The fourth story in the Love Unlocked anthology is The Weekend by J.P. Walker and it is a gem. In this tale, we get to meet Nat and Morgan, both in Paris for the weekend. It’s short and sweet, much like the weekend Nat and Morgan shares.
Book cover by Dee Aditya.
Blurb:
Nat’s been through a rough breakup and trust does not come easily. When she accompanies a group of friends to Paris for a hen weekend, she finds a connection she wasn’t looking for, in the form of beautiful, passionate Morgan. They quickly fall into a wonderful weekend fling and even engrave their initials into a lock and attach it to the most romantic bridge in the world, Love Lock Bridge.
But was that weekend fling all there was, or will news of the bridge being taken down lead to something more?
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Excerpt:
It’s funny how when you break up with someone, especially under awful circumstances, you realise how much was missing. When I’d first moved out of Katie’s, all I could remember were the good times but now, with Morgan, I couldn’t help but make comparisons. Those good times with Katie came nowhere near how incredible it had been to spend a day with the beautiful woman sitting across the table from me. If I’d been in any doubt before about how much I liked Morgan, I wasn’t any longer. I really did.
After dinner, we went for another stroll around Paris, appropriately dressed this time, with warm coats, and Morgan linked her arm with mine and rested her head on my shoulder. Every now and then, we stopped to look in awe at the beauty of the city around us—the buildings, the street names—Paris was quickly becoming my favourite destination, truly the most beautiful place I had ever been. Eventually, we found ourselves on the Pont des Arts bridge, surrounded by beautiful lights. I knew of the bridge, known as ‘Love Lock Bridge’, but didn’t really know of the tradition that went along with it.
We watched the lights shining from all the locks, and I felt my heart swell. Thousands of couples, all of their declarations of love and commitment…I felt overwhelmed in the presence of so much love. Without any warning at all, my eyes filled with tears. Morgan had wandered ahead, only a few steps, to look at the names on some of the locks, but she noticed my tears and within seconds was by my side and holding my hand. She looked at me questioningly.
“So beautiful,” I said and buried my face in her hair. My word, what a bloody soppy git I had become.
Morgan held me, rubbing soothing circles on my back, and I could hear the jangle of her bracelets. When we parted, she gave me an almost secret grin and reached into her pocket. I looked at her quizzically and then saw what she had in her hand: a small red padlock with a key still inside.
“It’s from my suitcase, I’d forgotten I’d shoved it in my pocket until we got here. Whaddaya say?” She winked.
I nodded and checked my pockets, to see if I had a Sharpie—I love doing crosswords on trains, don’t judge. I found one in my inside pocket. Yay!
“OK, what’s your last name?” I asked as I took the lid off with my teeth.
“Freeman.”
The pen fell out of my mouth as I gaped at her. Morgan Freeman? Seriously? Then she started laughing and swatted me on the shoulder.
“Just kidding, can you imagine? Ha! It’s Wilson,” she got out between laughs.
I shook my head at her antics. She was a riot.
“What’s yours?” she asked after I’d written ‘MW’ and ‘NB’ on the small lock and deposited my pen back in my pocket.
“Bliss,” I replied smiling.
“Really? Bliss? You’re…Nat Bliss?”
“Well…Natalie Emilia Bliss. But yeah…Bliss.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.” I was enjoying her reaction. Her eyes were shining bright, and puffs of vapour hung in the air as she breathed.
She brought her face close to mine and laid a soft, warm kiss on my mouth, immediately turning me on. I was quickly becoming addicted to her, and giving me a little fix like that left me silently begging for more. Chasing the dragon—I began to doubt if I would ever again find a high like Morgan Wilson.
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Love Unlocked is a collection of seven short stories and novellas – unique LGBTQ romances inspired by the Love Lock Bridge.
THE STORIES:
The Trap by Claire Davis and Al Stewart
Writer’s Lock by Victoria Milne
Locked in the Moment by Dawn Sister
The Weekend by J P Walker
The Scarlet Lock by Caraway Carter
He Melted Us by Ofelia Gränd
Chain of Secrets by Debbie McGowan
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Ofelia Grand 