Read Speaking of Love (Perfect Kisses) for Free Online

background getting louder: Have you ever really, really, really ever loved a woman… Mitch must’ve been walking up the stairs toward his bedroom. “But, um, not for a couple of hours at least,” he added.
    Rick laughed. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
    After he ended the call, Rick experienced the same sort of twinge he’d been feeling lately whenever he talked to his brother. Mitch and Emily had married five years ago, after they’d both finished law school. He didn’t know their secret, but they seemed so happy.
    As cliché as it sounded, it was like they were two puzzle pieces finding each other. Two independent-yet-complete halves that made a new complete whole, and that whole was supremely superior than the two separate pieces had been.
    Having their parents’ icy-at-best relationship as their closest example, Rick was pretty amazed that his brother had found someone like Emily who he could be completely himself with, someone who loved all of him no matter what.
    Over the past few months, it was something Rick had begun to truly envy.
    As he sped up to pass a convertible, Rick couldn’t help thinking that, since Brandy had done the beauty queen thing, she would definitely feel more comfortable in public than Mac had.
    Although Mac did always hold her own, even when making tedious chitchat with local politicians and civic leaders, he knew she didn’t really enjoy herself when they went to one of his community events. The only times she seemed like herself was before it or after; the times they were alone. He wished that feeling would stay between them, but she always seemed to pull back just as he was getting to know her.
    Like Mitch had said, if Rick wasn’t the one Mac could be totally open and trusting with, then he needed to move on.
    He yanked at his tie and slid the whole thing off, dropping it on the passenger seat where Mac had just been. The car still smelled like her. He rolled down the window and leaned an elbow on the top of the rubber window slit, breathing in the cold night air, trying to get Mac’s perfume out of his head.
    Luckily, he had a busy few days ahead. Starting tomorrow, he would be out in the sticks, covering a story about farm lands for the next two days, and then lunch with Brandy. At least Mac would be there, too, so he was sure to have fun. Although maybe that shouldn’t have made him feel better.
    After taking a tight corner, he turned up the radio and sped toward home.

Chapter Four
    Justin Bieber’s hair and relationship status did not count as “news.” After the third student in her Intro to Public Speaking class mentioned him during their morning “current events corral,” Mac walked to the front of the room. The whole class moaned, knowing what was coming.
    “I think it’s time we dig a little deeper,” Mac said. “Don’t you? Serena, what is the headline on the New York Times this morning?” She waited while the girl in the front row—the one manning their classroom’s only student-access computer—searched the website.
    “It’s about the troops,” Serena said. “And the president’s trip to the Middle East.”
    “Now look up local news.”
    She clicked the mouse a few times. “There’s a flu epidemic.”
    “What else?”
    “The man who started all those fires, his trial starts today.”
    “Huh.” Mac leaned a hand on her desk. “Neither site had anything about pop music?”
    The class laughed quietly.
    “Okay.” Mac smiled and crossed her arms. “Here’s the new assignment. As a group, we’re going to follow a local, ongoing story. Probably not the arson trial, since that might go on for too long. Something shorter that we can follow for a week or two. Serena, start running down the other local headlines, please.” To the class she said, “If anything stands out, don’t be afraid to speak up. I want this to mean something.” She nodded at Serena.
    “Main Street is going to be closed next week,” she began. “The Colts made some big