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.
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.”
Meet Liam
in Consolation!
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.
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.
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