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Back Long Story Short Save as PDF
Chapters (61)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. 37
  40. 38
  41. 39
  42. 40
  43. 41
  44. 42
  45. 43
  46. 44
  47. 45
  48. 46
  49. 47
  50. 48
  51. 49
  52. 50
  53. 51
  54. EPILOGUE
  55. THANK YOU!
  56. MORE FROM VICTORIA WALTERS
  57. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  58. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  59. ALSO BY VICTORIA WALTERS
  60. Boldwood Ever After
  61. About Boldwood Books

I leaned in to kiss him. ‘That’s so beautiful,’ I said, feeling even more attracted to him if that was possible. ‘I used to read your books and wonder if I’d ever find a love like the kind you wrote about. I guess that’s why I stopped dating these past few years.’

Jake shook his head. ‘I’ve spent a lot of the last six months wondering if love like that does exist too so I get it. I wondered whether I wanted to read or write romance again.’

‘Yeah, I felt like I would never find it…’ I trailed off, not wanting him to misinterpret my words. I knew this wasn’t love but when we looked at one another in this hotel-room bubble, it felt like there was a possibility that one day, this could be more than a fling. I longed to know if he could feel it too or not. ‘I had a series of relationships that went nowhere. And then bad dates that made me not want to bother even trying.’ Then I frowned, thinking about what Jake had told me. ‘But why did you change what you thought about love? I mean, your parents still inspire you with their love story, don’t they?’ I asked him curiously.

‘I wish they did.’ He shifted uncomfortably on the bed. ‘I want to tell you…’ he trailed off.

I let go of his hand and took his face in my hands. ‘It’s okay. You can tell me anything. If you want to. I won’t tell anyone, Jake. It can just be between us. Like what we’ve been doing in here.’ I gave him a small smile and leaned in to brush my lips against his.

Jake pulled me closer and gave me a soft, deep kiss. ‘Thank you, Freya. That means a lot.’ He took a deep breath. ‘What I found out six months ago made me wonder if I ever wanted to write or read a love story ever again. I wasn’t sure I believed in love any more because the happy ever after that inspired me to write books with similar happy endings, and made me want to find my own one day, turned out to have been far from happy.’

‘Your parents aren’t as happy as you thought?’

‘It was all a lie,’ he said bitterly. ‘My parents, who inspired my love stories, who have been married for forty years and who I thought were the ultimate happy ever after… are actually not.’ Jake’s eyes locked with mine. ‘I found out that my father has got a second family that my mum and I knew nothing about.’

30

There was a short silence as I absorbed his words. ‘What do you mean your dad has a second family?’ I asked, my heart going out to him as I saw the pain in his eyes.