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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

But I knew this was an anomaly. Jake wasn’t like me.

Still, I would remember this moment and if I felt sad about us ending whatever had started in New York, this would help.

If only just a little bit.

* * *

The flight from New York to London was a parallel of the flight from London to New York. Jake and I sat in our separate pods and did our own thing for the hours spent in the sky. Before our trip, I didn’t know that Jake could be different to the man I thought he was when we first met. Back then, he said he was bitter from his dad’s betrayal, and I completely understood why. Like me wondering if love was all a lie, Jake had thought love was real and then that belief had been shattered. By the person closest to him. It had made him cold, reserved, stand-offish even.

But in New York, he had finally been honest with me and himself, then his readers. All of that felt completely pointless now because when I looked over at him on the plane, he had shut down again. Maybe I had just imagined him changing. Or it had happened but after our agreement, he had gone back into his hard shell?

Jake closed up his pod soon after take-off so I couldn’t even glance over to see what he was doing. I tried to sleep or watch a film on my screen but I was too restless for either. I couldn’t even enjoy first class the second time around.

When the plane started its descent to Heathrow, Jake opened his pod and put his seatbelt on without looking over at me. That told me he hadn’t been thinking about me on the flight like I had been thinking about him. I put my seatbelt on, looked out at the fluffy clouds over London and resolved to put him out of my mind. I would think of him as someone I had had a fun holiday fling with, and that was it.

‘You are a good girl, aren’t you, Freya?’

I shook my head to try to clear it of dirty thoughts about our time in my hotel bed. Great sex didn’t equal a great relationship, did it?

The plane dipped again and the approach to Heathrow began. I breathed a sigh of relief that soon, I would be off this plane and back in my room in my flat, far away from Jake. And when I next saw him, it would be for work, and I needed to go back to being just professional with him.

And not think about being in Jake’s arms ever again.

37

‘You won’t believe the gossip I have for you!’