Sneaking Candy
Page 22
“And?” he asked, his eyes landing on mine.
“You’re the author I can’t live without,” I replied.
“Now,” he said, “I know I don’t have better legs than J.D.”
“Candy, who’s here?” Mandy yelled from the kitchen.
I looked up at James, and he gave a small nod.
I’d answered this question in so many ways, but now it was time to use the right word. “My boyfriend,” I said, watching James smile, almost bashfully.
“Finally,” Mandy said, coming up behind me. “Maybe now we can go on a real double date.”
“I’d love to,” James said, his arms still tight around me. Arms that would always remind me I’d made the right decision.
“Good,” Mandy said. “If you guys leave the table this time, I’m drinking your beers.”
I turned and handed her the candy apples.
“What the hell am I supposed to do with these?” she asked, holding up the candy apple sticks like a torch and leaving us at the door.
“There’s more good news,” he said, unable to hide his excitement. “I wrote ten pages last night.”
“Really?” I asked, pulling back to look at him, “What about?”
“A gentleman doesn’t write and tell,” he teased.
“Since when are you a gentleman?”
“Your clothes are still on, aren’t they?”
“We could fix that,” I replied.
“Let’s take a ride first,” he said his brown eyes shiny. “I thought we could go to campus and make out on the quad.”
“Newly exhibitionist?” I asked, smiling.
He shook his head. “There were a lot of places I wanted to kiss you before. I figured we could start there.”
“This is going to be a fun day,” I said, following him out to his motorcycle. He offered me his helmet, but I declined. I wanted to feel the wind in my hair, his body snug against mine, the air hot in my ears, the rumble in my thighs, the flutter in my belly.
I wanted to feel it all.
Candice was finally ready.
Acknowledgments
I was considering leaving out the acknowledgements this time around, as this will be the fourth time I thank a lot of these people, but I feel so blessed to have such an amazing publisher, team, friends, and family behind me that I will thank them all once again.
To my husband, who when I told him I wanted to write something a little sexier jumped right in with ideas and helped me come up with the premise for this book. He is always my best sounding board and best cheerleader.
To my agent Susan Finesman for loving all my books and helping fix them when she doesn’t totally love them.
To my editor, Stacy Abrams, who helped make me a Candy and also loves that I am at heart a Candice.
To Britt Marczack, Karen Grove, Alycia Tornetta, and Rachel Simon for their reads and comments and squees and swoons. The value of having the eyes of people who support your work is immeasurable.
To all my girls at Entangled, you know why.
To my Twitter and Facebook Followers and Bloggers I’ve befriended along the way, thank you for letting me rant, for telling people about my books and for sharing this journey with me.
Most of all, thank you to all the Candys. I am proud to be one of you.
About the Author
Lisa Burstein is a tea seller by day and a writer by night. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the Inland Northwest Center for Writers at Eastern Washington University. She is the author of Pretty Amy, The Next Forever, and Dear Cassie, as well as a contributor to the upcoming essay collection Break These Rules: 35 YA Authors On Speaking Up, Standing Out, and Being Yourself. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog, and two cats. www.lisaburstein.com
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