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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

He chuckled. ‘I definitely don’t. I’m a writer; I like staying at home and drink far too much coffee. But even if it wasn’t fair, I won so I get to pick what we do next, yes?’

I put my hands on my hips. ‘I’m afraid to even ask what you’re going to pick…’ I had a sudden thought he might suggest we go back to our hotel, and I wasn’t sure whether I would want to agree to that.

‘I don’t know about you but now I’ve mentioned coffee, I think we need to grab some food and drink. Okay?’

I nodded in agreement.

‘And I know the perfect place to take you after we get back to Manhattan. Come on.’

Jake held out his hand again and I took it, and we walked over the rest of the bridge. I looked behind me as we left, the bridge rising up behind us, and knew I’d never forget walking across it. I always knew it would be an incredible experience but having the best kiss of my life halfway across it had made it even sweeter.

24

We walked from the bridge to a quiet side street and a tiny coffee shop that had a long queue outside. As we waited, Jake told me that this was his favourite place to get a coffee the last time he’d come to the city. ‘I came here on a research trip for my book Meet Me in New York and discovered this place.’

I knew that was about two years ago as I had read that book while I did the rounds of interviews for a book-related job. I’d been starting to get frustrated and down, wondering if I ever would be able to work with books like I had always wanted to. I had started reading Meet Me in New York after a particularly bad interview where I had arrived late thanks to a sudden Tube station closure, been directed to the wrong floor by an unhelpful receptionist, and then proceeded to knock a bookcase of books over. I had sunk into my bed that evening and opened up Jake’s novel, grateful to escape into a life that wasn’t my own. ‘That book really cheered me up after a bad day,’ I told him. ‘I remember the characters have their first kiss over a cup of coffee.’

‘This is the place that inspired that scene,’ Jake said. He smiled at me. ‘It’s kind of crazy to think of you reading my books.’

‘Yeah I guess you can’t feed me a romantic line from one of your characters because I will know it’s not really you saying that.’