Aug 11, 2013

Sunday Smooch with Helen Lacey ........

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!


Today we have a smooch from  Helen Lacey but first ...

the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is -- Mary Preston!


Can you please contact Barbara DeLeo ....... barb (at) barbaradeleo (dot) com to receive your copy of Dishing Up Desire

And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Date With Destiny by Helen Lacey........





Financier Grace Preston did fourteen-hour days in New York City. She didn't do small towns
in Australia.Not since she’d fled almost twenty years ago. But when a personal trauma sent her home-with a secret she couldn't reveal-the last person she needed was her first love.

Local cop Cameron Jakowski had loved Grace for most of his life. But he wanted marriage and family and she didn't. He was small town, while she was big city-and lived half a world away. But for now she was right here-a walking, talking temptation. One he managed to avoid…until he made one mistake. He kissed her. And reawakened the passion that could change their lives…forever.






Scene set-up: [Cameron and Grace are living together for the weekend, helping a friend, and they have a conversation about their teenage romance]

Kiss Scene  
     He nodded. “She’s got ambition.”
     “Which isn't a bad thing.”
     “I didn't say it was.”
     She fingered the stem of her wine glass. “No, you didn’t. But…”
     “But what?” he prompted.
     “You didn't always feel that way.”
     He pushed back in his chair. “You mean about your ambition? I was young and had ideas about the kind of future I wanted. Just like you did, Grace. Only mine were small town and yours were big city.”
     She looked at him. “You were angry.”
     “I was dumped,” he said bluntly. “What did you expect? Roses and violins?”
     “I guess not. I didn’t deliberately set out to…to hurt you.” She drew in a tight breath. “In hindsight I shouldn't have started anything knowing how I felt about wanting a career. But I was young and starry-eyed. Even career girls get swept away sometimes.”
     His heart pumped. “By what?”
     Her shoulders rose fractionally. “By romance, I guess. By that first kiss when I was sixteen. By the way you didn’t rush me to sleep with you, even though we were dating for a few months.”
     “I thought we had…” He stopped, remembering how much he’d wanted her back then. “Time.”
     She looked into her glass for a moment, and then glanced upward. “Well, for what it’s worth—I’m sorry for the way I behaved back then. These past couple of months I've had a lot of time to think. It sounds cliché, but there’s something life altering about facing your own mortality. When the car crashed I had about thirty seconds to consider all the mistakes I've made, all the people I've hurt in one way or another. It was a sobering half minute.”
     “Apology accepted.” 
     She offered a bittersweet smile and stood, scraping the chair back. “We did have a nice three months though. Life was way less complicated then. Do you think anyone ever suspected?”
     Cameron stood and moved around the small table and took hold of her hands. “My mother figured it out. I’m not sure about anyone else. Noah’s never said anything to me.”
     “I told Evie a long time ago,” she confessed. “Did you know you were my first kiss?”
     He rubbed her hands with his thumbs. “I kinda guessed.”
     “Was I that bad?”
     “Not at all,” he said gently. “But you seemed a little surprised.”
     “I was,” she admitted. “At school I was into books and not boys. It didn’t exactly make me Miss Popularity. And you’d never shown any interest…I mean, before that night of my birthday.”
     He chuckled. “Oh, I was interested. But you were too young and my best friend’s sister.”
     “So what changed that night?”
     “Seeing you standing in the doorway,” he said and reached up to twirl a lock of her hair. “When I arrived everyone else was by the pool, but you were inside, and alone. You looked beautiful in that little blue dress. Before that I just…” He shrugged and smiled. “I just wanted you to grow up quick so I could kiss you like I’d imagined doing so many times.”
     He bent his head and kissed her softly. It wasn’t like the night on the beach. This kiss was gentler, sweeter somehow. He wasn’t sure how long they stood like that—just kissing, just holding the back of her neck tenderly with his one hand while the other lay against her hip. Grace gripped his arms and held on, and he enjoyed the feel of her mouth against his own and the soft slide of her tongue.
     When the kiss ended Cameron laid his forehead against her. “Well,” he whispered hoarsely. “That seems pretty natural to me. Good night Grace,” he said softly and released her. “Go and get some sleep. I’ll lock up.”
     She rocked on her heels. He knew sleep wasn’t what either of them wanted. But he was offering her an out and he knew she’d take it.

     She said good-night and walked from the room without saying another word.


To win a copy of Date With Destiny leave a comment to this question - do you think teenage romances can last? Did you have a happy-ever-after with yours? Or were they the one that got away?


Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced -- and a smooch from The Love Deception by Jennifer St George will be posted!

27 comments:

  1. My teenage romances got away, I met my husband when I was 26. I think teenage love rarely lasts.

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    1. Hi Tammy - thanks for stopping By. Clearly u were meant to b with ur hubby. :)



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  2. Hi Helen,

    What a lovely, sweet scene. Sigh. It looks like a fascinating reunion story, and that cover - love it!

    As for teenage romance, yes it definitely can last. I met my husband when I was eighteen and we're still happily together. It all depends on the couple and whether it's true love.

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    1. Hi Annie - how lovely you r with your teen love. And yes, the cover is fab....thanks for dropping by.

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  3. This is a delicious, respectful kiss full of desire and longing from a man worth waiting for. Thanks for sharing!

    As for teen romance, I've seen a mixture of success. My niece is still happily married some thirteen years on, but others obviously still had a lot of growing up to do.

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    1. Hi Susanne - so glad u liked their smooch. He certainly was worth waiting for, for my high maintenance heroine :-)

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  4. Hi Helen, Date with Destiny is such a fab story. I would say no because only one or two of my friends have stayed with their teenage loves. I would call my "first love" a teen romance, we were together from 15-21 and I have to say I've compared him to alot of future romances. Funnily enough he ended up as my daughters God Father (my daughters father decided) so he's still in my life a little.

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  5. Hi Tash -so pleased you liked Date With Destiny...and thank you for sharing about teenage loves. Great comment.

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  6. Well I met my husband when I was 18 and got married a week after I turned 20. We just celebrated our 45th anniversary on August 3rd. I think any romance can last but it does take commitment and compromise and a whole lot of just loving the other person no matter what life is throwing at you.

    I've already got a copy of Date With Destiny but I haven't managed to read it yet. I know I'll enjoy it as I loved your other three books.

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  7. What a gorgeous kiss, Helen. There's a lot riding on this one.
    Teenage romances often last the distance. I'm only glad mine didn't!

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  8. Hi bn - yes, some do, some don't. Thanks for stopping by.

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  9. Hi Kaelee - wow, 45 years is wonderful. Congratulations. And you're so right, commitment and compromise are the keys. hope you enjoy Date With Destiny :)

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  10. Hi Sue - I feel a bit the same :) Glad you liked the smooch.

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  11. What a lovely, gentle kiss scene. I was too busy at school and doing acting, singing, performing to have the time for a boyfriend in school. In my experience, they mostly don't last, but having said that, my cousins who started going out when they were 14, got married at 21 and are still together 25 years later and another of my cousins have a similar story (just not for quite so long, but still married). So, I guess, when it works, it just works.

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  12. A very sweet smooch!!

    I think that most people grow up & grow apart, but my parents met in High School and were married for 66 years.

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  13. Oh, what a gorgeous smooch! I'm a little in love with them already. :)

    I think it's hard to predict what will happen with teenage love because people grow - they may grow apart, or they may grow in the same direction. It's always so heartwarming to hear of stories where a couple has grown together and they've made it, isn't it?

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  14. Such a lovely smooch, Helen. I reckon teenage romances can last. None of mine did, but I stayed friends with most of them (not of course that there were that many!!!!) and they were invited to my wedding.

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  15. Hi Leisl - I think you right, when they work they work :) Thanks for stopping by.

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  16. Hi Mary - wow 66 year....that's amazing. What a lovely story.

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  17. Hi Rachel - I think that's why I like reunion stories....they've gone off and lived a little and then come back together much wiser. :)

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  18. I know someone who married her high school sweetheart & they have been married for 20 years or so. I wouldn't have wanted to marry my HS boyfriend, but it took me till I was 30 to find the right guy.I love your excerpt!

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  19. Yes, I think they can last. Have seen several examples of couples who continue to shine together after over 30 years of togetherness.
    When I was in Grade 12, my GF and I both liked this guy, so we chose to sit at the back of the room behind said guy (even though we ALWAYS sat in the front of our classes otherwise). Alas, he liked her and they wed shortly after high school graduation. Started their family several years later and are now grandparents to several. As I knew then and definitely know now: they belonged together. End of story.

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  20. Hi Sharlene - It took me a few years to find the right one too :)Thanks for stopping by.

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  21. Hi Jennifer - how lovely that you've stayed friends and came to your wedding (Sounds like a idea for a book in there somewhere) :)

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  22. Hi Laney4 - what a lovely story, thank you for sharing and for dropping by LoveCats :)

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  23. Gorgeous smooch, Helen!

    Ah, the teenage romance. We all know at least one couple who were childhood sweethearts, but in my experience they're the exception rather than the rule. I think it terribly romantic, though! And as I love reunion stories I now have to race out and grab a copy of Date With Destiny as soon as I can! :-)

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