Meet Liam
and Natalie in Consolation!
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Blurb
Liam
wasn’t supposed to be my happily ever after.
He wasn’t
even on my radar.
He was my
husband’s best friend—forbidden.
But my
husband is dead and I’m alone. I ache for him and I reach for Liam.
One night
with Liam changed everything. Now I have to decide if I truly love him or if
he’s just the consolation prize.
Copyright © 2015 Corinne Michaels
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means including
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
written consent of the author.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places
and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or
dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or
publisher.
Prologue
Natalie
“Oh, Chloe, if you’d like to come
out, please wait until your Daddy gets back,” I insist, holding my belly as
another Braxton Hicks contraction hits. I grip the dresser and try to breathe
through it. It seems like they’re coming more frequently.
Once it passes, I try to finish what
I came in here for. Aaron is away, but I want the nursery done so we can enjoy
the next few weeks once he returns. I walk around what will be her room,
putting a few more of the pretty pink dresses in the drawers. Aaron and I have
fought about the vast array of pink things that are now strewn around the
house—he hates it, I love it.
He insisted we paint her room in
camouflage. Brown, green, and black camouflage for a girl? No. I almost sent
myself into labor with that argument. I got home and he and Mark were drawing
it out on the walls. I launched various household items at Mark while throwing
him out of the house. My husband found out shortly after how much he could
suffer by my hands. I may not be a SEAL, but you don’t mess with me either. In
the end, I won with purple walls and the sheer netting around her white crib.
“Daddy’s going to love this room,
Chloe. I can’t wait to see his face when he sees the pretty butterflies.”
Needing to take another break, I sit in the rocking chair and rub my stomach.
It soothes me knowing she’s in there. I can protect her—it’s my job. I love
being pregnant and it’s a miracle we were able to conceive her. I’ve already
told Aaron I want to try for another one as soon as she’s born. I close my eyes
and sink, allowing the world to fade away.
I imagine holding her in my arms,
sitting here in this chair, soothing and kissing her. I picture Aaron with her
asleep on his chest as she gets to hear his heartbeat. She’ll own his world and
have him wrapped around her finger.
Knock, knock, knock.
I hear the door, but it takes me a
few seconds to get out of the chair.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.
They bang louder this time.
“Coming!” I yell at the door. Jeez,
give me a second.
Waddling to the door takes me a
minute since I’m the size of a whale.
I open the door and see Mark Dixon,
Aaron’s boss and close friend. He works at Cole Security Forces with Aaron and
served with him for years. His head is hanging low and when he looks up, his
eyes are full of sorrow.
“What’s wrong?”
“Lee,” he chokes on the one syllable
of my name. The one Aaron uses. Something is definitely not right.
“What happened?” I ask again as I
begin to shake.
Tears fill his eyes and I know. I
know my life is never going to be the same. I know everything I’ve ever feared
is about to come true because Mark doesn’t cry. Mark wouldn’t be at my door if
something weren’t really, really wrong. “It’s Aaron.”
My heart stops beating and the world
I live in ceases to exist. “Don’t,” I beg with tears blurring my vision and my
breath accelerating.
This can’t be happening.
“Please, don’t, Mark. Please,” I beg
him again, because once he says it…but I know it’s futile. It doesn’t matter
because he can’t stop it. It’s already happened.
“Natalie, I’m so sorry.”
The dreaded words that every
military wife fears. Only I wasn’t supposed to have to worry about this
anymore. We were done. We got out. I wasn’t supposed to ever fear this again.
Please,
God, don’t take him from me. Please!
“But, I’m p-pregnant. I’m having a
baby,” I stammer as if that will somehow make none of this real. “He said he’d
be back. He said he…” I trail off as it becomes difficult to breathe. My hand
flies to my mouth to stifle the scream about to escape. Everything goes
colorless.
“It was an IED. I’m sorry,” Mark
says as his eyes glimmer with unshed tears.
I fall.
But he’s there, cradling me in his
arms. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
“No. No. No.” Mark holds me as I sob
clutching my stomach. “You’re lying,” I hiss, tearing myself out of his
embrace.
“I wish I were,” he says as I
struggle to get up.
“It was a mistake. He’s having a
baby. He said it was a simple in and out!” I scream and throw my hands against
his chest. “You’re lying!” I scream, even knowing it’s not a lie.
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop saying you’re sorry!” My
sorrow turns to hatred. I hate him. I hate everyone in this moment. I hate
Aaron and everyone who was there. I hate this house and everything in it. I
hate the air that he no longer breathes. Hate consumes me. Hate smothers me. “Get
out!” I yell and push against his chest. “Get the fuck out of my house! Aaron
will be back in a few days and then we’re going to get ready for our daughter
to be born.”
“Please,” Mark beseeches and I
refuse to look at him.
This isn’t happening because Aaron’s
alive.
He’s not dead. How dare Mark lie to
me.
“He’ll be back. He wouldn’t leave
me. He promised.” Aaron wouldn’t lie to me. He never does. When he left for
missions, he would always say goodbye like it could be our last. But this time
he kissed the tip of my nose and said, “Now don’t have that baby until I get
back.”
“Can I call someone? Your mom?”
“No, you can’t call anyone because
he’s not dead! Go get him, Mark! Go get my husband and bring him home.” I step
back pointing my finger at him. “You all promised. He promised.” I clutch my
stomach as a sharp pain radiates, but it’s nothing compared to the agony
sitting on my chest. Tears flow relentlessly as I struggle against his hold.
“He promised.”
“I know he did,” Mark says as he
holds my head against his chest.
“He lied.”
My life is gone.
My heart is dead.
I’m a widow at twenty-seven.
Excerpt
#1
Aarabelle sits in her highchair as I feed her dinner. She’s
growing so fast. Already she’s eating cereal and a little baby food. Soon
she’ll be crawling and I have no one to celebrate with. Her father will never
see these milestones and it breaks me apart.
“You should really lock the door,” Liam huffs as he throws
his coat over the chair.
“But then I’d have to get up to let you in,” I state
matter-of-factly and go back to feeding the baby, trying to put aside my
worries. The fact is…this is reality. I have to deal with it.
“Uh huh. Hey, Pumpkin,” his eyes alight as he crouches down
by Aara. It’s adorable hearing grown men use a baby voice. It gets a little
softer and higher pitched.
The corners of her mouth lift and she throws her arms in the
air when he gets close. My heart sputters seeing how happy she gets seeing him.
Liam kisses her head and she giggles.
“At least someone is happy to see me,” he says playfully.
“I’d be happy if you brought me a present,” I joke.
He laughs and goes into the pocket of his coat. “Just so
happens I did, but since that’s the only way you’ll be nice, I’ll hold on to
this until you’ve earned it.”
Practically leaping out of my chair, I rush over. “What is
it?” I try to peer around his back as he holds the mystery item.
Liam’s lips curl as he sees how much I want this. I don’t
even know what it is. Jeez, I’m an idiot. “Nope. We eat first, then maybe
you’ll get it.”
“Watch, it’s a freaking Pez dispenser or something stupid.”
“Guess you’ll have to be nice to find out.” He shoves the
item into his back pocket and I fight the urge to reach and get it. “How was
work?”
We spend the next thirty minutes going over my day and
Jackson’s return. Liam never mentioned that they spoke, but he’s surprised to
hear he’s in Virginia. After we finish the pizza, Liam somehow convinces me we
should watch a movie. I get Aarabelle to bed and come down to find him sprawled
out on the couch.
“By all means, make yourself comfortable.”
Liam pulls his beanie higher on his forehead and his eyes
glimmer with amusement. He sits up and puts the TV on. “I picked the movie.”
“What?” I ask with mock incredulity. “It’s my house. Why do
you get to pick the movie?”
“Ummm, I’m the guest.” He shrugs as if this should be an
obvious answer.
I groan and lean back. “What crappy, shoot-‘em-up movie do I
have to endure?”
“You’ll see. It’s a classic.”
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About the
Author
Corinne Michaels is an emotional, witty, sarcastic, and fun
loving mom of two beautiful children. She’s happily married to the man of her
dreams and is a former Navy wife. After spending months away from her husband
while he was deployed, reading and writing was her escape from the loneliness.
Both her maternal and paternal grandmothers were librarians,
which only intensified her love of reading. After years of writing short
stories, she couldn’t ignore the call to finish her debut novel, Beloved. Her
alpha Navy SEALs are broken, beautiful, and will steal your heart.
Contact Corinne
Website: http://www.corinnemichaels.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CorinneMichaels
Instagram: http://instagram.com/authorcorinnemichaels
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorCMichaels
Pinterest:
http://www.pinterest.com/corinnemichaels/
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