Love Affair in London (Once Again Book 12)
Coming July 24 directly to Kindle Unlimited!
A lost phone, a stolen heart, and a whirlwind romance that could change their lives.
Piper Alexander turns her world upside down when she calls off her wedding two days before the big event. In need of escape, she decides to take her London honeymoon trip alone, leaving her problems behind for a week to contemplate her new life. But, even at the age of 55, fate has major plans for her when she loses her phone at Tower Bridge. And Jared Hart, a charming businessman on a solo work trip—and, like her, from San Francisco—finds it.
Jared is instantly captivated by Piper. At 43, he’s no stranger to heartbreak, having been divorced for a year, but Piper’s fiery spirit and unexpected beauty spark something he hasn’t felt in ages. As the two explore London together, their connection deepens into something undeniable, and their nights are filled with passionate kisses and thrilling touches.
But Piper is haunted by doubts. As their romance heats up, so do her fears about their 12-year age gap. Can their whirlwind romance born under London’s romantic glow survive the harsh realities waiting for them back home?
But Jared is certain of one thing: he wants Piper. What matters is that she’s special, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to prove that their age difference is just a number. Can he convince her their connection is worth far more than just a holiday fling in London?
Lose yourself in London’s magic in this runaway bride, later in life, age gap, holiday romance…
Preorder now!
Excerpt
Love Affair in London
Once Again, Book 12
© 2025 Jennifer Skully
This excerpt from Chapter 4 has Piper at the airport ready for her flight to London after she’s left Roger, her fiance, two days before her wedding. Roger’s awful daughters would have ruined their marriage in the end. And now Piper has decided to go on her honeymoon trip alone. So let’s see what happens…
Chapter Four
Piper found a comfortable seat in the airport lounge after ordering a champagne cocktail. Was it a celebration at the near miss? Or was it just comfort for what she’d walked away from?
This was her wedding day. Or, more accurately, her ex-wedding day. She should have felt worse than she did. But after that enjoyable lunch and illuminating conversation with her best friend, then a good night’s sleep, Piper had woken this morning recognizing that she’d avoided making the biggest mistake of her life. Those girls would have made her miserable. It wouldn’t have mattered what her feelings were for Roger or his for her, because his daughters would have made it impossible to stay together.
She still felt a twinge of guilt that her overriding emotion was relief. She’d analyzed her innermost feelings and admitted that she’d been lonely after her divorce, that she’d missed being part of a couple, that she’d missed good sex. Roger filled all those needs. Her ex-husband Calvin had sewn his wild oats for a couple of years, then he’d married a woman thirty years younger.
Had he swapped her out for a younger model, the way so many men seemed to do during a midlife crisis?
She certainly didn’t envy his wife that thirty-year age gap. Not after watching how the age difference affected her parents.
But she was still glad Calvin had found happiness. Their marriage had simply run its course. In the end, the only thing they’d had in common was their business. They hadn’t made love in months. She winced; it had been more like years, at least two. They had separate bedrooms, supposedly because of his snoring. But was that really it? It was more that they just had separate lives, at least outside the job. They were work colleagues, not a married couple. The divorce had been cordial, and the settlement satisfied them both.
But she had been lonely. Even if their love life had waned, she and Calvin had still been friends. Over dinner, they told each other about their day. They talked over work issues or planned the house remodel or discussed what to plant in the yard that year.
She’d missed sitting in front of the TV with someone, ranting about a show they were watching, or finding something they both enjoyed and dissecting why it had been good.
Then, a year and a half ago, she’d met Roger at a fundraiser. It had been wonderful in the beginning, attending the opera, the symphony, dinners out. But just as much, she’d enjoyed their evenings in, bingeing TV shows or watching movies in his home theater. And there was the sex. They couldn’t get enough of each other. But she had to admit now that it wasn’t a love match the way a woman thought about it when she was young. It wasn’t that I’ll-simply-die-if-he-leaves-me feeling. It was companionship and good sex. At her age, she hadn’t been looking for more. And she’d been satisfied.
That’s why she’d agreed to marry him. It was probably also why he’d asked her. But his daughters, those three immovable wedges, constantly widened the gap between them.
She sipped her champagne, distracted from her thoughts by a handsome man entering the lounge, rolling his carryon beside him. She turned away, gazing at her glass, as if she were still engaged or even a married woman. But she was neither of those things anymore. And she looked again.
Salt-and-pepper hair cut executive short and a nicely toned body, he was perhaps ten to fifteen years younger than her. Of course, she would never consider dating anyone that much younger.
But there was no reason she couldn’t look, and even drool a little. His looks stunned her, like many other women in the room casting furtive glances his way. Even if they had a husband sitting beside them. He was Brad Pitt, Patrick Dempsey, and Anthony Michael Hall—not the nerdy teenage boy he’d been in Sixteen Candles, but the older, sexier hunk from Dead Zone—all rolled into one. And he got her blood pumping.
He ordered a draft beer. Everything was free in the first-class lounge, and so it should be at the exorbitant ticket price. Of course, she’d used her miles. Purchasing a first-class ticket was out of the question. She wouldn’t waste her retirement money that way. But she’d gladly used the miles for a chance to sleep all the way to London and wake up refreshed in the new time zone.
Her flight departed at five p.m., with arrival in Heathrow about eleven thirty London time. Since they’d paid for an early check-in at their Tower Bridge hotel, she would have time to wander across the iconic bridge and have Sunday roast at a pub before settling down for a good night’s sleep at her normal time, all with minimal jet lag. It was perfect.
Even if Roger wasn’t with her.
She wondered if the good-looking man was using a company account or miles—only an accountant would think of that—or maybe he was a billionaire and paid for it himself. But if he was a billionaire, he’d have his own plane. Isn’t that what billionaires did?
Not that she’d knew a damn thing about billionaires.
Taking a seat at a table along the wall opposite her, he opened his laptop. Ah, a work trip. He’d dressed the part, too, not suit and tie, but casual black slacks and a neat polo shirt rather than jeans and a T-shirt.
Her phone rang then, and she reached into her purse, assuming it was Juanita.
The name that popped up, though, was her friend Nancy. Yesterday, Piper had left a message on Nancy’s voicemail about the wedding, but she hadn’t actually been able to speak with her friend and tell her what happened. Now Nancy would want the full story.
“Hello, darling. How are you feeling?” Nancy was always effusive, one of the things Piper liked about her. Her enthusiasm could turn a bad day bright.
“I’m doing fairly well, under the circumstances.” She didn’t want to come off sounding cavalier, especially since she was taking her honeymoon trip by herself. “I just wanted to get hold of everybody before the ceremony to let you know what was happening. I hope you got my message.”
“Oh my God,” Nancy said dramatically. “I didn’t listen to your message. I was just so busy. It seems yours got buried beneath a lot of other voicemails.”
Her voice rose on something that could have been mistaken for hysteria. But she wasn’t hysterical. Not yet anyway. “Oh my God, don’t tell me…” She couldn’t finish the thought.
“I actually went to the country club for the wedding.”
Piper’s heart plunged, making her feel a little sick. That would have been a two-hour drive each way for Nancy. “I’m so sorry you showed up for nothing. Did they have anyone out front saying the wedding was canceled?”
Nancy gave what could have been the longest pause ever. Piper was about to jump in when her friend finally said, “You might have canceled the wedding, but Roger didn’t cancel the reception.”
Piper was incapable of words. Until she forced herself to say, “They had a party anyway?”
She envisioned Nancy bobbing her head. “It was the weirdest thing. I noticed something was off when we entered the ballroom and there was no set up for the ceremony, just tables and chairs for dinner and dancing. I thought maybe we’d go outside.”
It was to have been an outdoor wedding and an indoor reception.
“But finally, after most of the people were gathered and drinking champagne, like a pre-wedding cocktail hour, Roger got up in front of the whole group. With his daughters right there beside him.” Nancy’s intake of breath was loud, as if she were figuring out the best way to tell the story. “He said that, unfortunately, the wedding had been called off. But he didn’t see any reason why we couldn’t still have a party since everything was already paid for.”
The nerve of the man. Piper knew it was too late to get all their money back. And she had paid for some of the festivities. Although to be fair, Roger had floated the biggest part of the bill. “So they had a party like they were celebrating that the marriage was called off?”
“It was so weird,” Nancy said, the word dripping off her voice. “Then one of the daughters, honestly, I don’t know which one, grabbed the microphone, and said, ‘My dad got a lucky break and disaster was averted in the end. So let’s celebrate.’ Then, I swear to God, she raised her champagne glass, and everyone else raised theirs, and they all toasted.” She huffed out a disgusted breath. “Of course I didn’t raise my glass.”
Piper couldn’t believe they were celebrating as if Roger had been the one to dodge a bullet. “Are you the only one of my guests that went?”
“I didn’t recognize anyone else. It seemed as if they were all from his side. I swear to God, I would have left right then, but Jeremy—” Her husband of thirty years. “—said we should stay and see what everyone had to say.”
“Oh my God. That’s the strangest thing I’ve ever heard.” Piper took a sip of her champagne just to calm her sudden nerves. “Not that Jeremy wanted to stay, but that Roger actually went through with the party.” Which would have been their wedding reception.
But here she was going ahead with the honeymoon.
“They even had a three-tier cake, but there were no words on it and no cake topper.”
“We wouldn’t have had time to cancel the cake. What about the flowers?”
“There were flowers everywhere. The daughters were giving them away, saying, ‘here take this, here, take that.’”
“I wonder what they did with my bridal bouquet?” The girls had probably stomped on it.
“Okay, now don’t get upset,” Nancy warned her. “But the girls went around explaining to everyone that they absolutely knew you were after their father’s money when you refused to sign a prenup.”
“I was never after his money,” she snapped, as if she weren’t talking to her friend but to the girls themselves. “It’s true, though. I wouldn’t sign. It was all in his favor, and I wasn’t about to get into a situation where he could take anything I’ve worked my whole life for if something went wrong.” And it would have gone wrong with those daughters of his. “Did you speak to them?” Piper had to know.
Nancy sighed. “I didn’t speak to the daughters.” Another pregnant pause long enough to actually have the baby. “But I did talk to Roger. I would have walked away, but Jeremy held me there to hear what he had to say.”
Piper felt her teeth grinding. “And what did he say?” She was livid even before Nancy said a word.
“He didn’t say anything bad about you. He just said that he wished you two could have worked things out. He didn’t even talk about a prenup the way the girls did. He said he was brokenhearted.”
Piper snorted. Loudly. The stunning man looked up from his computer screen, and she felt herself blushing at having been caught making such an ugly sound. But he smiled, and, oh my God, it was a lady killer smile. She couldn’t help smiling in return, despite what Nancy was saying.
“I asked him why,” Nancy confided,” if he was so brokenhearted, was he having a party to celebrate the breakup.”
Piper waited, her breath stalled in her chest. But maybe that was due to the lady killer smile. “And what did he say?”
“That it was his daughters’ idea. That they couldn’t let the money go to waste.” Right, like those girls would care about wasting money. “He obviously didn’t call anyone to say the wedding had been canceled and decided the best thing was to announce it at the country club.”
“I’m totally flabbergasted.” She wanted to smack her fist against her forehead. Or maybe Roger’s forehead. Better yet, all three of his daughters. “But at least most of my people were informed. I’m so sorry you didn’t get my message.”
“I’m not.” Nancy scoffed deep in her throat. “If I hadn’t been there, you might never have known what he did. You should sue him for defamation and get back whatever you paid for.”
She’d already accepted that she’d lose anything she’d put into the wedding. After all, she’d been the one to call it off. But his daughters walking around to all the guests and telling them about the prenup and that she refused to sign? That was beyond the pale. The entire thing was beyond the pale. “I have to think about it. Since I already cleared the week on my calendar for the trip, I’m actually on my way to London now. The plane should be boarding shortly.”
“Good for you,” Nancy crowed. “And I hope Roger paid for the tickets and the hotel.”
“I used miles for my ticket. But he booked the hotel.”
“Then you totally deserve to keep that.”
“I plan to reimburse him.”
“Don’t you dare.” Nancy’s voice was as hard as the diamond in the engagement ring. Piper had returned to Roger.
Then Nancy added, “I have go, but before you get on that plane, I want you to call Roger and give him a piece of your mind.”
Piper couldn’t help a laugh. “After what you’ve told me, I don’t have enough pieces of my mind left to give away.”
Nancy hooted. “I’m glad to hear you’re not all broken up about this. I thought I’d find you in tears.”
Piper stifled a snort. “The girls seem to think they had a near miss. But I’m actually the one who got the near miss. I’m sure they would have broken us up in less than a year.”
“They were that awful?”
Piper nodded as if Nancy could see here. “They were worse.”
“All right, I’m hanging up now. But you need to call Roger right away. You hear me?”
“I hear you,” Piper agreed.
“Then I want you to text me and tell me all about it.”
She toasted her near miss. “Thanks for telling me. I appreciate that.”
“I love you, darling. Have a fabulous time. Text me.” Then Nancy was gone.
Piper sat unmoving for a long moment, her phone still in her hand. The couple next to her gathered up their carry-ons when their flight was called. A mom and dad tried to quiet their three children. The handsome man worked his computer keyboard.
She didn’t want to call Roger, not right before the trip. She wanted to enjoy this quiet time before the long flight. But the confrontation had to come, whether it was now or later, and there was no sense putting it off. After a refreshing swallow of her champagne, she opened her contact list on her phone. Roger’s number still sat in her favorites.
He answered on the second ring. “Piper. How are you?” he asked as if she were a friend who hadn’t called in a long time.
She answered him the same way. “I’m fine, Roger. It sounds as if you’re fine too.” As if he hadn’t invested too much emotion in their relationship. “I heard about your un-wedding reception.”
She could almost hear him gulp. “It wasn’t my idea. It was the girls.” Naturally, it was the girls. “I couldn’t get any refunds.” His dejected shrug came across in his voice. “What was I supposed to do? The country club wouldn’t give me a break, making me pay for the whole thing, saying there was no way they could rent out the space on such short notice. They even threatened to revoke my membership.” His sigh lingered across the distance between them. “So I decided the girls were right. We just needed to go with the flow and have the party.”
That was so Roger. He always went with the girls’ flow. With his daughters, he had no backbone at all. She could have lambasted him for letting the girls get away with trashing her yet again, but that was a fight she’d lost long ago. Rehashing all that now would only ruin her mood. But she was an accountant, and she did have to talk about the money. “You know, I put some of that money into the wedding and reception too.”
“I know, I know.” She pictured him wagging his head back and forth in abject misery.
“But I have the perfect way to cut a deal with you,” she told him.
His voice brightened. “You do?”
She didn’t believe he was hoping she’d come back. They both knew their relationship was over. So she laid out her compromise. “I happen to be in the airport lounge at SFO. I didn’t cancel my ticket to London. And since I’d already freed up the week, I decided to make the trip.”
After an announcement over the loudspeaker, Roger said, “Christ, you really are at the airport.”
“The flight will be boarding in a few minutes. But here’s my offer. You put the hotel on your credit card, and if you don’t ask me to reimburse you for that, I won’t ask you to reimburse me for anything I put into the reception that you and your friends enjoyed.”
She’d put more into the wedding than what the honeymoon cost, but Piper didn’t care. That was the price of being the one to call off the whole thing. And Roger would have to pay the balance for the country club.
“I didn’t even think about canceling the hotels. Or my plane ticket.” That was Roger. At work, Ms. Olsen covered all the details, but in his personal life, he’d left that to Piper. She was actually surprised he’d taken on canceling the wedding reception. And then it struck her. “You never even tried to cancel the reception, did you?”
He gave her that long-suffering sigh she knew so well, when one of his daughters wanted something he felt reluctant about but knew he’d give in to anyway. “No, I didn’t,” he admitted.
She laughed, loud enough for the man across the lounge to look at her. And smile. What would he think if he knew the conversation she was having?
“It was just too much of a bother trying to get the money back, wasn’t it?” She didn’t even need to Roger to answer.
He laughed softly. “You know me too well, Piper. We really would’ve had a good marriage.”
She felt sad for what might have been. “Only if we lived halfway around the world from your daughters.” Though even then, it wouldn’t have been far enough.
“Were they really that bad?”
She didn’t want to have this discussion again. “I truly believe they love you, Roger. And that’s the most important thing. A father should always choose his children over a new wife.”
“Right. But I don’t think I’ll ever find anyone I get along with as well as you.” e chuckled, with a lascivious note. “And I certainly don’t think I’m going to find anyone so compatible in bed.”
A wistful smile creased her lips. “I will miss that, Roger. And I’ll miss you.”
He added for her, “But you won’t miss my daughters.”
“No.” She let out a soft snort. “Sorry, but I absolutely won’t miss them.”
“Well then, you have a deal, my dear Piper. Go off and enjoy our honeymoon to your heart’s content. Do everything you wanted to do. And send me a few pictures.”
“Thank you. Goodbye, Roger.” And she hung up.
Could a breakup have ever been more genial?
