexier. But J.P. doesn’t think you can do it. She thinks you’re a prude and won’t be able to make the transition from sweet to sensual. She also believes she can fill the hole you leave in Stratford’s bottom line with half a dozen newbies who do write sexy. And one of them might well turn out to be very successful. You know publishing’s a crapshoot.
    “So she told Martin that it was up to Michael Devlin to edit you, as you were an editor in chief’s writer, and to give you to just a senior editor would be a demotion for you. Martin agreed. He likes you, but you know that too. And he has great faith in Devlin. He knows how ruthless J.P. can be, but he’s the type of man who wouldn’t believe she’d ruin your career and endanger his company just to get back at a man who refused her lustful overtures years ago. You’re a pawn on the chessboard, Emily. If Devlin can get you to write sexier novels, he wins. Right now, that is a threat to J.P. After all, the editor with the big-name writer has a certain amount of power. He could leave and take you with him. But if he can’t