Secret Desire

By Shari Lathim

Jill Coleman is now in her 50's and all she wants is to find the man of her dreams. She try's online dating again, and this time she falls in love with a much younger man, Mark Jacobs. She’s not convinced that this taboo relationship will work, but she can’t help but find the connection they share is genuine. This is not what she was looking for, especially after years of being unlucky in love. Jill is just getting comfortable with this new and exciting relationship when danger is catching up with her. Can Mark protect her from this stranger that wants to kill her or will this person destroy Jill's dream relationship? The killer just wants revenge for what Jill has done.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jul 29, 2014
• ISBN: 9781312364608

Book preview

Secret Desire

Secret Desire

by Shari Lathim

Copyright © 2009, Shari Lathim

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-312-36460-8

Chapter 1

As the sun came streaming through the mini blinds hanging neatly on the large window of her rented mobile home; Jill sat at the kitchen table quietly drinking her morning coffee, watching her dog Charlie lay on the floor sunning himself, in the hot sun rays shining down on his dark black coat of fur. He was a happy dog as long as he was with his mom. He was as happy as a dog could be. Jill & Charlie had just moved in a few months before and to Jill, it was just another lonely day far from her family and home where she grew up.

She was brought here by the new job she started 4 months prior and it was just a repeat of where she had come from before. Due to the downing economy, her last job had to lay her off.  They had just moved their company from Boise, Idaho to a tiny little town deep in the middle of nowhere of South Dakota, where she lived a little less than two years before her boss told her the bad news.

The weather was harsh and cold most of the year. She mostly stayed at home because the only place to go to meet people, were bars and the elks club that had a congregation of old timers faithful that lived and worked in this area all their lives with no intentions of leaving. They were set in their ways and held their ground when someone new came in. They had no tolerance of newbie’s in their town, no matter why you were there. Anyone coming into this town was welcome, but under scrutiny and ridicule if you had any intentions of changing anything.

Her boss, who grew up in South Dakota had a saying for this little town; Six thousand people in this town and not a single place to buy a pair of underwear.  Even though it was meant to be funny, it was so true.

Jill’s new job was now right on the California and Nevada border.  Job’s were hard to come by in this economy and she got this job because her new boss knew one of her relatives. Regardless of how far from home she was this time, she felt that she was in a better place to meet new friends.

Moving around so much never gave her a chance to meet new friends, and she hoped moving to this area, would be different this time. Her job was only 6 hours a day so there was plenty of time get out and explore the sights. Her main goal would be a need to meet someone that could show her around. She hated to be alone and could never get used to it. She wasn’t meant to be alone and also unlucky in love so the next time she fell in love; she hoped it will be forever.

This man she dreamed of didn’t have to be rich or famous or be so attractive that the other women would be going after him because of his good lucks; he just had to be living a normal life, with a car, a place to live and loved to be active. She divorced 19 years prior, with 3 grown children and 6 grandchildren.  Her string of Mr. Rights which included 3 serious relationships since her divorce, ended quietly and without much of a show.

Now at 51 and was beginning to feel like an old maid.  All she needed was a good man. She just had to find the right man. Jill always wanted to travel to Europe. Here dream was to see Italy, France and Greece someday. There were so many places she wanted to travel to, but she never found anyone that wanted to do the same things she wanted to do. Everyone she had met so far had no desire to travel that far and at this point she was losing faith in going to another country in this lifetime, so she settled for finding the man of her dreams instead.

Chapter 2

It was a new year and new beginnings for Jill and she was determined to make the best of it, from this day forward.  After taking Charlie out several times a week and with no new prospects, she found herself looking at the singles websites on the internet. She swore she’d never do this again, but life alone in a strange town was devastating for this single woman.

In 1999, when online dating was new and rules didn’t apply then, she met a man online that said he lived in the same area, but traveled a lot for his job so she gave him a try.  After 3 months of emails and phone calls, she was ready to meet him. She was feeling optimistic, but also cautious at the same time. He was going to be out of town when they decided to meet, so he sent her an airline ticket to meet him in Fayetteville, NC.  He said he was working for a restaurant chain and was going to be there for the next 3 weeks.

When she got off the plane, she was feeling nervous to finally meet this man that she had come to know over the past few months, but as she stood at the gate, she soon realized it was a big mistake. At that moment, it was apparent that she had been stood up because he was nowhere to be found. She called his cell phone number that she had used several times before to talk to him, but this time he would not answer.  She took a taxi to the hotel where he said he was staying at, but the front desk would not tell her if he was in or not.