Edmonton Ecstasy
"Bookshop owner Millicent has read every romance novel in her Edmonton store, but when author Ben comes for a signing, she discovers real love stories are written between people, not pages."
Millicent had sold Ben's books for years. Steamy romances, mostly. Good ones.
Meeting him was supposed to be professional.
Then he walked in.
"Yuh not what I expected," she said.
"Disappointed?"
"The opposite." She smiled. "Yuh write thick women well."
"I write what I love." His eyes traveled. "Clearly."
The signing was successful. The after-party, just them.
"How do yuh research?" she asked. "The... scenes?"
"Imagination, mostly. And hope."
"Hope?"
"Hope that someday I'll meet someone who makes the imagination unnecessary."
"Yuh looking at her?"
"Since I walked in."
She kissed him between the romance shelves, surrounded by the stories he'd written and she'd sold.
"Research?" she asked.
"Inspiration."
"Show mi what yuh inspired to write."
On her desk in the back office, then against the shelves, then on a pile of his own books.
"Yes! Ben! Right there!"
Every chapter they'd read coming to life. That thick body his muse, his canvas, his everything.
"Don't stop! Write our story!"
His next book was his best. Everyone wondered about the dedication: "To M, who taught me the difference between fiction and truth."
"Yuh made mi famous," she laughed.
"You made me happy."
"Same thing."
Millicent's bookshop now hosts Ben's signings exclusively.
They live above the shop.
Write together. Read together. Love together.
Edmonton ecstasy.
The best story ever told.
No pages needed.