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Back First Comes Love Save as PDF
Chapters (92)
  1. First
  2. Love Connection
  3. Zero
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. One Month Later
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Six Months Later
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-one
  27. Twenty-two
  28. Twenty-three
  29. Twenty-four
  30. Six Months Later
  31. Twenty-five
  32. Twenty-six
  33. Twenty-seven
  34. Twenty-eight
  35. Twenty-nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-one
  38. Thirty-two
  39. Thirty-three
  40. I Have Never
  41. One
  42. Two
  43. Three
  44. Four
  45. Five
  46. Six
  47. Seven
  48. Eight
  49. Nine
  50. Ten
  51. Eleven
  52. Twelve
  53. Thirteen
  54. Fourteen
  55. Fifteen
  56. Sixteen
  57. Seventeen
  58. Eighteen
  59. Nineteen
  60. Twenty
  61. Twenty-one
  62. Twenty-two
  63. A Christmas Date
  64. One
  65. Two
  66. Three
  67. Four
  68. Five
  69. Six
  70. Seven
  71. Eight
  72. Nine
  73. Ten
  74. Eleven
  75. Twelve
  76. Thirteen
  77. Fourteen
  78. Fifteen
  79. Sixteen
  80. Seventeen
  81. Eighteen
  82. Nineteen
  83. Twenty
  84. Twenty-one
  85. Twenty-two
  86. Note from the Author
  87. Sneak Peek – To the Stars and Back
  88. Two
  89. Three
  90. Four
  91. Also by Camilla Isley
  92. About the Author

I bring my hand to my mouth. “Jake, I’m so sorry. I’ve ruined her life, haven’t I?”

From across the table, Jake takes my hand away from my mouth and into his hands. He brushes his thumbs on my palm in soothing circles. “You didn’t ruin her life. I did. I did it when I proposed to her knowing that deep in my heart she wasn’t the woman I wanted. I did this, not you. In the end, it will be better for Sharon this way. Trust me.”

“I feel horrible to be this happy at someone else’s expense.”

“This one’s on me.”

A server arrives with the check, and I’m grateful for the interruption.

“Where are you staying tonight?” Jake asks.

“No idea. I didn’t book a hotel, I don’t have any money, and the only clean clothes I have left are the ones Edward was able to salvage from the moat.” Jake’s brother was the one who organized our escape from the castle. He retrieved my bag, procured a car, and made sure we made our way out unseen.

Jake chuckles again.

“What about you?” I ask.

“I was supposed to be on my way to Aruba right now and my house is definitely off limits.” I tense again. “But, unlike you, I have a working credit card.” Jake smiles, vanishing my anxiety. “We can check into a hotel.” He wiggles his eyebrows at me jokingly and I blush despite myself.

“I’m not sure I should go to a hotel with you. You look like someone with bad intentions,” I say, standing up.

His eyes darken as he stands next to me. “Do I?” he says innocently.

I melt under his stare. “Let’s go,” I whisper.

Eight

Ashes

♦♦♦

Sunday, June 11—Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

“Make it stop,” I moan, as an annoying sound makes my head pound.

“It’s your phone. You make it stop,” a female someone complains next to me.

I’m on the edge of a double bed with expensive, pristine white sheets, which attack my sore eyes with their brightness as I pull one eyelid open to have a look around to figure out what the hell is going on. I spy a semi-naked woman sleeping next to me. It’s Amelia.

I roll over the bed, whining. Last night, drowning our pain in alcohol seemed like the best of ideas. This morning, not so much. I tumble off the bed and crawl on the floor on my hands and knees, looking for my phone while trying to keep my eyes almost completely shut, relying on my hearing instead.

I locate the phone somewhere at the foot of the bed and answer without looking at the caller ID.

“What?”

“And good morning to you too,” says a voice that sounds disturbingly like my mother’s, but not quite the same.

“Who’s this?”