Sky's the Limit
Copyright© 2026 by aroslav
Chapter 17: A Close Call
WHEN I GOT HOME, Pearl and Ruby were waiting in the reading nook, wearing my shirts. I quickly washed, brushed my teeth, and slipped into a pair of pajama pants so I could join them. For a few minutes, we just hugged and moved around until we were all comfortable. I could tell, though, they had the awards on their minds.
“You knew,” Pearl finally said. “As soon as that Theresa Callum spoke, you were coming out of your seat.”
“How did you know she wasn’t Jan Winslow?” Ruby asked.
“I ... um ... We’ve met,” I said.
“And all this time while we’ve been fan-girling about her—or him—and making fools of ourselves, you knew and didn’t say anything?” Pearl demanded.
“I didn’t want to prejudice the vote,” I said truthfully.
I was pummeled with light hits from either side. The girls started giggling.
“You didn’t tell him we were fantasizing about him, did you?” Pearl asked.
“Of course not!” I couldn’t let out that I’d had any contact during the contest or that Jan Winslow knew every detail of their fantasies.
“How did you meet?” Ruby asked.
I’d had all the time talking to Professor Dirkson and unloading the van to prepare for this one. I knew it was coming.
“We were both in Professor Dirkson’s creative writing class.”
“What’s he like?”
“Um ... Quiet, I guess. Doesn’t say much.”
“What’s he look like?” Ruby pressed.
“That’s hard to say. Average, I guess,” I hedged. “No one ever notices him. It’s almost like he’s invisible.”
“What color hair?”
“Not sure. Maybe sort of brown.”
“How tall?”
“About the same as me.”
“Thin or fat?”
“Kind of average.”
“You’re infuriating,” Ruby said, adding a little power to her playful punches.
“Just like a man,” Pearl said. “Totally oblivious to everything around him.”
Not quite. During our little tussling in the nook, Pearl’s pajamas had come open another button and had shifted to the right so far that her breast was almost completely exposed. I could scarcely take my eyes off her. On a sudden impulse, I dipped my head and put a kiss on the top of the silky white mound.
“Sky!” she screeched.
I jumped back, almost butting heads with Ruby. Pearl looked down at her breast, which had become more exposed with her movement. She clutched her shirt closed.
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I was distracted. I didn’t mean it.”
“You’d better have meant it!” Ruby said. She pulled my head to her own almost exposed breast and held it there until I kissed it. “She worked hard enough to give you the opportunity.”
“Ruby! I did not!” Pearl protested. “It was an accident!”
They stared each other down and Pearl uncharacteristically pulled my face to hers and kissed me deeply.
“Maybe you’re not as unobservant as I thought,” she whispered against my lips.
“One kiss,” Ruby said, turning me toward her and closing on my lips.
How the hell did this conversation about my alter ego turn into this fantasy of my angels’ lips? I relaxed and just enjoyed the sensation until Ruby pulled away.
“Now we need to go to bed,” Pearl said. “Our own beds.”
“We still don’t know what to do with this,” Ruby added as she scrambled out of the nook.
I could think of some things, but even in my fantasies, I still didn’t know how it worked.
Over the next two weeks, I responded to a flurry of emails from the twins to Jan Winslow. Secretly. I could hardly open my laptop in the store and log on as Jan Winslow. So, my responses were always delivered after midnight Pacific time. I never actually disclosed my location, so it was possible they could have thought I was someplace in Asia or Europe.
I was amused that all the messages were signed by both girls and no matter which account it originated from, the other was copied. The initial correspondence was all about verifying that Jan was not Theresa Callum. I assured them that I had not risen to accept the award, but I thanked them for the honor. Then there was discussion regarding a contract for publishing the work00. Of course, no further information was needed for them to simply pay the competition advance of $500 and publish the book with a standard royalty due of 10% for paperback sales and 25% for eBooks. I knew those were on the high end of our standard contract, so I was ready to agree.
I wasn’t prepared for them to make an alternate offer of $50,000 advance and the high standard royalties with the provision of a three-book contract! The books were to be delivered within one year of the release date of each book, meaning releases would be about fifteen months apart. TBR Publishing was considerably faster in turning around new books than the big houses that could scarcely manage two years turnaround time. At least, I could start writing the new book earlier than the release date of the previous one.
There were two big problems as I sat staring at the contract. First, did I believe I could either write two more new books in that time, or that I had existing manuscripts I could revise and submit. The contract did not specify a sequel. I could submit a completely different genre if I wanted to. Frankly, I didn’t think To Have and To Kill was my best work. I’d chosen it specifically to appeal to the twins.
The second problem was the need for an author release party and launch tour. Dates were still negotiable, based on when we actually got a release schedule together. But a book tour would require me revealing my dual identity as Jan Winslow and Sky Morris. For that matter, Ruby wanted a current picture and bio for the back cover and for promotions. One way or another, I was going to be exposed.
I guessed there was really no way around it. We all knew that authors’ books didn’t sell if the author wasn’t selling them. That was true even with the big publishing houses in New York. So, I guessed I could approve the contract. I digitally signed it and sent it back.
To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account
(Why register?)
* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.