“Maybe I should just start at the beginning?”
Alexa nodded and waited for him to continue. The journalistic side of her brain went into overdrive. Concentrate, she told herself . This could be the hook your story needs.
“I signed the contract for Falling For Mr. Right before I had really thought it through.”
Alexa tried to interrupt him and he staved off her question with a quick wave of his hands. “I know you’re wondering why I did that, but the reasons I agreed to be Mr. Right aren’t really important right now.” Looking increasingly uncomfortable, he sat down on the ottoman again, directly across from her. “The point is, once I saw you on the street last week, I knew I had made the wrong decision.”
“Are you feeling OK?” Alexa asked him. She wasn’t sure what she had been waiting to hear, but she hadn’t expected this. Frankly, she wasn’t sure she could handle it.
Brandon shook his head. “No. Yes. I don’t know. All I know is that I’ve...” His words drifted off as if he was unsure about how to continue. “The quicker the better, I suppose.” He reached for her hands and held them hostage in his. “I fell hard for you the second I met you, Alexa. And then all of a sudden you were gone. You hadn’t even told me your name. A thousand times I thought about leaving you a note at the bar. But what was I going to say? ‘Hi.
My name’s Brandon and I want to date you. By the way, I’ll be marrying someone I don’t know in two weeks on national TV.’ So I gave up. I figured I had made my bed and I was going to have to lie in it.”
Alexa wanted him to stop talking for a moment so that she could digest his words. No one had ever said, “I fell hard for you,” to her before. To her mother and sister, certainly. To people she had gone to school with and been roommates with. But to her? Never.
Brandon continued on, unaware of her bewildered – and pleased - thoughts. “And then you stepped out of the limo on Saturday. It was like all of my prayers had been answered. I know it’s not a coincidence, Alexa. I can’t believe how lucky I am to be given a second chance with you. And this time, I don’t want to screw it up. I don’t want to say something that’s going to make you run from me.”
Alexa had forgotten to breathe during his soliloquy and now she inhaled shakily. When she finally got her breath back, she said, so quietly that her words were almost taken away by the crackling of the fire, “But you don’t even know me.”
Taking one of her hands to his lips, he turned her palm up and pressed a kiss on to the sensitive flesh of her hand. “I know that every time I touch you, fireworks go off. I know that just looking at you makes me happy. I know that every time we talk I think you’re funny, and smart, and lovelier than ever.” He stopped to nip at her palm with his teeth. “Give me a chance to convince you that we’re meant to be together, Alexa,” he pleaded. “Just give me a chance.”
Alexa’s ribcage felt like it was going to explode, her heart was beating so fast. The room had started spinning, right around when Brandon said, “Just looking at you makes me happy.”
She tried to shake some sense into herself, and moved to pull her hand away from Brandon’s sensual onslaught, but he was true to his word and refused to let her go. In a husky voice that surprised her as it fell from her lips, she said, “What about the other women? Are you telling each of them the same thing?”
“No, Alexa. God, no. You’re the only woman I want to be with. That’s how I knew I had made such a huge mistake when I signed the contract.”
Alexa shook her head, trying to block out his words, trying to push away how happy they made her. What had she read recently? A woman must depend on herself and only herself for her happiness. Once a woman gives this power away to a man, she has lost it forever.
But instead of walking to the door and leaving her heart safe within
Alexa nodded and waited for him to continue. The journalistic side of her brain went into overdrive. Concentrate, she told herself . This could be the hook your story needs.
“I signed the contract for Falling For Mr. Right before I had really thought it through.”
Alexa tried to interrupt him and he staved off her question with a quick wave of his hands. “I know you’re wondering why I did that, but the reasons I agreed to be Mr. Right aren’t really important right now.” Looking increasingly uncomfortable, he sat down on the ottoman again, directly across from her. “The point is, once I saw you on the street last week, I knew I had made the wrong decision.”
“Are you feeling OK?” Alexa asked him. She wasn’t sure what she had been waiting to hear, but she hadn’t expected this. Frankly, she wasn’t sure she could handle it.
Brandon shook his head. “No. Yes. I don’t know. All I know is that I’ve...” His words drifted off as if he was unsure about how to continue. “The quicker the better, I suppose.” He reached for her hands and held them hostage in his. “I fell hard for you the second I met you, Alexa. And then all of a sudden you were gone. You hadn’t even told me your name. A thousand times I thought about leaving you a note at the bar. But what was I going to say? ‘Hi.
My name’s Brandon and I want to date you. By the way, I’ll be marrying someone I don’t know in two weeks on national TV.’ So I gave up. I figured I had made my bed and I was going to have to lie in it.”
Alexa wanted him to stop talking for a moment so that she could digest his words. No one had ever said, “I fell hard for you,” to her before. To her mother and sister, certainly. To people she had gone to school with and been roommates with. But to her? Never.
Brandon continued on, unaware of her bewildered – and pleased - thoughts. “And then you stepped out of the limo on Saturday. It was like all of my prayers had been answered. I know it’s not a coincidence, Alexa. I can’t believe how lucky I am to be given a second chance with you. And this time, I don’t want to screw it up. I don’t want to say something that’s going to make you run from me.”
Alexa had forgotten to breathe during his soliloquy and now she inhaled shakily. When she finally got her breath back, she said, so quietly that her words were almost taken away by the crackling of the fire, “But you don’t even know me.”
Taking one of her hands to his lips, he turned her palm up and pressed a kiss on to the sensitive flesh of her hand. “I know that every time I touch you, fireworks go off. I know that just looking at you makes me happy. I know that every time we talk I think you’re funny, and smart, and lovelier than ever.” He stopped to nip at her palm with his teeth. “Give me a chance to convince you that we’re meant to be together, Alexa,” he pleaded. “Just give me a chance.”
Alexa’s ribcage felt like it was going to explode, her heart was beating so fast. The room had started spinning, right around when Brandon said, “Just looking at you makes me happy.”
She tried to shake some sense into herself, and moved to pull her hand away from Brandon’s sensual onslaught, but he was true to his word and refused to let her go. In a husky voice that surprised her as it fell from her lips, she said, “What about the other women? Are you telling each of them the same thing?”
“No, Alexa. God, no. You’re the only woman I want to be with. That’s how I knew I had made such a huge mistake when I signed the contract.”
Alexa shook her head, trying to block out his words, trying to push away how happy they made her. What had she read recently? A woman must depend on herself and only herself for her happiness. Once a woman gives this power away to a man, she has lost it forever.
But instead of walking to the door and leaving her heart safe within
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