Free Love in Reality: A Contemporary Romance (The Blackjack Quartet) by Magdalen Braden

didn’t like the idea of toning down Lissa’s vibrant spirit, but he admitted Debbie was probably right.
    “Still,” Debbie said, gesturing at the screen, which had stopped with Lissa’s quirky grin, “I do see why you wanted her on the show. She’s downright fun to watch.”
    “Isn’t she?” Rand said happily. “She’s the perfect ringer.”
    He smiled at Lissa’s face, frozen in happy close-up on the screen. She was going to be great for the show and for his film script. He’d already started to flesh out the love interest character in the film. He wanted to combine aspects of Susie’s professional school ambitions with Lissa’s smarts. He was thinking of sending her character to medical school after a summer on The Ant Farm . That could give them a lovely bittersweet ending where she walks away from Brad, the doofus TV producer who tried to sabotage the show, because she has a real life to get back to.
    He was really looking forward to the start of the season.
     
    * * *
     
    “Lissa?”
    Libby was about to say that no, she was Libby, when she recognized the voice. “Yes?” she said cautiously. Her heart was pounding, presumably from fear of making a mistake.
    “Rand Jennings. From The Fishbowl .”
    It was him. His face flashed in her memory. She’d missed him at the Cork, which was crazy since he lived so far away. “Oh, hi,” she said slowly.
    “I know this is no notice at all. I have a layover in Philly for a few hours and I was wondering if I could see you.”
    Libby looked out the window at a crystal clear April afternoon. She was home for once, although she’d been planning to go into school to do some research on her Law Review note. “I guess,” she said. She was nervous for some reason, or excited—hard to tell the difference.
    “Great. I’ve got your address, so I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
    That explained the noise in the background—he was in a cab, already on his way here. “Okay,” Libby said, quickly scoping out what she needed to do before he got there. Tidy away her Corporations casebook, for starters. “See you then.”
    Amazing how much could get done in such a short amount of time, Libby marveled as she answered his knock on the door. No sign of law books or, for that matter, the dowdy law student attire. A change of clothes, a quick application of makeup, jewelry and a hairbrush to remove the evidence of her habitual ponytail—instant Lissa. She’d even managed to pull out one of Lissa’s fashion magazines from the recycling and leave it artfully open on the coffee table.
    “Hi,” she said as he walked in.
    “Hi,” he smiled. He was casually dressed in jeans, a T-shirt and a light jacket over that. Very sharp and tailored. The epitome of West Coast chic, she imagined. Very Hollywood. His hair looked ruffled from the breeze and Libby wanted to smooth it back from his forehead.
    “I’ll go make some coffee,” she said, already heading for the kitchen.
    He followed her, having taken his jacket off. Yup, that T-shirt looked too good on him. He had a great figure, even if he wasn’t likely to appear shirtless on a romance novel cover. She turned back to the scoop she was holding and stared at it stupidly. Coffee. Right.
    “So I just thought I’d come to tell you that you’re on the show,” he said calmly.
    Libby managed to get the coffee maker started, then turned to face him. He was awfully close in the tiny galley kitchen. She could smell his scent even over the first wafts of coffee steam.
    “Okay,” she said. Wait, should she act more excited? “That’s great!” she added after a beat.
    Rand grinned at her. “I’ve really taken you by surprise, haven’t I?”
    Libby closed her mouth when she realized it was open. “Surprised? Uh, yeah.” Not because of the show. Libby had a sinking feeling Rand took her breath away simply by being tall and gorgeous. Not handsome like Uncle Jack. Better. More like a human being, not so larger-than-life. She