An Old Fashioned Romance

From The Time of Aspen Falls by Marcia Lynn McClure

“Though in truth…you’re secretly a dashing hero from some cliché romance novel,” Aspen teased.  How delicious!  How delicious that he looked exactly the part!  Aspen owned a secret of her own—though she was very selective—she loved romance novels!  Not the smutty ones—not just Jane Austen either—but the others she deemed worthy of her time.

“That’s right,” he said.  “Do you want me to prove it to you?”

He already looked like some fictional man—so handsome, well-built, and charming.  Furthermore, his personality surpassed any fiction!  So what exactly did he mean by asking her if she wanted him to prove it?  She was wildly intrigued. “You can prove you’re a romance novel hero?” she asked—her insides were all atwitter!

“Yep,” he said.  “Do you want action or verbiage?”

“What?”

“Action or verbiage?” he repeated.  “I can either act the part or speak the part.  Which one do you want?”

Aspen felt a quiver of butterflies take flight in her stomach!  Goose bumps broke over her arms—though she tried to rationalize it was the cooling breeze causing them.  Every inch of her being—every shred of her flesh wanted most for him to act the part.  Yet, it was their first date.

“Well, I did recite for you,” she said.  “So let’s go with verbiage.”

He said nothing—only continued to look at her.  He seemed rather pensive for a moment.  Then, as a grin of pure mischief spread across his gorgeous face, his eyes narrowed—smoldered as he looked at her.

“Old-fashioned romantic…or insinuative?” he asked.

Her first reaction was to respond, ‘old-fashioned.’  Yet, some sort of flaw in her nature—an impish flaw—responded far too truthfully.

“Not old-fashioned.  I just did that with my poem,” she said.

“Okay, then,” he said.

Though Aspen thought it impossible, the mischievous, alluring expression on his face deepened.  She shivered slightly as the smoldering look in his eyes turned to that of near seduction.

He leaned forward, taking her hand in his—caressing the soft, sensitive underside of her wrist with his thumb.

Her heart leapt as he bent and blew softly on the place his thumb had been caressing.  “Now that you know my name…”  She nearly melted as he blew on her wrist once more, lightly touching it with the tip of his tongue!  “And now that I know yours…”  His voice was low, alluring—seductive.  Aspen was besieged by goose bumps.  “I just thought I’d let you know…that I’d sure like to rake your leaves sometime. ”

“Oh my heck!” Aspen breathed.  Her heart was near to fibrillation!  Her mouth was watering, her insides trembling.

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