Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 102731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
As teenagers, Callie Ironside and Lewis Adair were inseparable. So much so, Lewis still can’t work out where it all went horribly wrong, or why he’s spent the last seven years in London away from the love of his life.
Callie knows exactly where it all went wrong and while she tried to move on—learning pastry techniques in Paris and dating French men—returning home to Ardnoch to work in her mother’s bakery only reminds her of the future she lost with Lewis.
But when a visit to London brings them unexpectedly together, the passion, pain and animosity between them leads to a one-night stand. For Lewis, it’s the beginning of winning Callie and his life in Ardnoch back. For Callie, it’s a mistake that’s shaken up the devastating heartbreak she fought hard to forget. However, Lewis is determined to fight for her, and proves it when their night together results in more than just unresolved feelings.
As they come to grips with impending parenthood and the mistakes they’ve both made, Callie and Lewis will not only have to decide to fight for a love that has endured so many years apart, but a mysterious adversary who seems intent on destroying the future they’re building together.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Prologue
CALLIE
EIGHT YEARS AGO
Caelmore, Scottish Highlands
“Are you okay?” Lewis asked as I lay wrapped up tight in his arms.
A thrill of giddiness thrummed through me at the feel of his strong, naked body. Lewis’s striking blue-gray eyes were filled with tenderness and awe. Sometimes I couldn’t believe he was mine. Not just because he was the most beautiful boy I’d ever seen in my life, but because that beauty ran deep. Lewis was kind, attentive, smart, and funny.
And he belonged to me now, as I belonged to him.
That night we’d given each other our virginity.
No one else would ever have that from either of us.
The very thought of Lewis with another girl sent a bolt of panic through me, and I crushed it by kissing him fiercely.
“I’m more than okay,” I answered breathlessly when we finally broke the kiss.
He slid a hand around my nape and brushed his lips across my mouth. “I love you so much, Callie Ironside.”
“I love you too.” Feeling him pulse against my stomach, I giggled. “Again?”
He grinned, dropping his forehead to mine. “Ignore it. You’ll be sore.”
A twinge throbbed between my legs. “We can do other stuff.”
Lewis groaned. “I want to … but we need to get you home before my dad or yours finds us.”
We’d taken to sneaking into Lewis’s parents’ guest annex at the side of his house. So far we hadn’t been caught, but Lewis was sure our luck was going to run out. A glance at the alarm clock on the nightstand told me it was nearly midnight. Usually, I told little white lies to my parents that I was at a friend’s house sleeping over, but I hadn’t tonight because I hadn’t expected to have sex with my boyfriend.
If anyone had been leading the physical side of things, it was me. Lewis was a perfect gentleman. I’d told him weeks ago I was ready to have sex, but he said he didn’t want to rush me. Tonight we’d snuck into the annex to fool around, but things escalated quickly, and I wasn’t sorry for it.
Lewis wasn’t merely my boyfriend. He was my best friend. Since I’d moved to Scotland with my mum when I was ten years old, Lewis had been an important part of my life. He’d taken me under his wing because he sensed I’d been through something. And when I went through something even more traumatic, he was right there at my side. Ever my protector.
As we got older, we shared our pasts with each other. I knew that Lewis and his wee sister Eilidh had lost their mum and had been through a terrifying home invasion experience a few years before my arrival. We, unfortunately, had trauma in common. But fortunately, having my best friend understand a horrific moment in my life had made me feel less alone and not as scared.
Lewis was protective and affectionate, and he always had my back.
I’d known since I was thirteen that I wanted him to be the kind of best friend I kissed every day. It had taken him a little longer to catch up. He’d been afraid of ruining our friendship. But when I’d started dating our classmate and Lewis’s friend, Michael Barr, everything changed. Lewis was jealous and hurt and finally admitted he wanted me to be his girlfriend. Poor Michael got caught in the crossfire, and when I broke up with him to date Lewis, he stopped talking to both of us.
However, I was happy to report that he and Lewis had gotten their friendship back on track this past year. Michael was dating Lana, a girl in our year who lived in Golspie. All was well again. In fact, we had a nice friendship group that made school fun. Lewis’s best friend since first year, Fyfe Moray, was now one of my close friends, too, and even more so since he’d started dating my friend Carianne.
Maybe we’d end up all getting married at the same time and raising our kids together. The thought filled me with excitement for the future. I wanted to work at my mum’s bakery in Ardnoch, maybe take over running it when she was ready to retire, and live there for the rest of my days. After living my first ten years in LA, I could, hand on heart, say I never wanted to live anywhere but my wee village in the Scottish Highlands.
Lewis wanted to be an architect like his dad, so I imagined him working for his dad’s firm in Inverness and us building our house here in Caelmore on the edge of Ardnoch where the rest of his family had built their homes.
A perfect, simple, happy life.
I smiled dreamily at the thought and felt Lewis’s chest vibrate with his laughter.
“What’s that look for?”
I grinned harder. “Just really happy.”
His expression softened. “I’m glad. Me too.”