Never Too Late: A Sweet Romance (The Magic of Love Isle Book 4)

by Lillianna Blake

  The diner closed for the occasion and as they walked toward the courthouse, neighbors and friends joined in the long stream of people that didn’t want to miss the joyous event.

  He looked over at Gina and whispered in her ear.

  “GiGi, I guess you’re getting a big beautiful wedding after all.”

  She grinned back at him. “It’s going to be everything I ever wanted—because I’m about to marry the only man I’ve ever loved.”

  Dear Reader,

  We hope that you’ve enjoyed “Never Too Late” and we’d appreciate it if you would take a moment to leave an honest review here:

  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GBK7YC8

  We have another 8 book sweet romance series called “Forty and Free” - you can read a preview of book one in the following section and that series is also available as a bundle.

  Also, be sure to sign up for the mailing list to be notified of new releases and special offers. This sign-up includes a free book from Lillianna’s “Single Wide Female” fun chick lit series. You can sign up for that here:

  http://lilliannablake.com

  Sincerely,

  Lillianna & Maci

  P.S. If you enjoy chick lit be sure to check out the first book of Lillianna’s debut series, “Single Wide Female: The Bucket List” - there’s a preview included in this book.

  Happy reading!

  Please enjoy the following preview for

  To Love Again (Forty and Free, Book 1)

  Chapter 1

  Every wrinkle met its match with the firm pressure and glide of her palm. Even though there were very few wrinkles in the shirt, Nicole was determined to make sure that there were none. Her hand trembled as she swept it over the next wrinkle.

  How was she ever going to accept the idea that her children now had another mother in their lives?

  She glanced over at the suitcase beside her. It was piled up with more clothes than any ten-year-old girl could possibly need for a two-week trip. But Nicole needed for everything to be there. In the back of her mind, she recognized her attempt to prove that she was, and had always been, a good mother—but that didn’t stop her from smoothing out the last wrinkle.

  She set the folded shirt into the top of the suitcase and stood up from her daughter’s bed.

  So much had changed in the last year in unexpected ways. Perhaps—as some of her friends claimed—she should have seen it coming, but she didn’t. Divorce had hit her like a freight train and plowed right through her happily ever after.

  Only—if she was being honest with herself—it hadn’t been exactly happy, not towards the end, anyway.

  She walked out of her daughter’s room and picked up a pile of laundry that sat outside her twelve-year-old son’s door. She wanted to make sure that it was clean before she packed it. Since he seemed incapable of actually putting his clothes in his drawers these days, she just gathered all of the clothes from the floor to wash them.

  As she walked down the hall to the laundry room, framed photographs—hung exactly two inches apart—stared back at her. There was the photograph of her ex-husband, Jack, as he cradled Jordan the day he was born. Beside it, another photograph of Jack, with Melody in his arms.

  Once they were happy—she was sure of it.

  At the very top of the rows of photos was the wedding portrait. With eager smiles and much smaller waistlines, the shiny faces in the photograph looked foreign to her, as if they were people she’d never met.

  She reached up and loosened the frame from the hook on the wall. It wasn’t right to have it there—not when he was so obviously moving on.

  She dropped the laundry off and carried the photograph into her room—what used to be their room.

  The moment she sat down and sunk into the familiar give of the mattress, tears stung her eyes. She looked at the picture for a long moment. It was really over now. There was no special cement to put together what had broken many years before, and the fantasy that there might be was gone too.

  While Jack had been falling in love, she’d been struggling to deal with the notion of being forty-two and alone. While he was considering adding new babies to his life with his young bride, Nicole was thinking about menopause and whether or not to dye her blonde hair, which had began to sprout silver streaks of reality.

  Time marched on, and she didn’t know how to catch up.

  Before the tears could begin to flow down her cheeks, she took a deep breath and grabbed her cell phone from the charger on her bedside table. She logged into her new favorite website. It was a support group of sorts, but in reality it was a place for women to be honest—to talk about their fears and their joys, and, most of all, vent about life.

  Forty and Free was a website that she’d stumbled upon while attempting to figure out how to react to her divorce. She enjoyed the sisterhood that she felt there and the lively debates. As her heart ached, she typed out a message to post. It detailed her ex-husband’s destination wedding, how excited her kids were to be part of it, and how alone she felt because of it.

  When she posted it, she prepared herself for whatever responses she’d get. Within seconds she had messages of support from an assortment of women. What heartened her was the fact that these women weren’t all moms or all newly divorced. Some had been divorced more than once, some had been with their husbands from the time they were in high school and some had never been married. Everyone had their own view of what a relationship should be and no one was shy about sharing it.

  As Nicole sorted through the responses, she received an alert about a private message from one of the women she’d became close friends with, Ella.

  Cielo Spa & Resort! Trust me. Book yourself a room and have some fun. You owe it to yourself to get out of this rut, and see what the world has to offer. It’s the perfect time—with the kids away—to get to know yourself again.

  Ella’s words impacted Nicole more than she would have expected. She typed a quick response to thank her friend and let her know that she would consider it, then she logged out.

  Each message of support reminded her that her life was not over.

  Just like Jack, she needed to find a way to move forward. She picked up the wedding photograph and carried it over to her dresser. With one last look she shoved it into the bottom drawer.

  “That’s enough—enough tears, enough questions—just enough.” She closed the drawer and returned to the laundry room to get the load started.

  No, it wouldn’t be easy, but she was ready to live again.

  There had once been a time in her life when there were more important things than laundry and a broken dishwasher. A spark of eagerness drew a smile to her lips. Like an old but treasured friend, her desire began to resurface.

  For many years the only question in her mind was about what she could do for everyone else in her life. She’d trained herself not to think about what she might be missing out on, or how she might prefer things to be. It didn’t matter what she wanted, as long as her husband and kids were happy.

  That method hadn’t worked out very well. She’d sacrificed her needs, and in the end, her husband wasn’t happy. The family life that she’d expected to have had crumbled, no matter how hard she had tried to hold it together.

  What was left was a lonely soul—long overdue for some real fun.

  Chapter 2

  Gavin Bell leaned forward in his chair so that his elbows rested on his desk while he spoke into the phone. “You’re not making sense to me, that’s all I’m saying. What I’m offering you here is a golden opportunity to launch your brand in a way that will get the attention of modern consumers. I understand that you promote tradition, and I assure you that we can create a mixture of tradition and modernization that will retain your current customer base as well as gain the attention of many other demographics. So what’s to lose?”

  He pressed the phone closer to his ear and leaned back in his chair. As he listened to his client describe his apprehension, he smiled. He loved a chall
enge, and more than that, he loved creating solutions. Every time a client gave him a reason to turn down an offer, he enjoyed solving the problem.

  “I hear you, I do. And that’s important to you too, isn’t it? If you agree to this deal, you have Gavin Bell on your side. I respect how passionate you are about your brand, which is why I intend to walk you through every step of the process. You will have a say in everything—before the posters go up, before the commercials get made, before the actors are even hired. This is your baby and I get that. All I want to do is dress it up a bit for you.”

  He looked up at his computer screen for a quick review of the client’s information. He always kept personal notes about the clients on hand so that he could speak to them as friends rather than business associates.

  “Great, Ted. You’re making a wonderful decision, which I can promise you won’t regret. Thanks for taking the time to talk with me. I’ll have my assistant fax you all of the paperwork by the end of the day. Give my best to Karen and the kids.”

  He hung up the phone and pumped his other fist through the air in the same motion. The door to his office swung open and Lance Tavish stepped inside.

  “How did you get here so fast to congratulate me?”

  “I’m not here to congratulate you, Gavin.” Lance pushed the door shut.

  Gavin arched an eyebrow.

  Lance held his shoulders straight and his hands were tight at his sides.

  “What’s wrong? I just landed Ted Bramley. We’ve been trying to get him to agree to a new campaign for over a year.”

  “That’s great. It really is.” Lance narrowed his eyes. “But you’re not supposed to be here, are you?”

  Gavin rolled his eyes up toward the ceiling and sighed. “I know, I know. But Ted was only in the country for a few days and I wanted to catch him while he’s here so he can sign all the paperwork.”

  “There’s always an excuse, isn’t there, Gavin? I mean, there are people who would kill to have a boss that insisted they take a vacation.”

  “And there are just as many bosses that would be thrilled to have an employee as skilled and dedicated as me.” Gavin rested his hands on his desk. “Why are you trying to force me to do something that isn’t necessary?”

  “Because it is necessary. Because yes, you are my best asset, and I want to keep you for as long as I can. You’ve been going full tilt ever since you left Amy—”

  “—This isn’t about Amy.”

  “Yes, it is.” Lance grabbed a chair and pulled it up in front of Gavin’s desk. “I’ve watched you for the past five years. You’ve done nothing but work. You don’t even bring a date to the office party.”

  “So what?” Gavin cleared his throat. “I tried it once, it didn’t work out. I don’t see why that’s a problem.”

  “Because one of these days it’s going to catch up to you, Gavin. It’s going to hit you in the gut and knock you back. You’re not getting any younger, you know. You’re losing your hair and your trim waistline.”

  “Hey, I’m not losing my hair.” Gavin reached up and touched the waves of thick brown hair that rested on the top of his head. “Am I?”

  “Even if you’re not now, you will be soon. You’re forty-four, Gavin. You know what comes next?”

  “Forty-five?” Gavin smirked.

  “Seventy. That’s what comes next.”

  “I think you’re a little off on your math there.”

  “I’m serious. You know how much I care about you. You can’t live your whole life like this. What will you have when you retire?”

  “Lance, give it a rest, alright?” Gavin looked back at his computer screen as another e-mail from a client came in. “I have work to do. I can’t take a vacation right now. Besides, all I’m going to do is work at home. What else would I do?”

  “Gavin, we’ve been friends since high school. You have never prioritized your emotional needs.”

  “I don’t have emotional needs.”

  Lance leaned forward until he could meet Gavin’s eyes. “Everyone does, Gav. Everyone. You can ignore it for as long as you want, but there comes a time when it’s just too late to fix it.”

  Gavin held his gaze for a moment, then looked away as his phone began to ring. “Duty calls.”

  “Don’t answer it. We’re having a conversation here.”

  “Is that my best friend talking or my boss?”

  “Whichever one works to keep you from answering that phone. I’m worried about you. I want you to be happy—and you need a break, Gav.”

  “I’ll be happy when you get out of my office.”

  Gavin picked up the phone and met Lance’s eyes as he answered it. If there was one thing he was not accustomed to, it was taking orders. As Gavin continued his conversation with the client, Lance stood up from the chair. With tensed shoulders he turned and walked out the door.

  Gavin had the feeling that Lance was not going to give up easily this time.

  End of the preview.

  Get “To Love Again” (Forty and Free, Book 1) here:

  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0198Y0X9G

  Save on the “Forty and Free” bundle (Books 1-8) here:

  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LIB96TA/

  Please enjoy the following preview for

  Book 1 of Single Wide Female: The Bucket List

  #1 Learn Pole Dancing

  Chapter 1

  I ran my fingertips over the well-worn piece of notebook paper. It had ridges from the amount of times I’d folded it up and tucked it away. I had written the list at a time when I didn’t really believe I would ever actually accomplish anything on it. But I had, and now it was time to look at the next item.

  I rolled over on my bed and stared down at it. When I had added it to my list, it was just a fun little whim, not something I thought I would actually do. But then again, I never would have thought I’d be able to lose so much weight either.

  “What was I thinking?” I said out loud as I gnawed on the pencil between my teeth. I was tempted to just erase the item and replace it with something else. No one would have to know. But I would know. I cringed at the idea of actually following through with it. But I had to do it. I had to. It was on the list. I groaned and rolled over on my bed. I stared up at the cracks in my ceiling for a moment. Then I sat up with a new determination.

  “Yes, I will do this,” I said, looking down at the item on the list. “Pole dancing class, here I come.” I was attempting to sound brave for myself, when I caught sight of the time on my alarm clock.

  I grabbed my jeans out of the laundry basket beside my bed, and slid the pants up over my hips with my eyes squeezed shut. With a sigh of relief, I let out the belly I had been struggling to hold in. I didn’t think the zipper would slide up so easily, but it did with one smooth zip. I smiled at my reflection in the tall mirror as I studied the way that my jeans hugged my hips and rear. All of my hard work, all of the passed-up snacks, had really paid off. My body looked different and I felt different.

  “Hey, you sexy lady,” I said to the shapely woman in the mirror, twisting my hips first one way and then the other. “Do you come here often?” I asked in the deepest voice I could muster and batted my long lashes at my own reflection.

  “Uh, Sam?” a voice said from the doorway of my bedroom.

  I froze and held my breath for another reason. It was Max. Max, my best friend. Max, with the deep green eyes and a body that would make any woman glance in his direction. I turned around slowly to face him, not wanting him to see what I knew would be sheer embarrassment on my face.

  “What?” I asked as innocently as I could.

  He stared at me with one quirked eyebrow, looking as sexy as ever. Max was not conventionally handsome, but a quirky kind of cute, like the kind of guy that got the lead in romantic movies. Not drop-dead gorgeous, but just goofy enough to grow on you and make you think he was adorable by the end of the movie.

  “I’ve heard of bisexual, but what would you call it if you try
to pick yourself up?” He smiled and leaned against the doorway.

  God, but that smile made me want to snuggle right up to him.

  Friend, I reminded myself. Max, my friend. No matter what my fantasies wanted to believe, we had never been anything more than that. Of course, when my eyes were closed late at night he played a very active role in my life.

  “I don’t discriminate, Max. If I see something as hot and lovely as the lady in the mirror happens to be, I’ve got to give it a shot.” I grinned, hoping he would not notice that I was mortified.

  “Well, I’d have to agree with you there,” he said with a laugh, and shook his head as he walked into my room.

  We had spent hours snuggled up on this very bed on several occasions. Him thinking we were just watching a movie, me praying he would lean over and kiss me. He never did. At least, not in reality. The things that he had done in my mind…

  “What are you up to today?” he asked, perched on the end of my bed.

  “I’m going out,” I said, fluffing my newly bleached blonde hair with my fingers.

  He was smiling as he watched me.

  “Are you going out to break some man’s heart?” he asked, brushing his thick dark hair away from his eyes.

  He was studying me intently. It always unnerved me when he looked at me so closely. I could never tell if it was with approval, desire, or confusion.

  “Sure, of course,” I said and stuck my tongue out at him.

  He tilted his head to the side. “So you don’t have a date?”

  “Stop it, Max.” I sighed and shook my head as I turned away from him. Only then did I spot the black leotard and tights still lying on the bed. I felt a rush of horror flood me. If Max saw them, he’d be full of questions that I didn’t want to answer.

  “Stop what?” he asked as he leaned back on the bed. His hand came to rest just beside the tights. “I’m just curious. You haven’t had a date in a while.”

  “Thanks for pointing that out.” I reached past him to nudge the leotard away from where he was sitting. Sometimes having a man for a best friend was not ideal. “I’ve had plenty of dates. You don’t know everything there is to know about me.”