Seriously, who needs Fabio when we have Mr. Romance?

I'm not leaving my desk. I'm waiting for Mr. Romance to call.

And, oooooh, I hope he calls. I hope he calls, I hope he calls, I hope he calls. Why won't the phone ring already?

I've left one message and I don't want to seem needy and leave another. Is it too soon to call again? How about now? Now?

Wait. What? Who's Mr. Romance? Well, duh! Let's start with the basics. How about, what is Mr. Romance? The Mr. Romance contest is only the biggest each year for models aspiring to be on the cover of romance novels. It's practically the launching pad that rocketed Fabio's career into the romanti-sphere before he was hit by a bird on a roller coaster at Busch Gardens.

And this year's Mr. Romance is Chris Winters, a Hopewell native who now lives in Portsmouth and works as a programmer at Dominion Enterprises. (Disclosure: Dominion is owned by Landmark Communications Inc., the parent company of The Pilot.)

You may know Winters as the face of a recent Hampton Roads Transit ad. He's the really handsome guy who kinda looks like Keanu Reeves. In the ad, he's leaning against a bus, and if you just look in his eyes it is completely obvious what he is trying to say: "Handsome people ride the bus. They wear suits, they don't shave every day and they love, absolutely love, the way the 20 goes right past Pier One on Virginia Beach Boulevard."

That doesn't sound familiar?

He's also a model carrying flowers and balloons in local Dollar Tree circulars. And he's in spots for Arby's and Subaru.

"I will call tomorrow!" Chris wrote me in an e-mail. That tease. Could he be standing me up? No. He wouldn't do that. Mr. Romance is too nice for that. Isn't he?

Hold on. It's HIM calling!

He happened to be in the neighborhood and stopped by.

So we sit on a park bench outside the office and talk.

Last week at a national convention in Pittsburgh for the romance novel industry, Winters was judged on personality, "romance IQ" and charm as he vied for the title. But our local guy had two secrets: He and many aspiring romance writers claim that he's an exceptional hugger. Also, he is generous with kisses on the cheek. (I can't vouch for either. No touchy.) It made for a winning combination.

As a reward, he will hold the title of Mr. Romance for one year.

"It's like being Miss America," he joked. (There's that charm!) "It's not a huge, huge thing."

Winters' philosophy is just to have people laughing and smiling.

"I wanna make you look good," he said. He signed more than 1,000 autographs at the convention.

Part of his grand prize is an appearance on the cover of a Dorchester Publishing novel and a trip to New York for the photo shoot. He's expected to appear on the cover of two other books and hopes to model for science fiction and paranormal covers.

Chris does not disclose his age because he's also an aspiring actor.

Oh. And ladies, thanks for asking, but he's not single. He's got a girlfriend.

But maybe he'll give you a hug, a peck on the cheek.

Mike Gruss, (757) 446-2277 mike.gruss@pilotonline.com