Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 86335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Nate
One minute, I’m minding my own business, and the next, I’m rescuing a beautiful woman in front of my family’s hotel.
I’m not prepared for the instant attraction I feel for her, but the chemistry is undeniable.
Paige warns me all she can give me is London, and I agree, but when our time is up, I’m desperate for more.
I slip my card into her purse, hoping she will call, but after two months of silence, it’s clear she’s not going to.
So, I do what any man in my position would do …
I go after her.
Paige
What started as a grand gesture for the man I thought was the one ends with me fleeing after catching him with my best friend.
With tears in my eyes and my heart in my hand, I stumble on the cobblestone. One second, I’m closing my eyes and praying I don’t die, and the next, I’m being swept off my feet by a handsome stranger—literally.
Nate shows me passion like I’ve never known, and it only takes five unforgettable days to fall head over heels for him.
Faced with the harsh reality of long-distance love, I make a heart-wrenching decision to throw away his number—a choice I believe will spare us both from inevitable heartbreak.
But after returning home, I realize what a colossal mistake I made. Because what had happened in London didn’t stay in London …
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
prologue
PAIGE
Fourteen Years Old
“You can’t give up,” Dad yells on the other side of their bedroom door.
It’s closed, so they don’t know I’m here. I wasn’t supposed to be home for another two hours, but Mrs. Simmons got food poisoning and had to cancel math club.
“What the hell am I supposed to do without you?” he asks.
“I’ve tried,” my mom cries, her voice raspy and weak. “But I can’t do it anymore. I need you to not fight me on this. My time is limited, and I want to spend it with you and Paige.”
“You’re asking me to sit back and just let you die!” Dad argues. “You can’t ask me to do that! That’s not fair.”
Ever since Mom found out that she has cancer, Dad has been extra nice to her. He’s even stopped moving us all over, choosing to stay in London because Mom said this city makes her happy.
She’s been fighting the cancer for a long time now, but from what they’re saying, it sounds like it isn’t getting any better and Mom is going to stop her treatments. I don’t know a lot about cancer, but I know that the treatments make her sick and miserable, but without them, she’ll die, which is apparently what she wants to do.
“No,” Mom says. “I’m asking you to understand that I’m choosing to enjoy the time I have left with the people I love.”
“Paige is going to be devastated,” Dad says, his tone filled with emotion. “She needs you.”
He’s not lying. My mom is my best friend, and I can’t imagine my life without her. She gets along with my friends and boyfriend, and everyone loves her. She’s the person I go to when I’m having a bad day. She listens and never goes all mom on me the way a lot of my friends’ moms do.
Every weekend, holiday break, and even many afternoons after school, we explore together. I hate moving, but she’s always made it a fun adventure, and because of her, I have already experienced so much that the world has to offer. She can take the simplest of things and turn it into something magical.
“She’ll be okay,” Mom chokes out. “She has you. And when I’m gone, you will have each other.”
No, I won’t be okay, I think, but don’t voice out loud. I need you to fight. I need you to want to live for me. Don’t you want to keep making new memories with me? Our latest scrapbook isn’t finished yet. There are so many pages that need to be filled. I need you, Mom!
“Damn it, Finley!” Dad barks, making me jump. I’ve never heard him raise his voice to my mom, let alone yell at her like that. “This isn’t what I wanted! What the hell am I supposed to do with a teenage girl? You need to fight!” he says, as if plucking the words straight from my head. “She needs you!”
“She will have you!” Mom sobs.
“I didn’t ask for this,” Dad hisses, and even though I should be focused on my mom choosing to die, his confession has me taking in his words.
“You wanted this,” he continues. “The family, the baby. I told you that I was scared that I wasn’t cut out for that type of life, but you told me you would be by my side. That we would do this together. You wanted her. And now, you’re going to abandon her instead of fighting for your life…for her. You’re going to leave me, and I’ll have to raise her on my own. That’s not what was supposed to happen!”