Love Takes Time (Christian Romance)

Love Takes Time

By Kaci Hart

Copyright © 2016 by Kaci Hart

All rights reserved. This
book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner
whatsoever without the express written permission of the author or publisher except
for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction.
Names and character are either the product of the author’s imagination or are
used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is
entirely coincidental.

Love Takes Time

A successful investment
banker and a go-with-the-flow dance student meet unexpectedly.  The
attraction between them is undeniable, but their different lifestyles put a
damper on their chance at happiness. 

     
Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Yes,
mother nature, I’m a fan of cold weather but this is getting a bit on the
ridiculous side. 

The
truth was that it was only February but Chelsea was over the constant freeze-off-your-fingers
temperatures.  At least she didn’t have to spend her time making her way
through the city’s notorious slush puddles while trying to not ruin her
shoes.  She picked up her pace, passing building after building that
looked down on her from all angles. 

She
wondered if anyone up there even took note of the people moving about on the
city street beneath them.  Probably not.  This was New York City
after all.  She could walk through the city’s always crowded streets for
five minutes without making eye contact with a single person.  The people
in the concrete castles above certainly didn’t take note of people like her
regardless of how much was going on, and today seemed even busier than
normal.  The traffic was thick and slow, and the countless horns and
shouts played off the walls around her to create the melody of the city that
welcomed her every morning at this time. 

She
darted across the road, weaving her way through cars.  She knew she
shouldn’t jay walk but figured that the geniuses who came up with that rule
probably weren’t in a rush to get somewhere when they came up with
it.    But she did have to be somewhere and as tempted as she
was to stop as she passed her favorite curb side barista and grab a hot cocoa, all
she could do today was settle for the thought of it until later. 

I
swear if I miss this appointment because of Sasha, I am going to find another
roommate. 

Chelsea
loved living in New York for certain but the small place that they lived in had
always had its way of feeling cramped as the city itself.  Normally that
was fine except for the days like today.  Sasha would stay in the bathroom
taking what seemed like an extra-long time when she
 knew 
today was important for Chelsea. 

She
didn’t need another roommate though.  Sasha had her ways but she was
better than a lot of the other options out there, and Chelsea was well aware of
that.  What she really needed was a bigger place.  A bathroom of her
own was a pipe dream though, and she reminded herself of that each time she’d
ever considered moving in the past.  Between the two of them, they could
barely even afford to stay in the place that they were now.  And even that
was a constant struggle.  To move where she’d really like to live would
mean she was making serious money, which she certainly wasn’t.   

As
she made her way through the nerve numbing cold, Chelsea repositioned her scarf
across the bridge of her nose to protect herself as much as possible.  She
was warm enough already from the neck down with the outfit she had on today
that was highlighted by a stylish light pink leather jacket that contrasted her
burgundy hair.  Her best friend, Ava, had given her the expensive jacket
from Bergdorf Goodman and it was easily the priciest item of clothing in her wardrobe.

It
was more of an expensive fashion statement than a practical jacket to keep a
person warm in these conditions but Ava had known that when she bought
it.  She had said she wanted her best friend to have at least one luxury
item in her wardrobe.  Still, when coupled with the white sweater she wore
underneath, she was pretty warm.  The only reason she was even wearing
this outfit--or any of her cute outfits for that matter-- on a day as cold as
this one, was to impress one very attractive guy at her dance academy. 

Not
that it even mattered anymore today.  At the current rate, by the time she
got to school, everyone would be gone.  Luckily for her when she looked
back a city cab came into view down the street.  Normally she didn’t like
to spend the money on a cab when the bus was so much cheaper but today she’d
have to make an exception to the rule.  No matter how she calculated, she
did not have the time needed to wait on the next bus to arrive since she was
already so close to being late. 

She moved
as quickly as she could to the curb, waving her arms in a frantic attempt to
flag it down and breathed a sigh of relief when it came to a slow halt in front
of her.  She turned around to shorten the handle on her pull bag to put it
into the vehicle and before she knew it a pompous looking man was slamming the
door of the cab she’d just flagged down.  She looked up and shouted as if
it would really change things.

“Hello! 
That was my cab you jerk.’”

Could
have at least shared the stupid ride with me.

Moments
later all she could see was the back of the taxi driving down the road. 
She figured if this current moment was any indicator of how the rest of her day
was going to go, she might as well turn right on around, walk back home and
cuddle on the couch while watching the morning news.  Stopping for her hot
cocoa on the way home first of course.  Regardless, she was starting to
feel like anything would be better than having to deal with the weather and
people on a day like today. 

She didn’t
see another taxi immediately in sight, but she knew one would be along soon
enough.  Still, rather than wait there freezing her tail off, she started
walking in the direction of her college.  That way she would make her ride
that much shorter and keep her natural body heat working in her favor. 
One thing that was certain in her mind was that she needed to be where she was
going as quickly as possible. 

She
hadn’t actually known what time it was since she didn’t wear a watch but the
vibration of her phone in her tote told her more than enough. 
Denard
was most likely the one calling her.  She
stopped walking and reached into her bag, rummaging around for her phone. 
Her phone buzzed again.  She didn’t know why but her mind told her that
the buzz felt more powerful, like the phone itself was angry that it wasn’t
being answered.  She felt her fingers run across every possible thing but
the phone.  Yes, the time to organize her bag had zipped past her long ago
but it was just a reflection of everything else in her life.  She knew
certain things needed to be done.  She just never actually got around to
doing them.   

Finally
.

With
her phone in hand, she looked at the corner of the screen and realized that it
wasn’t a call but a text.  She tapped on the messenger icon to see
Denard’s
smiling picture on the screen.  She was sure
that if she could see his face right now, the expression would be about as far
from a smile as it could get.  He was her dance partner and if his message
was any indication, he was probably pretty upset with her.  He had sent
her a red faced, frowning, teeth bared, eye brows scrunched emoji which she
didn’t even know existed.  It was coupled with one very simple, all capped
message.

‘STUPID ME EXPECTED YOU TO BE HERE BUT YOU ARE LATE
. . .  AGAIN.  GET HERE NOW PLEASE!!!’

Of
course the please was just a nicety.  He had made it very clear that he
was getting tired of being partnered with someone who didn’t seem to take her
career as a dancer as serious as he took his.  He’d even gone so far as to
say that simply being her partner was giving him cluster headaches.  She
knew it wasn’t a moment to laugh right now but she couldn’t help it.  In
her mind, she knew he was probably already having another one right then. 
She started walking down the sidewalk again while looking at her phone to type
him a response.  Almost simultaneously with her hitting the send button,
she started to look up and felt her face run up against something hard. 

When
she realized that she was falling she tried to catch herself but knew it was
too late since she was already looking towards the sky.  Her feet had been
moving forward too fast and her fall onto her bottom was just as quick as her
legs swung from under her and into the air.  As her bottom hit the ground,
she was sure that her fall looked like something from a wrestling match but it
was definitely real.

As
she looked around to see what she had bumped into, she was probably happy for
the first time in her life that, like her mother, most of her extra weight was
concentrated in her posterior.  Not that the concrete wasn’t hard because
it definitely was, but as she took stock of her parts she was glad that her
body didn’t feel like she’d broken anything.

She
sat up and the first thing she saw was the polished back shoes.  Her eyes
followed the pathway up to see the face of a concerned looking man in a
three-piece suit bending down over her.    

“Oh
my goodness miss.  I’m so sorry.  Are you ok?”

She
was surprised at his concern for her.   She had just fallen. 
Nothing life altering.

“I’m
fine.”

She
tried to move when he put his hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

“Are
you sure?  That looked like a pretty hard fall.  Don’t move if you’re
hurt and I can get help.”

She
didn’t want to turn this into an ordeal.  She hated to admit it but she
didn’t have time for the most attractive man she’d ever met to make sure she
was ok.  Go figure.  That was just the type of day she was having. 

“No. 
Y-you don’t need to go to all the trouble.  Look…”

Chelsea
twisted from side to side and moved her arms up and down to show that she was
alright.

“See. 
I’m fine.”

She
saw his chest rise and fall as he let out a deep sigh.  The look of
extreme worry that he had been wearing moments before gave way to a look of
relief on his face.  A face that Chelsea was quite certain was one of the
most picture perfect ones that she had ever laid eyes on.  She jumped a
bit when he placed his large hand on the small of her back and spoke, his voice
soft and smooth.  He was obviously still concerned for her as he extended
his other hand to her.

“Let
me help you up at least.  Hold my hand.”

She
reached up and took the support he was offering her while placing her hand on
the ground to push off.  Once she was on her feet, her eyes fell on his
blue pools for an unexpected meeting that caused her heart rate to increase
pretty quickly.  
This 
is what good looking is really all about.  She
was more glad than ever that she’d worn her cute outfit today.  Forget the
cute guy from school though.  This was the kind of guy a woman only wanted
to meet when she looked her absolute best.  In addition to holding her
gaze for that two second meeting, he held her hand and she felt butterflies
fluttering in her stomach. 

“Thanks
for helping me up and please don’t worry.  Like I said, I’m okay so it’s
fine.  Really.”

“That’s
not true.  I took the phrase of sweeping a pretty woman off her feet a
little too literally just now and that wasn’t very gentlemanly of me at all.”

She watched
him give her a once over with his eyes, with a look that said he was genuinely
concerned that he’d harmed her.   

“Well
I’d say you made up for it with your kindness just now.”

“At
least it looks like nothing is broken but I usually always pay attention to
what I’m doing.  I ran out the door so quickly that I didn’t even see you
coming.”

“I
appreciate you taking the blame but it really isn’t all your fault. 
There’s a reason they say that you shouldn’t text and . . . well take any other
action I guess.  I’m as much to blame as you, if not more so don’t beat
yourself up too much.”  She backed up and started to look around for her
things.  She’d lost time here that she didn’t have.  “Anyway, I would
love to stay and keep talking to you but I am so late for an appointment that I
had today.”

“Great! 
I was just about to head to my office but it would be my pleasure to drop you
wherever you need to go.  It’s the least I can do after what happened plus
it gives me a few minutes to get to know who you are.”

After
meeting him and the way he’d acted so far, she wasn’t surprised that he would
offer to give her a lift.  She bit her lip and looked around as she
thought about it.  It wasn’t like there was another taxi right
there.  At least if she rode with him, she would save time. She also knew
that she was going to have to face
Denard’s
wrath,
and she’d rather experience the calm before the storm with this guy than
freezing on the street side.