Page 1 of Love Beyond Words
Chapter 1
Boston, Massachusetts—Present Day
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“You’re going to be late if you don’t hurry up and leave, Laurel. Please don’t sabotage this date before it even begins.”
“This date,” I placed as much snark into my tone as I possibly could as I answered her, “wasn’t my idea. I can’t pretend to be excited about it.”
Kate didn’t seem at all bothered by my bad attitude.
“Are you seriously still mad at me about the dating profile? You have to admit that I did a fantastic job writing it. I picked only the best photos of you, and…” She waited, leaving a pregnant pause while I stared at her. “It’s taken someone who had previously gone three years without a single date and turned her into someone who has gone on ten dates in the last three months.”
“Ten first dates in the last three months and every single one of them was awful. I’m not sure we can call that a win.”
Scooting herself from her seated position on the couch so she could look back at me, she smiled.
“Okay, I’ll admit that none of them were stellar and there were definitely a few weirdos in the mix, but that doesn’t mean this date will be bad.”
“It’s just a feeling I have.”
“You always have that feeling. Tell me, how does someone who writes romance novels for a living have such a blatant dislike for all men? It seems to me that would be counterproductive to what you do.”
I didn’t want to admit that she was right, but since my fallout with the one man I’d thought hung the moon since elementary school, I certainly hadn’t seen many examples of great men.
“I don’t dislike all men. It’s just that I seem to come across more rotten men than good ones. And it’s called compartmentalizing. People across all professions practice it every single day. If we all had to believe in what we do for a living, the workforce would cease to exist.”
My sister’s smile dropped as she closed her eyes and shook her head at me.
“Jesus, Laurel, that’s the most depressing thing you’ve ever said. Have you ever considered that your attitude may be the reason why you never seem to stumble across any good men? The law of attraction is real, big sis. Maybe your attitude is just scaring them off. Your vibes are toxic.”
She lifted both arms and flailed them around as if to clear the air of my toxicity. The stump on her right arm and the burns over her left hand caused my heart to squeeze painfully in my chest and in an instant I gained a perspective that riddled me with guilt for what a complete and ungrateful snob I was.
All my sister wanted was for me to have something that she believed she could no longer ever have. And while I knew she was wrong—her beauty could hardly be marred by injury—I understood her need to fill her empty schedule with something that made her feel useful. She would happily trade me each of these terrible dates, if she felt she could.
Blushing in embarrassment and shame, I walked around to the front of the couch and sat down next to her.
“You’re right. It’s not fair of me to judge each of these guys before I even meet them. I promise that I’ll give him a chance.”
“Thank you. Now, you better go. It’s eight o’clock now and you’ve still got a ten minute walk to the restaurant.”
Leaning to kiss Kate on the cheek, I stood and reached for my purse. The moment I reached the front door of my apartment, I heard my phone ding from inside my bag. Unzipping the bag, I retrieved my phone and looked down at the photo message in horror.
“And…I’m out.”
Dropping my bag, I kicked off my shoes, hung up my jacket, and began to undress as I tossed my phone onto the couch with my sister and made my way to the bathroom to draw up a nice hot bath.
“What’s wrong?”
Unable to form a proper sentence in response, I simply said, “Just look.”
Stunned silence was quickly followed by uncontrollable laughter as Kate read the message and then looked at the photo that would be forever ingrained in my mind.
“Hurry up, babe. The bread basket is getting cold. Here’s a taste of what you can have for dessert.”
Ignoring her cackles, I turned on the hot water all the way. I generously poured bubble bath into the tub and all but dove into the water. When I looked up, Kate stood in the doorway, still laughing hysterically.
“I mean…you gotta give him some credit. Most men lacking in that way wouldn’t feel confident enough to send you a dick pick. Do you want me to text him back for you?”
