For the Love of Romance by Tim Smith

In honor of Valentine's Day, my guest blogger, award-winning, best-selling author, Tim Smith, sets the mood with a very special post.

Ah, February, the month devoted to all things involving amour. Valentine’s Day is almost upon us, so I’m passing out my greetings early. Let’s start with an informal survey. Do any of you still send or give cards, flowers, or candy to someone special on Valentine’s Day? Does anyone remember making Valentine cards as a school project? When you were in elementary school, did you give out Valentines to your classmates, and secretly hope that one special person you had a crush on liked yours the best?

 

Since I can’t actually send greeting cards with cute funny messages to most of you, and I don’t do E-Cards, here are a few excerpts from my books to set the mood. If you like what you read and want more, the purchase info is at the bottom.

 

From “Lido Key” (Vic Fallon #2)

 

When Vic locked eyes with Ariel Weston across the bar, he knew there was no escape. He moved to the stool next to hers like a marlin hooked by a determined fisherman.

 

“Excuse me, miss, but I’m new in town. Could you please direct me to your house?”

 

She began with a chuckle that escalated into full-blown laughter, then playfully smacked Vic’s arm. “That’s so lame, it’s cute!”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Her eyes scanned him up and down. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before, have I?” she asked in a low, smoky voice.

 

“No. Do I need a reservation to sit here?”

 

She laughed again. “A smart-ass. I like that quality in a man. Where are you from, smart-ass?”

 

“A whole other world. Would you like me to provide references before we go any further?”

 

She placed her hand on his on the bar and gave him a sensuous look. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary, but since we’re going to be friends, I think I should call you something more formal than smart-ass.”

 

“Are we going to be friends?”

 

“Unless you think you already have enough of them.”

 

“You can never have too many friends. Why don’t you call me Blake?”

 

“Is that your real name?”’

 

“No, my real name is Vic. I just use Blake to fool people. What should I call you besides totally hot?”

 

“I like that, but let’s go with Ariel.”

 

“Pretty name.”

“Thank you. I’m rather attached to it.”

 

From “The Sweet Distraction”

 

George perused the assortment of research books lining the shelf at Books & Company, finally settling on one about ancient Italian culture. He took it down and was about to leave when he was startled by a soft, sexy voice from behind.

 

“Hi, stranger. Didn’t expect to run into you.”

 

He turned around and came to eye to eye with Cookie. He smiled. “Hi. What’re you doing here?”

 

“Getting some cookbooks. We’ve been hired to cater a Thai wedding and I needed some recipes.”

 

George thought of the coincidence of running into Cookie and gave her a skeptical look. “Are you following me?”

 

She got the most innocent look she could muster. “Why whatever do you mean?”

 

George laughed. Whether she had followed him or someone had told her where to find him, he didn’t care. “Did you get the cookbooks you need?”

 

“Mm-hmm.” She moved to within a few inches and planted her finger in his chest. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

 

He gazed into her soft hazel eyes. “Yeah, I did. You have time for coffee?”

 

She placed her fingertip on his cheek then slowly drew it down to his chin while maintaining eye contact. “Not right now, but I have an opening later. Would you like to fill it?”

 

“I get the feeling we’re not talking about coffee.”

 

She slowly wagged her head. “No, we’re not.”

 

He took a breath, held it for a moment then slowly exhaled. “You make it hard for me to say no. You realize that, don’t you?”

 

She rubbed her knee against his thigh. “That’s my goal—to make it hard.”

 

“You’re doing an excellent job,” he muttered.

 

From “Santa Slept Here”

 

Scott surfed through the channels until he found a holiday music special. They watched it for a few minutes before Lisa spoke.

 

“Do you mind if I ask you something?”

 

“Shoot.”

 

She shifted to face him on the couch, then cradled her wine glass in her hands. “What you said before about not having the nerve to ask me out when we were in high school. Were you really that shy or didn’t you find me attractive?”

 

Scott took a sip of wine while composing the proper response in his mind. If I say no, that wouldn’t be honest. On the other hand, if I tell her how hot I always thought she was, she may slap me. Here goes.

 

“Lisa, I always thought you were one of the prettiest girls in our class, and you don’t know how badly I wanted to be with you. I was just too shy to do anything about it.”

 

“Even though we were friends?”

 

“I was always afraid you’d turn me down.”

 

She gave a playful smile. “Hmm, that’s interesting. When you say you wanted to be with me, what does that mean?”

 

He looked into her eyes. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

 

“Uh-huh. Did you mean be with me as in ‘Let’s go to a movie’, or did you mean ‘I’d like to rip your clothes off and bang your brains out’?”

 

Scott placed his palm on her neck under her long mane of hair. “I always thought you were the hottest girl in school, and I would’ve banged your brains out if I hadn’t been such a nice guy.”

 

She nodded slowly. “Honesty. I like that. Would it surprise you if I said that I would’ve let you do it?”

 

His eyebrows arched and his pulse picked up a few beats. “You would?”

 

Lisa traced a light pattern along his thigh with her fingertip while giving him a smoldering look. “Yeah. I always thought you were cute and funny, and I didn’t think you were an awkward geek.”

 

Scott sighed while slowly wagging his head. “My old man used to say nice guys finish last. I guess he wasn’t kidding.”

 

Lisa pulled him close then gave him a soft lingering kiss. “They don’t all finish last.”

 

From “The Big Fall” (Nick Seven #7)

 

Nick sat in a chair on the deck, a glass of chardonnay on the table and his gaze taking in the sunset and clear horizon. Felicia sat next to him, cradling her glass in her lap.

 

“Sure is quiet out here tonight,” she commented. “Just what we needed after today.”

 

“Uh-huh,” he absently answered.

 

She took a sip of wine. “Did you know that your hair turned pink and your pants are on fire?”

 

“Uh-huh.” He looked at her. “Say what?”

 

“Just wanted to get your attention. You been in the twilight zone all evenin’. What’s goin’ on with you?”

 

He lay his head back, closed his eyes and laughed softly. “I was just thinking of something. When I quit the CIA and decided to settle here, I had this wild idea that all the drama in my life was in the past. What an idiot I was.”

 

“Why you say that?”

 

“Because there’s always something popping up to make me think I never really got out. It’s like those recurring weird dreams I used to have.” He looked at her. “Do you think I’m crazy?”

 

“Because you had dreams that didn’t make sense? If that qualifies you as crazy, you’re in good company. I’ve had them, too.”

 

“What happened in yours?”

 

She looked into her glass as a smile spread across her face. “Don’t laugh, but when I was a teenager, I used to dream that I was walkin’ alone on the beach. It was a clear day, the breeze was blowin’, and the waves were washin’ up on shore. I looked out to sea and I saw this guy swimmin’ toward land. When he got closer, he walked out and stood there in baggie trunks and no shirt.”

 

She was silent.

 

“Well?” Nick asked. “Who was it?”

 

Felicia looked at him. “Tom Selleck, when he was on that show in Hawaii.”

 

Nick burst into laughter. “You’re kidding! You used to dream about running into Magnum on the beach?” 

 

She reached over and playfully smacked his arm. “I told you not to laugh. That show was on every day and I used to watch it.”

 

Nick’s laughter died off. “Actually, that’s very insightful. I didn’t know you had a crush on a young Tom Selleck. Now I know what I’m competing against when we go to bed.”

 

 

As a bonus, here’s a true-life anecdote that’s pertinent to the upcoming Hallmark Holiday. One Valentine’s Day, I bought flowers for my sig other and before I gave them to her, I removed the bar code label from the wrapping. I noticed that it was coded as “Happy V.D. Bouquet.”

 

You have to admit—nothing says “I love you” like V.D.

 

If you’d like to read more from the books I quoted above, you can find them at Amazon Kindle and Extasy Books.

Visit Tim's website for more information about his books at: www.allauthor.com/author/timsmith