That First Kiss - Shopping for Love

Shopping for Love is about two fairly ordinary people who meet in a local supermarket shopping out of love or concern for two elderly people, only to find love themselves.  I wanted to create a stronger male character in this story - and one with a (larger than) life of his own.  And Greg willingly stepped forward!  In many respects he became more significant than Emma.  (I'd love to be able to include photos of how I envision him physically, but haven't succeeded in getting permission to use the photos I found.  For anyone interested, however, I see him as cross between Tom Hiddleston in this photo: http://goo.gl/3f6nG and the lovely antiques dealer, Paul Martin - check out his photo here: http://goo.gl/tn8mG).

Greg, a divorcee, works in the unglamorous world of software development in a top investment bank.  He has two young children and an ex-wife who left him, but can't quite let go of him and when it seems Greg has found love at last, the former wife tries to sabotage his blossoming relationship.  This remains fairly chaste for some time as Emma, too, is recovering from an unhappy relationship. She is also the teacher of Greg's youngest child, which causes added complications.

Here is their first kiss:

Later on they sat together on the voluptuous leather sofa listening to an incredibly sexy saxophone dominating a romantic jazz tune.  His fingers played with a curling tendril of her hair which had escaped her antique barrette and tumbled naughtily across her cheek.  He coiled it around his finger, deliberately letting the back of his hand caress her cheek.  She felt relaxed and calm, enjoying the intimacy of his touch.

“You don’t need to, you know,” he murmured in her ear.  “Drive home, I mean.”

She tilted her head slightly and their eyes locked as the saxophonist continued to weave his spell.  Greg tucked the strand of hair behind her ear and laid his palm against her cheek.  He brought his other hand to the other cheek, cradling her face between his long fingers as he continued to look deep into her eyes. 

It made her feel precious, revered almost, the way he gazed at her and slowly, very slowly brought his lips to ghost over hers.  It was barely a touch yet it sent a shiver of longing surging through her.  He began scattering tiny, tentative kisses around her lips and face before his mouth once again made contact with hers and began its soft, teasing nibbling. 

He’s not rushing me.  If I pull away, he’ll stop, she thought.  But why should I, when I really don’t want him to stop?  Not yet, anyway.  She raised her arms to encircle his neck and the gesture drew him closer, allowing his kiss to deepen into a passionate intimacy.  He kisses beautifully, she thought with a thrill.  I knew he would!

(Further (new) information about Shopping for Love will soon be available at: http://askdavid.com)