Leap into Love

Choosing a romantic scene to share was not an easy choice to make. I have my favorites, of course, but I didn’t want to drop spoilers or confuse people out of context. Ultimately, I decided to share this scene from Green Card. It was one of the first scenes I wrote for this story and helped to set the tone for the entire book.

I’m going to call it more pre-romantic than actually romantic, but I hope you enjoy it regardless.

******

“Man, Harper, you are really not on your game today,” Andrew said as he scored yet another point.

“Thanks, Jamison. I hadn’t noticed,” Will bit back.

“What’s the problem? You’re usually mopping the floor with me by now.” Will glared at him across the racquetball court. “Oh, I see!” Andrew drew out the words.

“See what?” Will’s annoyance had not abated.

“You’re not getting any!”

Will stared at him with shock and anger. “What do you mean ‘not getting any’? I’m fine,” he said through a clamped jaw.

“Yeah, right! You have a thin grip on control, my friend. Admit it, you’re turning blue.”

“I am not turning blue!” he nearly shouted.

Andrew held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “All right, all right, I’ll back off. But you know Lizzy would help you out with your little problem if you asked her. She seemed pretty open to it in the beginning. That’s why she had that clause about children put in.”

“Children?”

“Yeah. Didn’t you read the pre-nup?”

“I read the part about the financial settlements. I breezed through the rest. Chalk it up to my over-inflated trust in you.”

Andrew ignored his jab. “Lizzy insisted we add a clause about children. She said with the two of you in such close quarters and all that.” Andrew gestured with his hands as his friend studied his racket. “Actually, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened already. It’s been six months.”

Will huffed. “It’s not that simple, Andrew. I live with Liz. I can’t just stop living with her if things aren’t…”

“Sweaty? Hot and dirty? Incredibly satisfying?”

Will groaned. “Oh, come on, Jamison. You know things could be incredibly awkward afterward. And it’s not like I can just go back to my place and forget about it. It’s not five dates and it’s over. I have to see her—EVERY DAY!”

“So what are you afraid of? Not up to the challenge?” Will shot him a dirty look. “Think she’s no good? Even if it sucked, I bet you could work on it. Like you said, you live together—what better opportunity to improve your skills?”

Will gave him a cynical look.

“And I doubt she sucks.”

Will looked at him questioningly.

“Trust me man, once you go Barrett, you don’t go back.”

“You did not just say that,” Will replied.

Andrew just laughed. “Come on. Court time’s up.”

***

“Death by Chocolate Cake or the Molten Lava Brownie?”

“I’m having the tiramisu,” Jen answered her sister as they perused their menus.

The waiter stepped up to the table to take their orders.

“Tiramisu and a cappuccino,” Jen said.

“I’ll have the Death by Chocolate Cake a la mode. And can you drizzle a little hot fudge over that? And a cup of cocoa with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.”

Jen looked at her sister quizzically, but said nothing.

Liz looked at the man walking past and felt herself flush. “Wow. He’s so tall. Did you see his arms?” Liz’s eyes watched him until he turned the corner, then looked back at her sister who had an amused look on her face.

“Down girl!” Jen laughed. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m great. Why?”

“Oh, I don’t know. You’ve just checked out every guy who’s walked by in the last hour, including one who looked like Santa.” She leaned back when she saw the waiter approach. He quietly set down their desserts and left. “And you just ordered about two pounds of chocolate.”

“I’m just craving chocolate. It’s no big deal.” As she finished her sentence, she unknowingly turned her head to follow a man in a dark suit walking past their table in the busy restaurant.

“Uh-oh. Oh, no,” Jen said, shaking her head.

“What?”

“How long has it been?”

“Has what been?”

Jen looked at her with raised brows and don’t-mess-with-me eyes.

“All right! It’s been a while.”

“How long is a while?”

“Jeremy.”

“Jeremy!” Jen cried.

“Shhh! You don’t have to announce it to the world!”

“You mean to tell me you haven’t gotten laid since Jeremy?” Jen whispered furiously. “You broke up last February!”

“I know.”

“It’s October!”

“I know,” she said lowly through clenched teeth, leaning over the table so no one else would hear her.

“Wow. I thought you and Will agreed to sleep together? Didn’t you talk about it in the beginning?”

“Yeah, we talked about it and we agreed it was okay, but it’s kind of awkward now.”

“What do you mean awkward?”

“I mean I feel like we’re friends now.”

“And that’s a problem because…?”

“I’ve never done it with a friend!”

“It’s called friends with benefits. People do it all the time.”

“I know that. I just thought it would happen naturally, but we haven’t even gotten close. Now I’m afraid we’re too firmly established in the friend zone.”

“The zone isn’t a death sentence. It’s not like you’re related or anything. You can adapt.”

“I know that logically, but what if he doesn’t want to? I don’t want to humiliate myself.”

“Why would you think he doesn’t want to? You’re hot!”

“He hasn’t made a single move. He’s been the perfect gentleman. Unfortunately,” Liz mumbled.

“And you don’t want a big awkward mess with someone you consider a friend.”

“Exactly.”

“Weren’t you friends with Jeremy?”

“Before I dated him! Then we dated for like two months before we slept together.” Jen looked at her doubtfully. “Okay, two weeks, but still!”

“But you’re married to Will.” She leaned further across the table and whispered to her sister. “And you guys go on dates—fake dates, but dates. Doesn’t that count?”

“I don’t know.” Liz grumbled and shoved another piece of chocolate cake in her mouth.

“What about that guy before Jeremy? Mike? Mark? Mick? Weren’t you friends?”

“Matt. I really liked him. And he was practically in love with me. He almost proposed, remember?”

“Oh, yeah. Why’d you guys break up again?”

“He had that weird collection of golf-balls.”

“The ones with celebrities’ faces painted on them?”

“Yup.”

“Yeah, that’s weird.” Jen made a face and shook her head. “What about Phillip? You guys were great friends. He was always helping you with your homework.”

“Yeah, we were friends. But I still had a major crush on him, even if it did only last a month. And we never actually slept together.”

“You didn’t? But what about that time I caught him coming out of your room?”

Liz grimaced and wagged her head side to side as if she were trying to find just the right words. “Heavy make-out session.”

“Ah.” Jen nodded in understanding. “So that just leaves us with the skinny tall boy from freshman year.”

“Caleb.”

“Ah, Kosher Caleb—how could I forget?”

Liz glared at her sister and said, “I was crazy about him and we went out for over a year. I met his parents, for pete’s sake. He was my first—of course we weren’t just friends.”

“So you’re in uncharted territory. Big deal. Figure it out. It’s not like you’re not attracted to each other. Who knows? Maybe after you sleep together you’ll start to like each other.”

“Who says we’re attracted to each other?”

“Oh, come on, Lizzy! First of all, this is William we’re talking about. One of Manhattan’s top ten most eligible bachelors—or at least he was. Every woman in the western hemisphere is attracted to him. Secondly, he’s totally you’re type.”

“Is not. I don’t have a type.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Okay, miss I-don’t-have-a-type. Why haven’t you ever dated a guy under six feet? Or is it six two?” Liz glared at her sister as she forcefully ate another bite of cake. “You have a thing for tall guys.”

“Every woman likes tall guys. It’s primal. They look like good hunters or something.”

“Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better. Have you ever dated a blonde? Or a red head?”

“That’s not fair! Statistically there aren’t very many red-heads. Most people have never dated one,” Liz said defensively.

“Still, it seems like a pretty steady pattern you have of tall guys with dark hair. Jeremy’s was black, and weird Matt’s was definitely dark brown.”

“Phillip was blonde. Ha!”

“Light brown.” Jen shot back.

“Dark blonde.”

“Dark blonde? Really?” Jen looked at her skeptically. “Even if there was such a thing, you just said you never really slept together and you only went out for a month.”

“So?”

“So! He doesn’t really count! Obviously your subconscious was telling you he was the wrong type for you and refused to let it get serious.”

“Oh, Jenny! You are really starting to crack me up!”

Jen left some money on the table and led her sister out the door. “Come on—I’ve got an idea.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“La Perla.” Liz looked at her with wide eyes. “Don’t worry, there’s construction on the building on the corner. I’ll let you stop and gawk on the way.”

*****

I hope you enjoyed this scene from Green Card! For my contribution to Leap into Love, I’m giving away one ebook and one audiobook from my catalog, reader’s choice. Just comment to enter! If you’ve read Green Card, I’d love to know your favorite scene. 🙂