Passages from Chapter 1:
My hopes for nourishment dropped the moment I approached the entrance to Smashburger and saw the crowd. Maybe it would be a bag of chips after all. As I waited in line, I did what airports always invite people to do: I watched what was around me.
The woman in line two places ahead of me stood out immediately. She was taller than most, with long wavy hair and a relaxed, unforced presence. She wore glasses and simple clothes, but there was something striking about the way she carried herself—self-possessed, unhurried, she was quietly confident…
…The wavy-haired woman glanced back at us in line. Before she moved forward, she asked the traveler in front of me if she would join her. “Since it’s a table for four?”
“Yes, of course,” the woman agreed — then the taller woman turned to me and smiled as she instantly viewed me, and added, “You might as well join us too,” she said, waving her arm to ensure I understood her invitation as she started to turn and walk toward the table.
The way she looked directly into my eyes with kindness and warmth made me feel like a third grader picked first for kickball. I felt a jolt of unexpected adrenaline. Suddenly, this was much better than chips.
A moment earlier, I was thinking about food. Now all I wanted was the seat across from her.
Passage from Chapter 4
“Sex is easy. I do not need a man or woman for an orgasm. But rather what I want, and need, is a connection with the man of my dreams. A man who understands me, reaches me at my deepest level, moves my heart and my loins. That is who I want to have sex with. Otherwise, I would be settling,” Maddie commented as she raised my internal temperature a few more degrees.
We stared at each other for an awkward few seconds, with a limited level of wanting smiles on our faces and a growing, but hesitant desire in our hearts.