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Back The Lucky Escape Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Cover
  2. PRAISE FOR LAURA JANE WILLIAMS
  3. Dedication
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. Epilogue
  51. Acknowledgements
  52. Publishing Credits
  53. Keep Reading …
  54. About the Author
  55. Fiction by the same author
  56. About the Publisher

‘And the YOLO,’ he continued, ‘comes from exactly what you were saying. That there are no prizes for playing it safe. Life is short, and precious, and we only get one. It could end tomorrow. I won’t be the guy who has it end on his way back from the office, thinking about all the could-have-beens. I decided a long time ago to be a today man. Anything else is just too sad.’

He lined up his shot, closed one eye, and hit the putter against the ball. I could tell immediately that he’d given it too much force and it was going to make him overshoot the mark.

I was right.

The ball sailed past the hole, making me the winner. And the decision-maker.

He looked at me. He’d totally done it on purpose. I could tell by the lopsided smirk that he was revelling in pushing me to be more spontaneous. More carefree. But I’d told him that’s what I wanted, hadn’t I? He was nudging me in the direction that I willingly wanted to go. Maybe he’d be good for me, then, being a nudger. Maybe it wasn’t wrong to take the trip, to take the money, to take a plane and see what my problems looked like from half a world away. That’s what Alexander had done, wasn’t it? Put thousands of miles between him and his problems?

‘I can’t believe I’m saying this,’ I began, and Patrick walked towards me, eyebrows raised and his gaze penetrating. ‘Potentially, this will be the worst hangover I’ll ever have. But … Patrick …’

He batted his eyes at me like a cartoon character.

‘Would you consider coming on honeymoon to Australia with me?’

He put a hand under my chin and tilted my face up, just slightly. For a terrified second I thought he was going to kiss me. He didn’t. Instead he looked deep into my eyes and adopted a pretty convincing Australian accent to say, ‘Babe. I thought you’d never ask.’

10

I love airports. I love airports, and I am good at them. It’s a learned skill, and actually one that Alexander taught me. You need time in an airport, and also an airport budget. Airports are the black hole of money. You can go into Boots for a bottle of water and come out eighty quid down, poof, on last-minute wet wipes and deodorant and adapters.

Adapters!

It was a good job I’d remembered. I’d never been to Australia before, so there hadn’t been any Australia-specific plugs in the travel drawer at home. I couldn’t forget to pick one up. Or two. That way Patrick would have one as well.