I’m not sure who that is, but I might as well pretend. “Who is, really?”
“Jane Austen,” Becklyn deadpans.
“True.”Note to self, look up Jane Austen.“Anyhoo…”
“Anyhoo?” She snickers. “Are you okay? Are you taking pain medicine or something?”
“Nah, I hate that shit.” I give her a friendly glare. “And stop interrupting me. I’m on a roll.” I pause then repeat, “Anyhoo…” This story is awesome. Well, as long as it has a happy ending. “This handsome but clueless man stops over to this woman’s house to discover she’s all alone, wearing her pajamas, eating her weight in popcorn.”
Becklyn crosses her arms and leans back in her seat. “Sounds like the girl knows how to enjoy a quiet night at home.” I’m about to continue, but she adds, “And did they have popcorn in Regency England?”
Valid question, but I’ve got the answer. “They found popcorn in the pyramids.” At least, I seem to recall they found it there. Or maybe that was oats…. I frown at her. “Stop changing the subject.”
“Fine.” Her sigh is sort of adorable. Especially when it’s accompanied by a pretty pout.
I look at her, then down at my hands. She’s making me lose my train of thought. “Where was I?”
“Popcorn. Pajamas.”
“Right. When he sees her reading from a ye olde book while in her pajamas eating popcorn…”
Becklyn giggles but doesn’t interrupt.
“…he knows right then and there that not only is she special but she’s also his.”
I spoke too soon. Becklyn’s not going to let that one go. “All it took was her eating popcorn and wearing her pj’s? Sounds a bit far-fetched to me. In my experience—”
My turn to stop her. I give her some side-eye while I’m at it. “In your experience?”
“Yes. In my experience, guys don’t justrealizethey’ve been clueless.”
She’s right. I didn’t realize I realized it then until much later. “What about this… instead of her relaxing at home, she’s crying.”
“Nope.” She shakes her head. “I won’t write about a sobbing heroine.”
Wow. She’s really making this difficult. “Hm, let me see…” I raise my arm to run my hand through my hair and wince. Every move I make hurts.
“Give up?” She smirks.
If she’s asking if I give up on her, on this, then no. “I’ve got another idea.”
“Good. Because this class is giving me fits.”
“Our girl is strong and self-assured. Also, she doesn’t realize how beautiful she is.”
Becklyn snorts while scoffing. “Yeah. Right.”
I’m not even going to respond to that. “She’s beautiful, and she doesn’t know it. Deal with it,” I say in a rather perturbed tone. “She also doesn’t realize she’s in love with the handsome but clueless man.”
“Mm-hm.” She’s crossed her arms again. “And what, pray tell, does this gorgeously clueless man do to help her see?”
“Well, obviously he kisses her.” To add some humor, I finish that sentence with, “Duh.”
I watch the blush creep up from Becklyn’s neck to her cheeks. She’s not about to let that stop her from contradicting me, though. “Oh, right. One stupid kiss is supposed to convince her that he’s got a thing for her?” She adds a lovely eye roll to the end of that statement, and I don’t like it. Not one bit.
“Sometimes a kiss is the key to the whole story.”
“And sometimes it isn’t.” She scoots to the edge of her chair, then pushes herself up to standing. “I’ve really got to go.”
