Maggie Kelley | Love at First Sight + Two (Years)

Imagine an autumn night lit by the twinkling white lights of a rooftop bar, a bucket of ice-cold Rolling Rock beer, and little ole me, walking through a crowd of unfamiliar twenty-somethings toward “The One”. Granted, I didn’t know yet that he was the one I was going to fall for. In fact, as I strolled toward the spot where he was debating the merits of dating with my BFF, the only thing I knew was that my friend had a crush on the guy. I was there to check him out…for her.

Unfortunately for me, after about ten minutes, she wasn’t the only one with a crush. He was lovely. Self-deprecating and funny…and yes, IMHO, pretty darned hot. The elusive dating trifecta. I felt like I could talk to him…forever. Or maybe I’m just a sucker for a rooftop bar.

But did this love-at-first-sight experience lead to even one date? Nope. Not for two years. Because when your BFF calls and asks you to hightail uptown to meet the new guy she’s got a crush on…you go. But when you end up falling for the guy, well, you’ve got trouble. Major trouble. Maybe it’s the girl code, or maybe when you meet your BFF in the fifth grade, you’re as close to her as any other person in the world, and no guy…even if he’s The One…can get in between you and your friendship.

But as it turned out, there was no romance in the cards for my BFF and The One. She found (and married) a Southern California guy who taught yoga and embraced her study of Buddhism, her perfect match in every way. And I ended up with the guy from the bar.

That’s right. In the intervening years between our meet-cute and eventual wedding, Bar Guy and I seemed to run into each other everywhere…happy hours and late-night diners, Jimmy Buffett concerts and invitation-only Sumo wrestling events (honestly, not even worth asking.) But the truth of the matter is that my first “official” date with The One was a bit of a Hail Mary. Fact was I needed a last-minute date for a work event, a midnight river boat party…music, dinner, dancing…unusually swanky fun for a girl from the Burgh. And I could only think of one guy to call. Luckily, he said yes. That night, two years after we’d first met, he took my hand as we climbed the narrow stairs that led to the upper deck of the boat and I thought, “Holy hell, I’m going to marry him, the guy from the bar, he’s The One.” Crazy, but I knew it. Right then.

Another year later, on another beautiful fall day, we got married in a sweet church in the town where we grew up. We’re still married. And yes, my BFF is still my BFF. In fact, she was the maid of honor at our wedding. I guess my love story is one of friendship and love-at-first sight.

What’s your story? Do you believe in love at first sight? Or are you more a friends-to-lovers person? My debut novel, BREAKING THE BACHELOR, is a friends-to-lovers story about a criteria-loving matchmaker and a smokin’ hot bachelor committed to showing her the rules of passion. I’d love to share it with you. Leave a comment and you’ll be entered in a random drawing to win a five-dollar Amazon or BN.com gift card! And thank you for stopping by Fresh Fiction!

About BREAKING THE BACHELOR

Goaded by her competition, matchmaker Jane Wright makes a very public bet that she can find the “perfect” match for Manhattan's hottest confirmed bachelor—sexy-as-sin bartender Charlie Goodman. Unfortunately, Charlie is also Jane's ex-lover, a man she broke up with on a cocktail napkin. With her company on the line, Jane has no choice but to convince the man of her most impractical dreams to dive back into the dating pool.

Charlie doesn't want to see Jane's business fail. He just wants a little revenge. Determined to prove to Jane that chemistry always beats compatibility algorithms, he plans to drive her crazy with desire...then walk away. And his plan is working. A little too well, actually. Because even as Jane scrambles to calculate Charlie's best match, the heat building between combusts. But Charlie's been so busy outsmarting Cupid that he hasn't noticed he's the naughty cherub's next target...

About Maggie Kelley

After ten years of survival, aka working, in Hollywood, this former actress and current author of sexy contemporary romance is living happily-ever-after in Pittsburgh with her longtime sweetie and their two punky kids. When not carpooling to birthday parties or testing her gourmet cooking skills by throwing a frozen pizza into the oven, Maggie daydreams about sneaking off to the Vegas or Napa, or even just the movies. A love of red wine, Italian food, and music round out her list of life's greatest joys. Oh, and Tuesday night karaoke, totally underrated fun.