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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

‘No,’ I cut in firmly. ‘I’m done humiliating myself with that man. He doesn’t want a relationship with me. It was just a fling. I need to move on, Liv. But how can I get through this meeting?’

‘You can get through it,’ Liv reassured me even though she looked concerned. ‘You need to treat Jake like he is still what he was to you before New York. Just Hayley’s biggest client. And you need to show her how much you deserve that promotion.’

I nodded along with her pep talk and hoped I could pull it off.

‘You were amazing in New York. I mean, you’ve saved Jake’s career! That was down to you. You got him to be honest, and everyone reacted really well to it. He did that because of you. Just channel the same energy.’

I gave her a weak smile. New York had been a success on the professional front. I needed to remember that, and try to forget the failure on the personal front. I drained the rest of my coffee and felt a little bit more awake. ‘You’re right. Thanks, Liv. If what happened with Jake taught me anything, it’s that I should have been more professional, and less like myself. Being myself might have saved his reputation but it had made me risk my heart on someone who hadn’t been worth that risk.’

‘What do you mean?’ Liv asked with a frown.

‘I’ll do everything Hayley wants, be who she wants me to be, and leave the old “wears her heart on her sleeve” Freya behind. I’m going to turn over a completely new leaf. I will be a complete boss bitch like Hayley. The old Freya is dead.’

‘Hang on…’

‘I follow my heart too much; I always have. It’s time to follow my head instead.’

Liv didn’t look convinced but I ignored her negativity. I knew what I had to do. I jumped up. ‘I need to go shopping and buy a new outfit for tomorrow’s meeting. Wish me luck!’

‘But, Freya…’

I was already walking away from her. ‘I’ll call you and tell you how it went,’ I told her over my shoulder.

She sighed but called out to wish me luck and with a parting wave, I walked out of Starbucks and left her there, determined to make tomorrow’s meeting go the best it possibly could.

38

‘Now, Jake’s publishers will definitely want to play hard ball with us so we need to make sure they know how successful the romance conference was for him,’ Hayley said to me the next day as we talked through the meeting we were about to have at Jake’s publisher’s office.