Love on Hold E-Book

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Chapter 1

“I could come with you,” David said, pulling my fingertips toward his lips as he drove me to the airport. Traffic to O’Hare was crawling along, and the extra time in the car together seemed to deepen his reluctance to part. I ran my thumb over the stubble on his jaw that he’d neglected in the week since the university’s first summer session had ended. “Remind me again why I’m not coming with you.”

“Classes start back up tomorrow,” I told him. “If we’re honeymooning in France for four months, we need the money.”

“It’s a working honeymoon, Marin. Sabbatical pay.”

“Sabbatical pay is only sixty percent of your salary. Like you said when you signed up to teach this summer, we need to make up the rest.”

“I was an idiot. A trip to New York and then on to England? We could have had an amazing time. We could have toured the cottage in the Bronx where Poe wrote ‘Annabel Lee.’ Taken the ferry out to Tennyson’s place on the Isle of Wight. We even could have visited your family’s old Seasalter house.” He sighed. “Instead, I’ll be teaching bored gen ed students in the required literature seminar. Most of them have never even heard of Tennyson.”

“On the bright side, you’re teaching the Advanced Dickens course, too. Great Expectations. Hard Times. Don’t pretend that doesn’t turn you on,” I said, laughing when a smile pricked at his lips.

“Sure, but Dickens won’t keep me warm at night. What will I do while you’re gone?”

“Work. We’ll both be working. I’m just going through the last round of edits, renegotiating my contract—”

“And visiting the set of a TV movie based on your very own book. Your book is the reason the film exists. You’ll be the celebrated author on set. You might even get your very own director’s chair.”

“You think?” For some reason, the idea of this little perk warmed me up to the set visit. To be honest, I was dreading it. As an introverted writer, I spent most of my days holed up in the office/guest room of my condo in Chicago. Venturing out of the country and my comfort zone to make small talk on a film set was an overwhelming prospect.

“You may find you like the glamour of the movie industry. What if you run off with the leading man?”

“I’ve never been tempted by actors. A sexy English professor, on the other hand…ooh, yes please,” I said, slipping my hand onto his thigh. He snatched it up and kissed my fingertips again. “We wouldn’t have had time to sightsee anyway. I’ll only be gone for ten days, and they’re all fully booked. Most of my New York trip will be spent haggling with my publisher for better royalties. Which is comforting, in a way. It means less time worrying about meeting my dad’s publisher.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. It’s just a quick dinner. You’ll have a drink, order the most expensive thing on the menu, accept the award, and bid them farewell.”

“Sure. I’ll just accept a literary award on behalf of my brilliant father while hiding my own career of writing what his publishers consider rubbish. And then journey on to England to make small talk with the Hollywood types who felt my rubbish was worthy of film. Quite a life, isn’t it?”

“That book was not rubbish. It wasn’t even a romance novel,” he said in a slightly hopeful way, like perhaps his genre-fiction-loving fiancée might finally have taken a literary turn. He motioned longingly toward the Kiss and Fly lot as we passed it, but his teasing look was replaced by a serious one when he pulled over in front of the airport to drop me off. “You’ll be okay at the publisher’s dinner, right?”

Despite his reassurance, he knew this was the event that most worried me. Making small talk about my family’s famous tragedy was no way to spend the night.

“I’ll be fine,” I told him.

Maybe he heard the trepidation in my voice. He immediately said, “Are you sure? It’s not too late. I could come with you.”

It is too late, though, I thought but didn’t say, because I knew I couldn’t keep the longing from my voice. I did my best to laugh it off. “You’ll have to buy yourself a wardrobe, since you didn’t pack a bag. And wrangle a last-minute cat sitter. And find someone to teach the classes that start tomorrow so you don’t get fired.”

“How the lady doth protest. I’d think you might want your fiancé to accompany you.”

“Of course I do,” I told him. And truly, I did. But the reasons we had decided he should stay home still applied, no matter how much better I would feel if he were with me. “Just not at the expense of your career.”

He grabbed my suitcase from the trunk, then pulled me against him. “It’s only ten days,” he said after a long kiss goodbye. “It will go quickly. Then you’ll be back, we’ll finish planning the wedding, and pretty soon…” He kissed me again. “We’ll seal this deal for good.”

“For better or worse,” I told him, and he grinned.

“What do you think this is, a second-rate deal? We’re talking for better here.” He clasped my fingers in his and held my gaze. “I promise, Marin. It only gets better from here.”

I try to depict my characters’ conflicts in the most honest way possible. But I also appreciate that every reader has the right to choose what information they want to allow into their brain. I want you to enjoy my books, and I would never want to upset you with tough aspects of the plot.

Below, I’ve included information about sensitive plot points, should you want to know more before reading.

Please be advised, these are spoilers about things that will happen to characters or have happened in a character's past.

If you want to know more, please scroll down. If you prefer not to know, please close this tab before scrolling down to read.

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Love on Hold contains references to mental illness and a brief instance of infidelity.