Love, Unscripted

by Denise Hunter

you gotta take the good with the bad. I love what I do and it comes with a lack of privacy. Every job has its problems.

There was something about seeing a person at his weakest—and being seen at your most vulnerable—that lowered a person’s walls.

“But you’ve never had a serious relationship.” He set the condiment down and settled back against the counter beside her. “I guess I’ve just never found that special someone. It’s hard when people have preconceived ideas about you—not to mention agendas of their own.”

he hadn’t realized just how superficial until now. But there was a cost to this kind of intimacy. Laying his feelings on the line was terrifying.

Stop accepting responsibility for his behavior. That was his choice.”

people can’t love you until they know you. And

they can’t know you until you open yourself to them and show them who you are.”

think maybe I sabotaged our relationship. I’ve never blocked anyone in my life.” Meghan gave a sympathetic smile. “That makes sense. You were afraid he’d hurt you, so you left him first.”

you wrote a novel about the perfect hero—” “Maybe now I can write one featuring the perfect heroine!” The words sank in soul-deep. Not the perfect heroine—but a flawed one. A character who wanted to love and be loved, but deep down she was too afraid to be vulnerable. Maybe the heroine needed to learn she was actually worthy of that love before she was ready to accept it.

You’ve watched your mom all these years pining for your dad. Seen her begging and desperate and pitiful to the point of becoming an alcoholic. You didn’t want to be anything like her—who could blame you?—so you accidentally became your dad instead.”

But as soon as the relationship hit the rocks, you bailed. You think Gwenn and I haven’t hit the skids a time or two? You’ve gotta work through that stuff. You’ve gotta get good at forgiving. ’Cause believe me, brother, you’ll be the one needing it next time, and you’d better hope she’s better at it than you are.”

Love can overcome a lot of obstacles—even geography.”

“We seem to be in the spotlight again.” Her attention dropped to the circle of light on the carpet around their feet. “Um, literally.” He chuckled. She loved the way his eyes smiled too. The way he gazed at her as if she were the only woman in the room. Then his expression turned serious. “I’m afraid in my world it goes with the territory.” “I understand that.” “Do you? Because there’ll be a lot more of this. Plus a lot of gossip and misreported events and outright lies, printed for the whole world to see. We have to trust each other.” “I’ll trust you to be truthful with me. And I promise to be the same with you.”

But in real life it wasn’t about finding the perfect man—he didn’t even exist.

It seemed something unique and magical happened when two flawed people who were meant for each other came together. Liam

They both had issues to work on, but they were doing it together.