Free With His Consent (For His Pleasure, Book 13) by Kelly Favor

partially open and a sheaf of paper was sticking out. At first, she ignored it, but then she grew curious enough to take the papers out and look at them.
    It was the script.
    She hadn’t seen it before, and it was somehow impressive with its dog-eared pages and scribbled notes in the margins.
    It was Bryson’s handwriting. The whole thing was marked up.
    She wanted to read it, and besides—she had nothing to do and sleep was an impossibility at this point. And hadn’t he mentioned that he was going to let her read his copy at some point?
    So Scarlett went back into the bathroom and sat on the toilet and read Bridge and Tunnel from start to finish. She loved it. She loved the story and the characters and the fact that Bryson’s wry humor and intelligence was laced throughout all of the description and dialog.
    Even more, she loved his little notes, his musings about various scenes, character motivations, pieces of dialog that needed changing.
    When she was done, the sky was just beginning to show the first signs of light.
    She tiptoed back to his bag and slid the script into it.
    Then she decided to go downstairs and grab some breakfast, assuming the restaurant downstairs was open. If not, maybe she’d find out if there was a coffee shop nearby.

    ***
    As it turned out, the dining room was open for breakfast at six o’clock, and she was literally the first one there.
    They served it buffet style, and so she loaded her plate down with bacon and sausage and eggs, and then ordered a cup of coffee.
    While she was eating, people slowly began filtering into the dining room; an old man in a vest reading a newspaper, a couple with their suitcases and bags, a middle-aged guy wearing spectacles and a suit, with a pleasant smile.
    She smiled back at him as he went and got himself a cup of coffee and a muffin.
    Surprisingly, he approached her table. “Mind if I join you a moment?” he said.
    Scarlett didn’t know what to say at first. But then she realized it might be nice to have a chat after hours of sitting alone in the bedroom with her thoughts. “Sure,” she said. “I’m Scarlett.”
    “I’m Ryan.”
    “Nice to meet you, Ryan.”
    He nodded, gently peeling the plastic skin off his muffin. “So,” he began. “Are you enjoying your stay here?”
    Scarlett took a bite of bacon and shrugged. “It’s a beautiful hotel. Unfortunately, I’m here on business, so that takes some of the fun out of it. I like the food. It’s hitting the spot.”
    Ryan sipped his coffee and smiled. “What business are you here for, if you don’t mind me asking?”
    “Movies, if you can believe it.”
    “Movies?” He looked perplexed.
    Scarlett had a forkful of eggs. “I’m working on a film and the director is hoping to shoot some of it at this hotel. Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication and it turns out we didn’t get approval from the proper channels.”
    “Oh,” he nodded, as if only pretending to understand. “Sounds frustrating.”
    “It was. The woman at the front desk gave us a pretty hard time about it, which was kind of annoying. But I’m used to rude people, since I waitressed most of my life.”
    “Did you now?” Ryan said.
    “Sorry, I know I’m running on at the mouth. I haven’t gotten enough sleep.”
    “That’s unfortunate.” Ryan seemed to be considering her words as he studied his muffin, finally taking a small bite. “So what’s next?” he said. “What are you going to do about filming at the hotel?”
    “Oh, we have a meeting to talk to the owner later this morning.” She crossed her fingers. “Wish me luck, I think we’re going to need it.”
    Ryan crossed his fingers. “I do wish you luck.”
    “So what about yourself?” Scarlett asked. “What business are you in?”
    “Well, this might sound funny, but actually I’m in the hotel industry.”
    “You are?” She cocked her head at him, her stomach suddenly fluttering with nervousness. “You don’t work here, do you?”
    He