100 Lifetimes of Us (The Romantics #1)

by Maggie C. Gates

“Look. All I’m saying is that it’d be cool. Step one: guard her body. Step two: guard her heart. It’d be like a romance novel. Even your stuffy British ass can’t say no to true love.”

Happiness isn’t a zero-sum game. When you spread it around, everyone wins.

“Tell me about the wigs. You were wearing one at the bakery. Poorly, I might add. I can watch some tutorials on wig maintenance if it’ll help when we’re on the road.”

💀

“Fuck that shit. I want a lil’ treat.”

“That wasn’t a run.” She cranked up the AC and pressed her hands to the dash. “Maybe for you, Mr. Former-Pro-Athlete,” she wheezed. “I sit and eat pie while I daydream.”

“Miss West wasn’t the one to receive the package directly?” I shook my head and decided to skip the Annie-Whitney recap. “Ophelia checks her P.O. box and delivers the mail to her.”

Are we suspicious of Ophelia?!

“Get on your knees.” I let out an exasperated breath. “Didn’t really think we were that close yet.” “Not like that, you adorable little perv.” He chuckled.

Adorable little perv 😂

The reader—clad in a shirt that read, I’ve been knotty—nearly

NEED!!

“Lizard Time,” Miles repeated as if it was completely obvious. “Get outside. Get warm. Get moving.”

Trust me. Do what I say. You’ll be safe as long as you stay in line. It was as if Annie had been groomed to trust the person manipulating her like a marionette.

Being pressed up against her did something funny to me. Instead of my mind racing and my body itching like I needed to burn off energy, I was calm.

Miles donned on a pair of reading glasses tethered by a chain made of multicolored beads,

😂😂😂

Just “Whitney” scrawled across the cardboard side. In my lipstick.

😳😳😳

If your courage is overdrawn, I’m here to give you a loan.

Wander gasped. “What was it? A severed hand? A finger from one of your enemies?”

Ok I'm actually really fucking annoyed that her friends don't really seem all that concerned that she has a stalker...

“Books take people out of their everyday lives. They give them a moment to say, “wow.” It makes grown-ups believe in magic again. It makes us believe in possibilities. It makes us hold on to the belief that, at any moment, we could meet someone who changes our life and existence completely. It makes us see the best in our enemies. It makes us hold our friends closer. It gives us compassion and empathy. But most of all, it gives us hope that no matter what, everything is going to be okay.”

“Everything all right in here?” Gertrude, the inn’s proprietor—and future ghost—poked her silver-haired head into the room.

It was like having the undivided attention of the most popular guy in school—except he was actually nice.

Uhm how old are you...? 😬

His usual chipper tenor turned to a lethal baritone. “I don’t like being angry, Brave One. Don’t make me angry.”

😳

All I could do was nod. The man had rendered me completely stupid.

Same 😅

Alona’s lips turned into a feline smile. “If you write him into a book, will you kill him off in the most gruesome way possible? Feed his body through a meat grinder while he’s still alive or something. Preferably feet first so I can listen to him scream for as long as possible.”

💀

“Miles—he’s like everyone’s annoying little brother around here. Does he drive Keller up the wall? Absolutely.” Her eyes cut me like a switchblade, sharp and fast. “But he’s ours. I know he’s with you for protection, but if you hurt him, you’ll have me to answer to. And I will make you disappear faster than you can delete a word from a manuscript.”

😅😍

“That’s not what will happen, Annie. So be careful what you wish for.”

Who is he?! 😅😏

“You go all radio-silent when you’re on a job. I just assume that one of the hot guys you work with will show up one day and do a family notification. I’ll be devastated and hysterical and they’ll have no choice but to console me. The wedding will be beautiful, and you’ll be sort of missed.”

We were sitting a respectable distance apart, but I would have given to tuck her into my side as we hung out with the coolest family on earth into the wee hours of the morning.

He really loves his family 😍

“We just walked a mile. How is your brain working? Exercising is the only time mine shuts off.” “That wasn’t walking. That was a run. And my brain never shuts off. I just have a better filter between my brain and my mouth than you do.”

“You put your heart on the line; you package your vulnerability for the masses. Your mind gets picked apart in the court of public opinion. That’s brave. I’d rather get punched in the face.”

Miles and I approached fight or flight very differently. He was all “fight” and I was the type to play dead.

Her hedgehog, Quilliam Shakespeare, was happily nesting in his enclosure.

😍

A wolf-whistle cut clear across the room before a deep male voice called out, “Is that the wickedly devious and delightful Whitney West?”

Uh oh...😅😏

The sight provoked a primal urge in me to squeeze his throat until his laughter ceased. Jordan. What a stupid fucking name.

💀💀💀

“He wants you.” Her cheeks turned bright red. “He does not. Jordan’s just friendly.” “I’m friendly. He wants to fuck you.” I wanted to fuck her too, but that was entirely beside the point.

“Because if I remember correctly, you said you’d get drinks with that fucker unless you were tied up.” I gently grazed her cheek with my tie-wrapped fist. “And I don’t plan on letting you get drinks.”

Uhm Miles? 😳

“I will worship your body. I will take care of all your desperate needs.” I widened my stance. “But after that little stunt downstairs, you’re going to drop to your fucking knees and crawl to me like a good girl.”

MILES WHO ARE YOU?!?! 😳

“I don’t fucking share. Not your body. Not your brain. Not your attention.”

MILESSSS WUT

“Okay, listen up, alphabet hussy.

😂😂😂

“Your brain was spiraling on the flight. We need to reset it.” “Unless you’re planning a lobotomy, no thanks.”

“There’s a difference between invisible and insignificant. And you, Annie Smith, are neither. You’re not just Annie. You’re not just anything. You’re not a mirror, reflecting what’s around you. You’re not a window—an empty necessity. You’re stained glass—broken and shattered but beautiful and whole. Divinely complex.”

Whitney West had been so close I could’ve grabbed her—made her pay for everything she’d done.

Is he an abusive ex that was left by a woman who read Annie's book?

She looked like she didn’t give a shit that everything had come crumbling down because of that fucking book she happily handed over to Whitney West.

Ope.

We’re Windy City bound! So excited to meet my Illinois reader fam! Event tickets are in my link in bio. See you soon! XOXO, WW.

Now why the actual fuck would they not cancel a signing event when she has a stalker on the loose?!

“My gut sounds like a haunted house,”

😂😂😂

“Sometimes love is loud. It’s grand gestures, glowing social media posts, roses, and candlelit dinners. Sometimes love is quiet. It’s a listening ear after a long day. It’s showing up with a snack and filling a need. And sometimes love is sunshine. It’s a light that you don’t know how you ever lived without.”

I was head over Crocs in L-O-V-E with my client.

😂😍

“Give me your fears. Give me your anxiety. Give me your insecurity. I don’t need you to change yourself first. I don’t want you to change yourself at all. I want it all because I want you.”

Books rattled against the shelves as he thrust into me. The Annie Pack pressed against me.

Lololol.

“Don’t stop being loud just because someone doesn’t want you to be heard.”

I craved his sunshine, but I was captivated by his darkness.

“Because at the end of the day we aren’t measured by the love we hold back. We’re measured by the love we freely give without expectation.”

“Okay—yeah. I’m your girl. Your girlfriend. Your pie making smut peddler. Take your pick. I just want to be yours.”