My name is Lily Gilmore, and I was supposed to be getting married today. That was until I found my fiancé having sex with my sister in the church moments before I was supposed to walk down the aisle. I grew up with a father who was a womanizer and cheated on my mother every moment he had the chance. He would even stoop as low as to take me and my sister with him on his trysts when we were younger. Cheating was all I grew up with, and I vowed never to live the life my mother did. After finding my fiancé and my sister together, I moved from Seattle to Santa Monica to start a new life of independence and to focus on my passion for photography, man-free.
My name is Luke Matthews. About a year ago, I lost the love of my life, my fiancé, in a tragic car accident. There are no words that can describe how I’ve felt the past year. My life and all my dreams had died with her in the accident. I exist, and I play my guitar to try and ease the pain. My love was taken away, and I will never get that back.
What happens when the lives of two people who no longer believe in love are suddenly changed by fate?
I am the New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of Forever Black, Forever You and the highly anticipated release of the final book in the trilogy, Forever Us. I am the mother of three teenage girls, two cats and two sassy dogs. I love being a full-time writer and spend my days writing. I have a shopping addiction and a severe caffeine addiction. You can usuallyfind me hanging out at the local Starbucks (with my laptop) and shopping in my favorite store, Sephora. I love meeting and connecting with new people, so come find me at:Opening the door to Lily’s apartment and stepping inside, I didn't see her. I walked down the hall, stopped in the doorway of her bedroom, and stared at her laying on the bed all curled up. My heart broke seeing her like that. She must have heard me because she rolled over and tried to open her swollen eyes. As I walked over to her and sat on the edge of the bed, I pushed her hair behind her ear and leaned over, kissing her teary eye and moist cheek. She raised her arm up and looped it around my neck, bringing me closer as I buried my face deep into her.
“I’m so sorry for everything I said,” she began to cry.“I’m sorry for not being here for you when you needed me, Lily.”We laid there for a few moments in silence before I pulled back and looked at her. Her eyes were swollen and red. As I got up from the bed, she grabbed my hand, and I told her that I’d be right back. I walked to the bathroom and grabbed a wash cloth from under the sink. I ran the cloth under the warm water and folded it as I walked back to the bedroom. Gently wiping her face, the corners of her mouth turned up forming a small smile.“That’s what I like to see.” I smiled back.She sat up with her back against the headboard. I put the washcloth on the night stand and took both of her hands in mine, interlacing our fingers. “We need to talk, babe. You need to tell me what you’re feeling, where that last argument came from, and why you called me your father’s name. Because if we don’t, it’s going to happen again, and that’s not good for our relationship.”
LOVE IN BETWEEN TEASER ~ LUKE'S POV
I wanted us to make love for the right reasons. I didn’t want to be a one-night stand with her, and I’m sure she didn’t want to be one with me. I broke our kiss and looked at her. She had awoken something in me — something that’s been dead for a year.
“What have you done to me, Lily?” I asked her as I ran my fingers through her hair.
“The same thing you’ve done to me,” she responded.
“As much as I want you right now, I think we should wait.”
Lily looked at me and nodded her head. I pulled her into me and held her tight. “I’m scared. I don’t know where this is going. There’s so much I don’t know about you, and there’s so much you don’t know about me. I don’t want us to have sex on a whim and end up regretting it later. That’s not who I am, Lily, and I need you to trust me.”
She whispered in my ear. “I do trust you, and I agree with you.”
I tightened my arms around her. I thought she was perfect before, but now, she’s more than perfect. She got off of me and sat up on the couch. I sat up next to her and ran my finger along her shoulder, making small circles. “Will you go on a date with me tonight?”
I couldn’t stop thinking about Lily and our night together. I didn’t plan on making love to her quite yet, but she wanted me to, and who was I to deny her. I need to tell her about Callie and the accident. I was actually surprised she didn’t ask about my scar last night. My phone beeped with a reminder about the job I needed to do. I snapped out of my thoughts and back into reality; then I grabbed my tool box and headed upstairs to Mrs. Lopez’s apartment to fix her garbage disposal.“You have that look, Luke,” Mrs. Lopez said.“What look would that be, Mrs. Lopez?” I asked as I tightened the pipe under her kitchen sink.“The look of love.”I chuckled. “Is that so? How can you tell?”“I can see it in your eyes. They have a new life about them. Who is she?”I crawled out from under the sink and threw my wrench in the tool box. “I’m not in love, but I have met someone that I really like.” I smiled.“Ah ha! I knew it!” she exclaimed. I sure hope it’s that cute little blonde that just moved in next door to you.”“As a matter of fact, it is, and her name’s Lily,” I said as I took the bottle of water she held out me.“I’m happy for you, Luke. I know you’ve had a rough year, and you deserve true happiness.”I closed my tool box and picked it up from the floor. “Thanks for the water, Mrs. Lopez. Everything’s working perfectly now. Just call me if you need me,” I said as I walked out the door.I walked back into my apartment, set my tool box down, then sat on the couch, looking at my phone. I missed Lily already. She’s always on my mind, and it’s driving me crazy, so I decided to send her a text message.“How about dinner tonight at your place? We can cook together.”“That sounds great! I don’t cook though.”“I’ll teach you. We can go to the store together when you get home.”“Alright, I can’t wait.”“Me neither.”
As I was watching TV, and thinking about how slow the day was going, there was a knock on the door. As soon as I opened it, Lily threw her arms around me and kissed me. I pulled her into the apartment, kicked the door closed with the heel of my shoe, and pinned her up against the closet door as I kissed her passionately. After a moment, she broke our kiss and smiled at me.“I missed you,” she said out of breath.“I missed you too, and I couldn’t wait for you to get home,” I responded as my lips made their way behind her ear.The door opened, and Sam walked in. “Really? You do know there’s a bedroom down that hall over there, right?” he said.Lily and I laughed as I shook my head at Sam.“Seriously, dude. I don’t want to come home and find the two of you having sex on the couch, because I may have to join in.”I smacked him on the back of the head as I walked by. “That’s not even funny, bro,” I said as I pointed at him.“Lily thinks it’s funny. Look at her; she’s laughing.”“Babe, don’t humor him, please.”Sam was laughing as he walked to his room.“Are you ready to leave?” I asked as I walked over to her and ran the back of my hand softly across her cheek. She nodded her head, so we headed out the apartment and walked to the Jeep.
“What are we making?” Lily asked as I pushed the cart through the grocery store.“I thought maybe we can cook some spaghetti with a homemade sauce, salad, and bread.”“You make homemade sauce?”“I sure do, and Charley loves it. My mom never cooked alone; she always made us cook as a family from the time we were six years old.”Lily hooked her arm around mine and laid her head on my shoulder. “Your mom sounds amazing. My mom never cooked; she had her chef do all the cooking, and we rarely ate as a family.”My heart ached for her when she told me that. I leaned over and kissed her head. “Come on, let’s get what we need and get out of here.”We were walking through the store when I saw Bernie. “Hey, Luke,” he said as he looked at Lily.“Hey, Bernie, how was Florida?” I asked him.“Florida was great, and I’m getting closer to retirement. Who’s this beautiful woman on your arm, Luke?”“This is Lily Gilmore. Lily, meet Bernie, the owner of Bernie’s Bar.”Lily shook Bernie’s hand, and he smiled at her. “I’m going to take a stab in the dark here, but you wouldn’t happen to be Johnny Gilmore’s daughter, would you?”Lily looked at him and smiled. “Yes, Johnny was my father.”“I knew it!” Bernie exclaimed. “Look at you, all grown up. Your dad used to play in my bar when he was in Santa Monica, and he used to show me pictures of you. He was a brilliant musician; I’m sorry to hear about his death.”“Thank you,” Lily said. “He was a great musician.”“Hey, Luke, we need to sit down and discuss what you want to do with the bar. This last trip to Florida pushed me closer to selling, and the next time I go, I’m not coming back.”“I know, and I have to give it some more thought. I’ll call you.”“Don’t take too long, son, I have others who are interested. It was nice to meet you, Lily. Luke, I’ll talk to you soon,” he said as he walked away.Lily looked at me as I sighed. “What was all that about?” she asked.“We’ll talk about it over dinner,” I replied as we stepped into the checkout lane.
Love In Between Playlist available on Spotify:1. Beneath Your Beautiful by Labrinth, Emeli Sande2. Clouds by Letters and Lights3. Lego House by Ed Sheeran4. Next to Me by Emeli Sande5. I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing by Aerosmith6. Blurred Lines by Robin Thick, TI, Pharrell7. #Beautiful by Mariah Carey, Miguel8. I will by Matchbox Twenty9. Stay With You by The Goo Goo Dolls10. I’d Rather Be With You by Joshua Radin11. She Is Love by Parachute12. Cruise by Florida Georgia Line13. Breathe by Ryan Star14. You And Me by Ryan Star15. On The Way Down by Ryan Cabrera
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