I like
unconventional love stories. How about
you? I like characters that don’t fit
the usual mold, and I enjoy throwing them together and letting them create
unexpected situations—and maybe an unexpected love match, too.
At first
Shannon’s longtime crush on Michael’s younger brother Drew makes her immune to
Michael’s charms, which allows the two of them to spend time around each other
without her becoming tongue-tied:
“So, ten years ... That
would take it all the way back to high school, wouldn’t it?”
She nodded, still very deliberately
working on getting just the right amount of ketchup on her fry so she wouldn’t
have to look at him.
“Wait—were you and Drew in the same
graduating class?”
“Yeah.”
“Then that would mean ... so you and
I were actually in school together?”
“For a year, yes.”
He gave her a very thorough
once-over as if trying to place her. “You and I—we
never
hooked up in high school, did we?”
Shannon’s mouth fell open. “No, we
certainly did not!”
“So is that why you were really so
mad at me the other day?”
“What?” she sputtered hotly. “You
are unbelievable!”
“Oh, so we did hook up.”
“You—“
A slow grin spread across his face,
and she realized he was playing with her.
Taking a deep breath, she bit back a
name she had been about to call him. “You get a perverse pleasure out of
yanking my chain, don’t you?”
“Kind of, yes.”
“Aren’t you afraid I might back out
of the deal?”
“No, I think you realize it’s in
Drew’s best interest. Besides,” he added with a
knowing
gleam in his eye, “I think you get a perverse pleasure out of putting me
back in my place, so we’re developing a great little symbiotic relationship
here. Don’t you agree?”
“What? Oh, I’m sorry. I’m still
recovering from the shock of hearing such big words come out of your mouth.”
Michael started to laugh, and
Shannon felt a kind of rush go through her…
And as they spend more time
together, and relax enough to reveal more than either of them would have
expected of their inner selves, they start to see each other in a whole new
way—and to have feelings neither one of them expected:
From atop a grassy knoll in
the park, Michael spotted Shannon standing near the stage. The crowd was too noisy for him to hear the
MC very well, but he caught enough of his announcements to understand that the
bachelor auction was about to get underway.
He should have known he would find Shannon near wherever Drew was going
to be.
It was her hair that caught his
attention first, even in the dwindling twilight. Finally free of any fetters, it fell over her
shoulders like cascading fire, and the effect of it made his pulse quicken
unexpectedly. She stood out from the rest
of the crowd like a brilliant jewel in a pile of ordinary rubble, and the wonder
of all wonders was how the people standing around her didn’t seem to see it.
He saw a dark-haired woman lean in
to say something to Shannon, and then watched as Shannon’s face burned with
embarrassment. His jaw twitched, and he
frowned.
Girls
can be catty. Wasn’t that what she
had said before?
The brunette turned her back on
Shannon, as if she were second-hand news, leaving Shannon to try and recover
from the obvious snub.
Oh, hell no, he thought. Not on his watch.
And Michael began to push his way
through the sea of people…
And in the end we have a plain-Jane
and a longtime ladies’ man who just might turn out to be a perfect match.
Who is your all-time favorite unlikely couple?
Tomboy Shannon
Mahoney has always been a lot more comfortable with things like power tools
than she is with high heels or lipstick, and she often wishes she could
reinvent herself and finally tell her perfect boss, Drew Kingston, that she has
had a crush on him since high school.
But she is just as tongue tied and awkward around him now as she ever
was, and long-familiar patterns are hard things from which to break free…
Until
one day Drew’s estranged older brother Michael comes to town, bringing with him
a surprising opportunity for Shannon.
Ladies’
man Michael is a former bad boy looking for
redemption. He is desperate to atone for
past mistakes that he made with his family, but younger brother Drew has cut
him out of his life and refuses to even speak to him. Which means Michael needs help getting to
Drew.
And so he approaches Shannon with a proposition: if she will get Drew to agree to hear him out, Michael will mentor Shannon in how to win his brother’s heart. Suspicious of Michael’s motives, Shannon initially enters into the bargain just to make sure Michael isn’t actually in town to cause trouble for Drew, but the two unlikely allies are surprised to discover that despite butting heads at first, they are beginning to enjoy each other’s company far more than either of them expected.
And
Shannon starts to realize that maybe love isn’t about reinventing yourself
after all. It’s about finding your
perfect match.
About The Author:
Christine
S. Feldman writes both novels and feature-length screenplays, and, to her great
delight, she has placed in screenwriting competitions on both coasts—and has
even won a couple of them. In 2012 one
of her screenplays was featured as a staged reading in New York City at the
Gotham Screen International Film Festival, and later that same year she signed
her first publishing contract for her debut novel, Coming Home, with her
second one, The Bargain, out this summer. When she is not writing, she is teaching
kindergarten, puttering around in her garden, ballroom dancing with her
husband, or doing research for her next project. Please visit her at her website http://christinesfeldman.com or on
Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ChristineSFeldman.
I do like those folks who just don't initially seem to fit but with a bit of digging they find they fit very well after all! :) Sounds like a great story!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jemi! And thanks, Maureen, for having me on your site today! :)
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