“Maybe I do,” she says cryptically, then laughs softly and sips her wine.
“Clearly, she’s trying to set you guys up.” Jessie’s talking withher mouth full, and I can hear her fork against her plate. Or more likely when it comes to Jessie, her spoon against her cereal bowl.
“Are you having Fruity Pebbles for dinner again?” I ask with a chuckle.
“Nope.” I can hear the crunching. “Cocoa Pebbles tonight.”
“Oh, well, that’s better.”
“Stop changing the subject.”
I sigh. I’m lying on my bed, watching the fan spin slowly on the high ceiling. It’s still hot, but I have the window open so I can hear the sounds of the city—which has quieted, as it’s nearing midnight. “I mean, it’s not like I announced my sexual orientation,” I say, to which Jessie snorts.
“Please. All you have to do is google, and it sounds like your neighbor lady did, so…next argument?”
“I have no idea of Marina’s…preferences.”
“I bet the neighbor lady does. Next?”
“She’s a child, Jess. A zygote.”
“You said she’s thirty-five.”
“Yes. Exactly.”
“That’s hardly a child. Age gaps are super hot, Lil. For fuck’s sake, you write romance, how do you not know this?”
I drape my arm over my eyes and groan. “Well, my life is not a romance novel.”
“Maybe it’s time it was.” She sounds so nonchalant, so matter of fact, that it takes me a minute to absorb her words.
Huh.
One of the biggest complaints from readers who are not diehard romance fans is that romance is “unrealistic.” And while I can see why they might think that, I disagree. There’s no reason your life can’t be a romance novel—within reason, of course, as Jessie goes on to explain.
“I mean, you’re probably not gonna marry a rich duke—or in your case, a rich duchess—but that doesn’t mean you can’thave a good time with a hot, young Italian girl you met while traveling, does it?”
“I guess not?” I form it as a question because that’s how I’m thinking.
“You don’t have to propose, Lil. But aren’t you in one of the most romantic cities in the world? And isn’t the reason you’re there to gain some inspiration for your story? Seems to me the universe just handed that inspiration right to you on a silver platter, as my grandma would say. Maybe, say thank you and take it.”
I manage to change the subject, but her words stay with me long after we hang up. My life has never been a romance novel. I’ve never been with anybody for longer than a couple years, and my last relationship was nearly ten years ago. I am woefully out of practice when it comes to love or even just dating. At this point? It terrifies me.
And yet…
Marina’s face seems to float in the air above me. That smile. All that gorgeous hair. Those dark eyes that seem to know much more than they should. Without stopping to think about it, I snatch my phone back up and type out a text.
I’m ready for my next dose of inspiration.
It’s not until after I hit send that I realize how late it is. “Oh my God, Reggie, why didn’t you remind me what time it is?” My dog is sleeping hard and can barely be bothered to open his eyes and give me a look.
And then my phone pings. I freeze, afraid to look, but then I do.
Are you free tomorrow?
“Okay, so I will eventually take you someplace farther away, where we can’t walk to it.” Marina grins as she leads me down the street, then off in a direction I have yet to travel.
“Everything is so close here,” I say. “I feel like I can walk to just about anything. Kind of like New York.”
