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Paper Hearts by J. V. Speyer
Release Date: February 9th 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
A divorce lawyer with a romantic spirit. A cynical television executive who thinks commitment is for fools. They can’t fight their attraction, or their affection. Can they find a way to reconcile their vastly different needs, or will each of them walk away from the best thing they’ve ever had?
Jordan might be a divorce lawyer, but he’s a hopeless romantic. He doesn’t see the two as incompatible, either. He’s never had a relationship last long enough to be with someone on Valentine’s Day, but he’s still hopeful he’ll find the one out there somewhere.
Sam is an executive vice president at a major television network. He spends his days managing programming, much of it centered around romance, and he knows exactly how fake television romances are. His own background of rejection only cements his views on the fleeting nature of affection.
They meet by chance, when Sam’s sister and best friend file for divorce. The divorce is messy, and Sam and Jordan are thrown together often enough to try to make a relationship work. When the winter holidays roll around, the difference in their expectations comes to the fore.
Can Sam overcome his fear of commitment – and rejection? Can Jordan get over his need to define their relationship? Or will they both lose the one thing in their lives that made them happiest?
Jordan might be a divorce lawyer, but he’s a hopeless romantic. He doesn’t see the two as incompatible, either. He’s never had a relationship last long enough to be with someone on Valentine’s Day, but he’s still hopeful he’ll find the one out there somewhere.
Sam is an executive vice president at a major television network. He spends his days managing programming, much of it centered around romance, and he knows exactly how fake television romances are. His own background of rejection only cements his views on the fleeting nature of affection.
They meet by chance, when Sam’s sister and best friend file for divorce. The divorce is messy, and Sam and Jordan are thrown together often enough to try to make a relationship work. When the winter holidays roll around, the difference in their expectations comes to the fore.
Can Sam overcome his fear of commitment – and rejection? Can Jordan get over his need to define their relationship? Or will they both lose the one thing in their lives that made them happiest?
{EXCERPT}
Jordan didn’t own a car. It wasn’t necessary in Manhattan, and parking it would just be an unnecessary expense. When Sam suggested they go apple picking as a date one Saturday in early October, Jordan instantly thought of a thousand reasons it couldn’t be done. He kept them to himself, because he couldn’t wait to see how Sam pulled it off.
It turned out that Sam did own a car, a big Porsche SUV that guzzled gas like water, and had three booster seats in the back. When Sam showed up outside Jordan’s building, those three booster seats had occupants—one boy of about seven, and twin girls of about four.
“These are Dinesh’s kids!” Jordan covered his mouth. He hadn’t meant to show preference like that. “I’m sorry—I’ve only seen you in pictures.”
“It’s okay. We haven’t seen pictures of you at all.” The little boy, Jai if Jordan was remembering correctly, looked Jordan over. “Are you coming apple picking with us?”
Sam’s cheeks turned red, but his voice stayed confident as Jordan climbed into the car. “It’s more like you three are coming apple picking with me and Jordan, buddy. I’d already set today up with him when your dad asked me to help him out. And since I love spending time with you all, and Jordan’s an awesome guy I think you’ll like a lot, I figured I might as well combine the two.”
Jordan smiled and buckled his seat belt. He didn’t mind at all. He didn’t particularly want kids of his own, but he didn’t mind other people’s kids. “I think this should be a great time. How about you?”
“Apples!” cheered the girls in the back, Malati and Malini.
All three kids fell asleep ten minutes after hitting the road on their hour-long drive. “Every time,” Sam said, shaking his head when he saw them in the mirror. “All three of them, as soon as you get them in the car. They’re out like little lights. They’ll need it. This place we’re going to has plenty of run-around space for them. They need it, poor things.”
“Yeah. Apparently, their mom has been violating the injunction against bringing them to that church of hers.” Jordan grimaced and looked down. The Mishra divorce was getting uglier by the day. He didn’t want to bring it up to Sam, but since he’d brought the kids with him, he didn’t feel he had a choice.
“I know. Malini cried when I talked to her. Said the pastor tried to tell her she wasn’t allowed to talk to me anymore. Dinesh just about lost his mind when he heard that, and with good reason. He’s down at the house with the police now, getting the last of his things and theirs. It’s going to be hard on all of them, but it’s the only way.” Sam grimaced. “I wouldn’t have sprung turning a date into family time on you without fair warning, but I didn’t have a lot of warning myself.”
“Hey, I get it.” Jordan took a chance and grabbed Sam’s free hand. He gave it a little squeeze. “I’m not about to complain about it either, you know? I’m just glad we finally got to get together.”
“Me too.” Sam’s gentle smile sent butterflies through Jordan’s chest.
They pulled into the parking lot at the orchard, and Jordan gaped at the size of the operation. The place had to be the size of Rhode Island, with more apples and other orchard fruits than Jordan could identify. They had a massive playground, a petting zoo, a cider mill, and even a distillery on site. The place had to be a gold mine.
“This just boggles my mind.” He turned around slowly as Sam roused his nieces and nephew. “How is this just an hour outside of the city?”
“It’s a whole new world once you leave the concrete jungle behind, isn’t it?” Sam laughed and took Jordan’s hand, and the five of them got in line to get their bags.
The line was long, and the parking lot showed the place was doing great business today. Once the five of them got into the rows of trees, though, they quickly forgot anyone else was on site. Jordan could hear a few people in the distance, but they didn’t have to fight for access to apples or trees.
Jai was tall enough to reach some of the lower branches, a fact he cheerfully lorded over his sisters. Jordan couldn’t let that stand. He hoisted Malini up onto his shoulders so she could grab some apples too. Sam spotted what he was doing and did the same for Malati, who promptly grabbed a rotten apple from the nearest tree and dropped it onto Jai’s head.
Jordan tried not to laugh, not least because poor Jai was going to have a devil of a time getting apple bits out of his hair.
Filling their bags didn’t take much time at all. The stingier part of Jordan thought it was a good racket, charging that much money for a few minutes’ entertainment, but he’d had fun. They certainly would have paid more to get that many apples in the store. They brought their haul back to the car and trudged down to the playground, where the kids got to run amok for a while with other kids.
“Poor Jai,” Sam laughed. “He’s still got smushed apple in his hair.”
“He’ll survive.” Jordan grinned. “He’d been taunting the girls without stopping. He kind of earned it.”
“Well yeah, he did. Still, I’m going to hand him back to Dinesh smelling like applesauce.” Sam spread his arms wide over the back of the bench they sat on. “What are favorite uncles for, if not to get them dirty and messy and riled up before handing them back?”
Jordan basked in the sun, and in the casual touch. “Do you get to see them often?”
“Not as often as I’d like, obviously, but I do get to hang out with them a good amount of the time. I’m not sure how it’s going to shake out now that Dinesh has them full time. He’s going to have to hire someone to take care of them while he’s at work, obviously, but that shouldn’t be a problem. It’ll be a big adjustment for them, moving into the city like that.”
Jordan’s heart melted. He’d dated a few guys over the years, and some of them even said they wanted kids. He hadn’t met any who really thought about a kid’s needs like that, or who truly understood them. How had he gotten so lucky with Sam? “It will be. They’re young, they’re resilient, but it’s going to be a challenge for them. It’s for the best, I think. The pastor is definitely a destabilizing influence.”
“He is. If Ida ever gets free of him, then we can talk about shared custody. But I don’t see that happening.” Sam took a deep breath and closed his eyes, lifting his face to the sky. “You know, I think I was starting to forget what having the sun on my face like this felt like.”
It turned out that Sam did own a car, a big Porsche SUV that guzzled gas like water, and had three booster seats in the back. When Sam showed up outside Jordan’s building, those three booster seats had occupants—one boy of about seven, and twin girls of about four.
“These are Dinesh’s kids!” Jordan covered his mouth. He hadn’t meant to show preference like that. “I’m sorry—I’ve only seen you in pictures.”
“It’s okay. We haven’t seen pictures of you at all.” The little boy, Jai if Jordan was remembering correctly, looked Jordan over. “Are you coming apple picking with us?”
Sam’s cheeks turned red, but his voice stayed confident as Jordan climbed into the car. “It’s more like you three are coming apple picking with me and Jordan, buddy. I’d already set today up with him when your dad asked me to help him out. And since I love spending time with you all, and Jordan’s an awesome guy I think you’ll like a lot, I figured I might as well combine the two.”
Jordan smiled and buckled his seat belt. He didn’t mind at all. He didn’t particularly want kids of his own, but he didn’t mind other people’s kids. “I think this should be a great time. How about you?”
“Apples!” cheered the girls in the back, Malati and Malini.
All three kids fell asleep ten minutes after hitting the road on their hour-long drive. “Every time,” Sam said, shaking his head when he saw them in the mirror. “All three of them, as soon as you get them in the car. They’re out like little lights. They’ll need it. This place we’re going to has plenty of run-around space for them. They need it, poor things.”
“Yeah. Apparently, their mom has been violating the injunction against bringing them to that church of hers.” Jordan grimaced and looked down. The Mishra divorce was getting uglier by the day. He didn’t want to bring it up to Sam, but since he’d brought the kids with him, he didn’t feel he had a choice.
“I know. Malini cried when I talked to her. Said the pastor tried to tell her she wasn’t allowed to talk to me anymore. Dinesh just about lost his mind when he heard that, and with good reason. He’s down at the house with the police now, getting the last of his things and theirs. It’s going to be hard on all of them, but it’s the only way.” Sam grimaced. “I wouldn’t have sprung turning a date into family time on you without fair warning, but I didn’t have a lot of warning myself.”
“Hey, I get it.” Jordan took a chance and grabbed Sam’s free hand. He gave it a little squeeze. “I’m not about to complain about it either, you know? I’m just glad we finally got to get together.”
“Me too.” Sam’s gentle smile sent butterflies through Jordan’s chest.
They pulled into the parking lot at the orchard, and Jordan gaped at the size of the operation. The place had to be the size of Rhode Island, with more apples and other orchard fruits than Jordan could identify. They had a massive playground, a petting zoo, a cider mill, and even a distillery on site. The place had to be a gold mine.
“This just boggles my mind.” He turned around slowly as Sam roused his nieces and nephew. “How is this just an hour outside of the city?”
“It’s a whole new world once you leave the concrete jungle behind, isn’t it?” Sam laughed and took Jordan’s hand, and the five of them got in line to get their bags.
The line was long, and the parking lot showed the place was doing great business today. Once the five of them got into the rows of trees, though, they quickly forgot anyone else was on site. Jordan could hear a few people in the distance, but they didn’t have to fight for access to apples or trees.
Jai was tall enough to reach some of the lower branches, a fact he cheerfully lorded over his sisters. Jordan couldn’t let that stand. He hoisted Malini up onto his shoulders so she could grab some apples too. Sam spotted what he was doing and did the same for Malati, who promptly grabbed a rotten apple from the nearest tree and dropped it onto Jai’s head.
Jordan tried not to laugh, not least because poor Jai was going to have a devil of a time getting apple bits out of his hair.
Filling their bags didn’t take much time at all. The stingier part of Jordan thought it was a good racket, charging that much money for a few minutes’ entertainment, but he’d had fun. They certainly would have paid more to get that many apples in the store. They brought their haul back to the car and trudged down to the playground, where the kids got to run amok for a while with other kids.
“Poor Jai,” Sam laughed. “He’s still got smushed apple in his hair.”
“He’ll survive.” Jordan grinned. “He’d been taunting the girls without stopping. He kind of earned it.”
“Well yeah, he did. Still, I’m going to hand him back to Dinesh smelling like applesauce.” Sam spread his arms wide over the back of the bench they sat on. “What are favorite uncles for, if not to get them dirty and messy and riled up before handing them back?”
Jordan basked in the sun, and in the casual touch. “Do you get to see them often?”
“Not as often as I’d like, obviously, but I do get to hang out with them a good amount of the time. I’m not sure how it’s going to shake out now that Dinesh has them full time. He’s going to have to hire someone to take care of them while he’s at work, obviously, but that shouldn’t be a problem. It’ll be a big adjustment for them, moving into the city like that.”
Jordan’s heart melted. He’d dated a few guys over the years, and some of them even said they wanted kids. He hadn’t met any who really thought about a kid’s needs like that, or who truly understood them. How had he gotten so lucky with Sam? “It will be. They’re young, they’re resilient, but it’s going to be a challenge for them. It’s for the best, I think. The pastor is definitely a destabilizing influence.”
“He is. If Ida ever gets free of him, then we can talk about shared custody. But I don’t see that happening.” Sam took a deep breath and closed his eyes, lifting his face to the sky. “You know, I think I was starting to forget what having the sun on my face like this felt like.”
AUTHOR BIO:
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J. V. Speyer has lived in upstate New York and rural Catalonia before making the greater Boston, Massachusetts area her permanent home. She has worked in archaeology, security, accountancy, finance, and non-profit management. She currently lives just south of Boston in a house old enough to remember when her town was a tavern community with a farming problem.
J. V. finds most of her inspiration from music. Her tastes run the gamut from traditional to industrial and back again. When not writing she can usually be found enjoying a baseball game or avoiding direct sunlight. She's learning to crochet so she can make blankets to fortify herself against the cold.
J. V. Speyer has lived in upstate New York and rural Catalonia before making the greater Boston, Massachusetts area her permanent home. She has worked in archaeology, security, accountancy, finance, and non-profit management. She currently lives just south of Boston in a house old enough to remember when her town was a tavern community with a farming problem.
J. V. finds most of her inspiration from music. Her tastes run the gamut from traditional to industrial and back again. When not writing she can usually be found enjoying a baseball game or avoiding direct sunlight. She's learning to crochet so she can make blankets to fortify herself against the cold.
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