Lead Me On by M. J. Schiller

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Getting involved with each other may require some actual conversation…

Caleb Winthrop was conversation-challenged. Especially when it came to the opposite sex.

I didn’t believe it at first when the guys told me Sophie was checking me out. A beautiful girl like her interested in the Mohawk-wearing lead guitarist for a rock band? It seemed far-fetched. But my band members kept pushing me toward her, so I gave in and made an attempt at talking to her, if only to shut them up.

Sophie Lockhart has had her heart broken before.

That’s why my attraction to Caleb was so insane. When one thought about honesty and faithfulness, Caleb Winthrop’s name is not what came to mind. Now, if the word was sexy or unbelievably hot, he would definitely be at the top of that list. But he was the ultimate bad boy…or at least he seemed to be. And that was not the type of guy I could trust with my heart. Even if it was, I’d never be able to work up the nerve to talk to him.

Can these two introverts find their way to each other? Or will each crawl back into the comfort of their protective shell?


Excerpt:

After months of preparation, it had come down to the big moment. I stood shaking, my arm linked with my dad’s, behind the big wooden doors my bridesmaids had passed through. I hated being the center of attention. The two ushers flanked the doors, grasping the big iron handles, prepared to open them up when the music switched and the “Wedding March” trumpeted from the organ pipes. My dad looked at me.

“Are you ready, baby?”

I gazed at him and gave him a trembling smile.

I can do this. As long as Steve’s at the end of the aisle, I can do anything.

I nodded and the ushers slowly pulled the heavy doors open. As my view of the inside of the church widened, it was immediately clear something was terribly wrong. While everyone was standing, focused on me, the entire wedding party was staring at the side door exit from the church. The sunlight streaming in from the opening faded as the door closed. Chase Michaels sprinted past gaping bridesmaids and exited the church by the same door. I thought maybe it was his fiancée, Emily, who left, but I saw her standing next to Paige and Savvy, appearing to be as shocked as everybody else. Ironic as she had done the same thing to Chase years ago.

My dad leaned in. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” My first thought was someone had gotten ill and ducked out. I was alarmed, wondering who the person suffering could be. I scanned the group standing before the altar, now whispering amongst themselves. One-by-one they turned to look at me, and I realized the person missing was my groom. It didn’t dawn on me at the time that my cousin Clarice was gone too. As the organist continued to play in the choir loft, oblivious to the drama unfolding below, and the guests beamed at me expectantly, Chase re-entered the church like a zombie, holding a bridesmaid bouquet. Gabe, the best man, moved in the direction of the door but saw Chase shake his head. My brother twisted and walked slowly toward me. My dad’s arm stiffened. By this time, those in the front of the church seemed to realize something was off, and a commotion rose from people asking each other, “What happened?”

I was slow putting the pieces together, or perhaps I didn’t want to know. “What is Gabe doing? He’s supposed to stay up there.”

“I’m not sure, honey.”

Before Gabe reached us, I yelled at him. “What’s going on? Where’s Steve?”

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. The organ music came to an abrupt end. I could still remember the way the words sounded when Gabe finally found his voice. “He’s gone.”

“Gone? Gone where?”

He echoed my dad. “I’m not sure.”

I released Dad and staggered back a few steps. “He left?” Gabe didn’t have the heart to tell me, but I could see it on his face. I lifted my skirts and escaped through the entry. The door closed behind me, shutting out the noise, making it easy for me to detect the high-speed whine of a motorcycle. Dirt rose from the long lane leading to the country church. And then I spotted them as they turned onto the paved road. A man in a tux driving the motorcycle, and a woman in a bridesmaid dress clinging to him. The door creaked open, and I pivoted, spying the heel, dyed to match the bridesmaid dress, sitting in the grass beside an empty parking space. My gaze became riveted on that. The voices calling me became garbled, and my knees were weak. Luckily, Gabe and my dad caught me as I collapsed, as I might have bashed my skull in on the stone stairs of the church.

Mixed with these voices was Caleb’s. “Sophie? Sophie? Are you all right?”


M.J. Schiller is a retired lunch lady/romance-romantic suspense writer. She enjoys writing novels whose characters include rock stars, desert princes, teachers, futuristic Knights, construction workers, cops, and a wide variety of others. In her mind everybody has a romance. She is the mother of a twenty-eight-year-old and three twenty-six-year-olds. That's right, triplets! So having recently taught four children to drive, she likes to escape from life on occasion by pretending to be a rock star at karaoke. However…you won’t be seeing her name on any record labels soon.

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Comments

  1. Liz FlahertyAugust 25, 2023 at 4:53 PM

    Thanks so much for joining us here today, Mary!

    ReplyDelete
  2. MJ SchillerAugust 25, 2023 at 7:22 PM

    Thank you for having me, Liz! I appreciate the opportunity to share a bit of Caleb and Sophie's story! :)

    ReplyDelete

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