Once upon a crush . . .

Once upon a time when I was young and emotional, I was in love.

Or thought I was.

I don't know what the object of my affection thought -- if indeed he thought about it at all. I doubt that he did because I never actually saw him run screaming in the other direction. So chances are he remained oblivious.

But I was sure (not fairly sure, not reasonably sure, but absolutely positively sure) that if the stars aligned properly or fate so decreed that he would notice, we would live happily ever after.

We didn't.

But it doesn't stop me thinking about it and remembering it -- all the angst, all the emotion, all the deep unrequited desire -- now and then.

And when Christo Savas popped into my head carrying a surfboard and talking on a cell phone, I was reminded of those days. He's exactly the sort of guy I would have looked twice (or maybe several million times at).

So did Natalie, my heroine.

But Natalie was far more, er, pro-active than I was at her age. She made things happen -- or tried to.

It was a disaster, of course. Sometimes the time and the place aren't right, even if the people might have been. That's what happened to Natalie and Christo the first time. The second time is what I wrote about in One-Night Mistress...Convenient Wife.

And crushes are what I'm blogging about Thursday on the I Heart Presents blog. So stop over and check it out. Leave me the tale of your own crush there -- or here.

Whoever makes me laugh, cry, cringe or sympathetically shake my head will win a copy of Christo and Natalie's book

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