We're all just frogs dreaming of that perfect Princely first kiss!

Happy Valentine's Day!
The 25th anniversary of my first kiss with my husband is coming up in a couple weeks.  I announced this momentous fact to my teen aged children last night and they were..underwhelmed.  It didn't surprise me that the Boy wasn't impressed.  He's 17, and anything to do with his parents is something to be ignored.  But I thought for sure the Girl, who is newly 14 and a complete romantic, would be impressed.

"You're not going to announce every little anniversary of every little thing are you?"  she asked with that expression only 14 year old girls have perfected.

No, I'm not a sentimental person.  I remember birthdays, some wedding anniversaries, but mostly I'm not one to get misty over the little moments we have.  Except, a first kiss, especially the first kiss with someone who winds up being your "Happily ever after" isn't a little moment, is it?  First kisses mean everything!

When we were little, we were all princesses.  We were all going to kiss a frog and out would pop a prince and we'd be even better princesses.  When we were little we knew that first kiss was everything.  And most of us hadn't even had a kiss yet.

But we are grown ups, and this is real life.  Most of us are not princesses.  We still read still read romance novels, but I think we dream of a different sort of first kiss, don't we?  We dream of a prince kissing us, taking us away from our hum drum lives and making us all ...say it with me...princesses!

When I wrote Dream in Color, it wasn't hard to feel that first kiss between Ramona, my every day woman who'd been hurt by love and bored by life, and Jesse, the rock star she idolized.  It wasn't hard, because I, like everyone I know, have had this little fantasy before:

            She stood up and walked several paces away from him, tracing the outdated wallpaper with one trembling finger.  Turning her back to him, Ramona bowed her head to hide the conflict she knew played on her face.  Jesse wants me to write music for him, he sees something special in what I do.  Is this the way my dream is going to come true? She looked back around at him.  “Let me understand this.  You want me to help you write some songs?”

            “Not some songs.  All of them, an album.”  He leaned against the piano, his eyes glowing.  “I think you’re brilliant.”

            “Me?”  She let out a nervous giggle.   “I’m hardly brilliant.  What I do, that’s not anything.  Just adding to something that’s already been written.”

            His stride toward her was strong, purposeful.  So close, he towered over her, his intensity haloing a tangible aura around him.  “You have no idea about yourself, do you?”  He leaned in and captured her stunned lips with his own.

            The floor spun beneath her and Ramona gripped Jesse’s shoulders for balance, welcoming the steadying strength of his arms around her.  His kiss was like liquor, heating her from the inside out until she glowed.  His hands massaged her back, relaxing her, molding her close against him.

            Confident on her feet, Ramona released her death grip on his shoulders and let her hand follow his collarbone to his chest where she found his heart beating a strong, undeniable rhythm.  Her fingers twined past the denim shirt to his bare skin. The contact sent electricity through both of them, the current snapping them apart for one quick, breathless heartbeat.   

            In that moment, Ramona let go of her heart and dove into the depths of the desire she saw in his eyes.  She laid her hand flat against his chest, reveling in the deep breath he took as he tossed his hair back before pulling her in again.  His full weight leaned into her; only the wall kept the two of them upright.

             I’m kissing Jesse, and he’s not pushing me away.

            Holy cow, I’m kissing Jesse.

            Her eyes flew open at the realization of just what she was doing. He pulled her closer, lacing his fingers in her hair.  Still shaken but emboldened by his continued advances, Ramona closed her eyes and drank in his scent.  As with their music, their caresses flowed together with the perfectly timed give and take of a complicated musical score. Powered by a secret, primal pulse, she stood on the balls of her feet, straining to be closer to him, her body pleading to meld together with his just as her heart had. 

Whew!  Got a favorite first kiss?  Got a favorite fantasy first kiss?   Hop on over to my website, I would LOVE to hear from you! Would you just like to laugh?  Then take a look at my froggy little life here.

Sarah J. Bradley is lifelong Upper Midwest girl who lives with her college sweetheart husband and her two children in Waukesha, Wisconsin. When not writing or volunteering at her church, Sarah's passions include following her children's sports teams around the county, cheering for the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Redwings, and, of course, listening to Rick Springfield music.