BooksBarbecue
Back Long Story Short
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 know you don’t care about my opinion, but yes, I would like to meet him. Maybe I’d like him a whole lot more than the man you’ve shown me so far.’

Jake visibly flinched at my words but I couldn’t believe he really cared what I thought. Perhaps he did still care about his career though and might listen to me for that reason. I caught sight of Liv then and was relieved I could escape from this intense conversation. ‘I need to speak to my cousin; I’ll see you later,’ I told him in a rush.

I fled again, but I could feel Jake’s eyes on my back the whole way. And I couldn’t decide if I enjoyed his gaze or wanted to hide from it.

All I knew was, I was only able to finally relax again once he wasn’t looking at me any more.

13

I woke up with a groan when the alarm on my phone went off the next morning. I’d had a restless night’s sleep. I kept replaying my conversation with Jake at the party over and over again. Once the sparkling-wine buzz had subsided, I was embarrassed by how direct I’d been with Jake, and how the way he had looked at me had made me feel. Because I was sure he hadn’t been trying to flirt; he’d only wanted to make sure I avoided his arch-enemy. Plus, I knew for certain now that Jake had overheard everything I said to Liv about my lack of both a romantic and sex life. Ugh.

It would have been a perfect morning-after moment to hide under the covers and wish that the rest of the world would disappear. But if I had any hope of working in publishing again, I couldn’t do that. I needed to try to stop Hayley from sacking me and the only way to do that was to face Jake again. We had his reader event later in the day and I had no idea if we’d be able to turn the tide against him.

So, I crawled out of my hotel bed and shuffled into the bathroom, wincing when I caught sight of myself in the row of mirrors above the sink. My skin was pale, my under-eyes puffy, and my hair was wild from my tossing and turning during the night. I also hadn’t taken last night’s make-up off properly so eyeliner was smudged across my face.