KEY
Change
(Assignment: Romance
#3)
Barbara Valentin
Romantic Comedy, 236
pgs
The first thing Sara Cleff, a
hard-edged, shower-singing rock music critic, wants to do after following a
band on tour is crawl into her nice comfy bed in her well-appointed, optimally
located vintage apartment. But before making it home, she learns her
roommate-slash-boyfriend has apparently broken up with her while she was away
on assignment and sublet their apartment out from underneath her. Ouch! When her
key no longer fits in the lock, the last person she expects to find on the
other side of the door is Andrew Benet, a wickedly gorgeous music director from
a nearby church.
Something about the brash music critic strikes a chord with Andrew, and he offers her the chance to stay on one condition—she has to join the choir at his church. While Andrew may hold the lease on Sara's apartment, does he have the key to unlock her heart?
Something about the brash music critic strikes a chord with Andrew, and he offers her the chance to stay on one condition—she has to join the choir at his church. While Andrew may hold the lease on Sara's apartment, does he have the key to unlock her heart?
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Excerpt:
Up as usual at the crack of dawn, Andrew trudged to the bathroom,
almost forgetting to close the door behind him before he spotted Sara's bangles
on the counter next to the sink. Reaching over, he shut the door and locked it.
Fifteen minutes later, he was showered, clean-shaven, and ready to go,
except he didn't have to be at the church until four-thirty that afternoon.
Unplugging his phone from an outlet in his room, he brought it with him into
the kitchen, transferred Sara's clothes that she had washed the night before
into the dryer and poured himself some coffee. He sat on a barstool, debated
throwing a sweatshirt on over his plain, blue, short-sleeved T- shirt to ward
off the chill, but started scrolling through his email instead.
His eyes, however, kept drifting over to Sara, out like a light on the
sofa sleeper.
While most of her was wrapped in the blankets like a human burrito,
with the sun starting to break through the bare branches of the ancient oak
tree blocking the expansive bay window, he could see her face quite plainly.
Without all that the heavy dark makeup, he noted, she looked younger.
And kinda
sweet, actually.
But then again, she wasn't talking.
Still, he was glad he invited her to stay the night before.
But what
about tonight? And tomorrow night? And the night after that?
While he mulled the possibilities, she rolled over and stretched,
arching her back and groaning as she did. Resuming her curled-up burrito pose,
she opened her eyes and mumbled, "How long have you been sitting there?"
Looking at his watch, he admitted, "About a minute. Or five. Maybe
ten." His cheeks suddenly felt a lot warmer.
With a loud yawn, she sat up. "I slept so good." Patting the
thin mattress with her hand, she added, "So comfy."
The words hung in the air between them.
Sarcasm
before coffee. Great.
Still, the sight of her in his pajama top seemed to lobotomize him. All
he could do by way of a reply was nod.
With a shrug, she added, "Seriously, on a sleeper sofa—who
knew?"
Snap out
of it.
With no small amount of effort, he turned and glanced at the dryer.
"Your clothes should be ready in about twenty minutes."
At that, Sara took a deep breath and yanked the covers back, revealing
two impossibly long bare legs as she flung her feet to the floor.
Knowing full well that the sudden blast of heat he felt was not
delivered by way of the gilded vents along the floorboards, Andrew got up to
check the thermostat on the wall next to the upright piano anyway, mumbling,
"Gotta love old buildings."
About the Author:
Barbara is an award-winning novelist
and second-generation journalist. After spending a decade in maternity clothes,
she has five boys to show for it and much fodder for her column, The Plate
Spinner Chronicles, a long-running feature in the Chicago Tribune.
A member of RWA's Windy City chapter, she still dreams of the day when her
to-do list includes "Send NY Times book critic thank you note" and
"Accept Godiva's request to be a taste-tester."
Contact
email: spinninginburbs@gmail.com
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