Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
When her “perfect” relationship had fallen apart, she’d decided that she didn’t need or want a man in her life to be happy. She couldn’t trust men anymore, and that was fine with her because she was far happier being alone. Happier knowing that she wasn’t falling for some fantasy spun by a scumbag masquerading as a good man.
Even two years later, it was difficult not to let herself stew on how badly he’d betrayed both her and his wife. But she refused to let her ex ruin her life or take any more from her than he already had.
If only she could forget his frantic phone messages in which he’d claimed:
1) The situation was more complicated than his wife had made it sound.
2) He would have left his wife if she hadn’t gotten pregnant.
3) Josie was the woman he was truly in love with, not his wife.
Josie never responded to any of those messages, and within a week of breaking up with him, she got a new phone number so that he couldn’t bother her anymore.
Unfortunately, when he couldn’t reach her by phone, he had come to her house. She hadn’t let him in, though. Instead, she’d sat on the floor with her back against the door, where he couldn’t see her and the tears streaming down her cheeks.
Tears because the fairy tale had never been real.
Tears because she hadn’t seen from the start what a horrible man he was.
Tears because she’d unwittingly hurt another woman, especially one with a beautiful new baby.
All of that was behind her now, thankfully. Mari Everett, bookstore owner and Josie’s new client, was somewhere in Heathrow’s Arrivals hall, ready to take Josie to the island. Mari had said she’d be holding a sign with Josie’s name on it.
But when Josie got all the way out of the baggage claim area, dragging her heavy suitcases behind her, and looked around at all the signs, she didn’t see anybody holding one with her name on it. Nor did she see Mari.
Maybe she’d been held up in traffic? Josie had the woman’s phone number, so she could call her, but she figured she would wait a few minutes before seeing if there was a problem.
Josie had always enjoyed people-watching, and standing in the middle of the Arrivals area of one of the biggest airports in the world was a great opportunity. More lovers were reuniting to her left. A mother and son were greeting each other a little awkwardly. A businessman was heading off to continue building his empire, great purpose in each step.
Ever since Josie was a child, she had created lives for people inside her head. Her mother had always fondly said that it was what came of reading so much. Her mother had assumed that one day Josie would become a writer. But although Josie could spend all day reading, she had never had the patience to sit in a chair and type for hours, day after day. She adored writers, of course. But she would always stand firmly on the reading side of books.
Her gaze landed on a man in a well-tailored suit. As he was turned slightly to one side, she could tell that he was on the phone and that he looked irritated. He also, she couldn’t help but notice, cut a fine figure. He might wear a bespoke Italian suit and handmade loafers, but the body beneath the fine threads looked like it just got off the rugby field. His thousand-dollar haircut looked ruffled, as though he ran his big hands through it when he was frustrated. In fact, he looked a lot more like an athlete than a business tycoon, whatever his wardrobe said.
Just because she had no interest in seriously dating anyone or getting married, she was still a warm-blooded woman. She could appreciate a good-looking man when she saw one.
She wondered what his story was. Was he a highflier in the corporate world, and a deal that he was trying to save was going bad? Or was he here to meet someone flying in from, say, Australia, with whom he was going to begin working? Or was he here to meet one of the beautiful British blondes in their sleek pencil skirts and impossibly high heels?
Just then, he turned so that she could see his face… and her heart stopped, along with her breath. As though he felt her staring, he glanced up, and his blue-gray eyes rested on her for a second. She glanced away, hoping he hadn’t caught her staring at his square-jawed face or the strong nose that was even more attractive for having been broken at one time.
This man reminded her of a boy she’d once known, a British exchange student named Malcolm Sullivan, who had come to Coeur d’Alene for his senior year of high school. Everyone had had a crush on him. The British accent alone would have been enough, but his good looks and his slightly wicked smile had sent all of the girls at her high school over the edge. No surprise, he’d dated the most popular girl in school—the cheerleader, the class president, and, unfortunately, one of the mean girls.