Only You Read online

  Only You

  Bella Fontaine

  Bliss Romance Publishing

  Copyright © 2018 by Bella Fontaine

  Cover Design by Cover Couture

  Photos (c) Depositphotos

  This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  The author asserts that all characters and situations depicted in this work of fiction are entirely imaginary and bear no relation to any real person.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  The following story contains mature themes, strong language and sexual situations.

  It is intended for mature readers. All characters are 18+ years of age and all sexual acts are consensual.

  Contents

  Author note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Author note

  Dear Gorgoeus,

  Thank you so much for picking up my book.

  I hope you enjoy Luke and Natalie’s story.

  Happy reading,

  Bella Fontaine ( aka Khardine Gray ;-))

  Chapter 1

  Natalie

  * * *

  She always wondered how she would feel when she saw him again.

  And…there he was.

  Luke Donovan walked into the hall, right into the cheers of joy and applause that boomed from the family and friends that had gathered for his homecoming.

  Just like always, he had that presence about him that made her want to stare.

  Joy filled her as she watched him. It had been nine and a half years since Natalie last saw him. That was a really long time. Nearly a decade.

  It was strange not seeing someone she used to see practically every day for such a large gap of time.

  But, that’s what happened.

  He looked good as always.

  She’d reserved herself to the back of the hall to be out of all the excitement; she didn’t do too well in crowds when her emotions were running on overdrive.

  But even from all the way over here she could see how great he looked.

  After what she’d heard he’d been through in Afghanistan, she at least expected him to look different. Injured even.

  But no, not Luke. Here he was looking perhaps better than she’d ever seen him.

  Lieutenant Luke Donovan still walked with that same confidence and arrogance she’d seen him exhibit many times. Standing at six foot six and sporting a mile-wide, powerful chest with ripples of muscle she could see through the soft, white cotton of his button-up shirt, Luke was every bit the fantasy.

  Radiant sunlight from the afternoon sun shone through the large French windows of the hall, making his tawny-colored skin golden brown. Against the stark white of his shirt, he looked striking, almost godlike with his stature and the way that he carried himself. He was definitely a sight to behold, and Natalie beheld.

  Being a Marine suited him. If it suited anyone, he was definitely it. Like a walking advertisement for them.

  With the close relationship she shared with his family, she could have been at the front of the room with them. She felt a little bad about that now because she saw him look around at everyone with appreciation for their presence, and he wouldn’t have seen her.

  Maybe it wouldn’t bother him as much as she thought, but showing support meant showing it and letting that other person know you were there for them.

  Her emotions, however, hadn’t allowed her that insight earlier when she first arrived.

  The cheers went on for a good ten minutes before his father gave a brief welcome home speech with tears in his eyes.

  Tears Natalie felt close to herself, but held back.

  During the time when they all worried if he was dead or alive, her imagination had run wild, of course imagining the worst. She always feared something bad happening to him. While they didn’t exactly part on the best of terms years ago, if something bad had actually happened to him it would have devastated her to no end.

  The past year had been a test on her emotions. Worrying over Luke for the last two months had been the icing on the cake.

  She’d lived in L.A. for the last few years, fulfilling her dreams to live in an exciting place where there were so many opportunities. But she outgrew L.A. and the fast-paced lifestyle that actually didn’t suit her.

  When she saw things weren’t working out for her, and she’d spent more days unhappy and exhausted than days feeling fulfilled, she’d decided to come home and find herself. Home to Chicago.

  The first few weeks were great. She’d arrived at the end of October last year so had both Thanksgiving and Christmas to look forward to.

  And then the drama started.

  The first thing to happen was her best friend Jessica, Luke’s sister, announcing her engagement to her creepy boyfriend Joshua Montrose.

  The wedding was in five months and Jessica wanted Natalie to be her maid of honor.

  It was great that Jessica was getting married, and sure she looked happy, but Natalie hadn’t been able to move past the discomfort she felt about Joshua.

  He’d gotten under her skin right from the first time she’d met him. She’d instantly had bad feelings about the guy. Bad feelings she couldn’t voice to anyone because that was all they were, bad feelings. It was difficult to say anything about a man who treated his woman like a queen. It was great, and she wouldn’t expect anything less than the best for her friend, but there was something off about him.

  It was a worry in itself; however, nothing could have prepared her for the news that followed only a handful of weeks later.

  It was the week before Christmas when their families heard that there’d been an incident in Afghanistan and Luke was presumed dead or missing.

  She was nineteen when she last saw Luke.

  After their unpleasant parting she’d purposely avoided any meet-ups where she knew he’d be. At first she’d strategically avoid him by finding out when he’d be home and just not being around at those times. It was easy to do since everyone knew how busy she was in her high-pressured job, then life just took over and she really was busy enough to not be around.

  Coming home made her gear herself up to see him for Christmas. It was like facing a fear you knew you’d have some sort of reaction to, for good or bad.

  Then when the news hit her that he might have died and she might not see him ever again, it shattered her heart and guilt pained her soul.

  Then eternal joy filled her when they found out he was alive and on his way home.

  Natalie had
never experienced so many emotions in one go. It weakened her poor body.

  He got home last week and everyone gave him the time and space to be with his family. His parents had insisted on arranging this get together for everyone who was dying to see him.

  Soft jazz music filled the air and everyone resumed their prior activities of conversation and eating while they waited for their turns to welcome Luke back.

  “This is where you are,” Jessica said, rushing up to her. Laura, their partner in crime, was right next to her.

  They both looked like dolls dressed in cute little dresses, and their long black hair flowed down in loose soft curls

  “Hey,” she said to them both, standing up to give them hugs.

  “Natalie, why on earth are you sitting all the way back here?” Jessica frowned.

  “It was packed when I got here,” she replied. That was true but it wasn’t the reason why she’d hung back.

  “Girl, instead of you sitting next to your mom, I’m there.” Laura laughed.

  Natalie chuckled. “I’ll make my way over in a while.”

  “Are you okay?” Jessica asked, her brown eyes filling with concern.

  “Yes, I’m great. I am. It’s good to see Luke.”

  “Of course. You just look a little off.” Jessica pressed her lips together.

  “No, honestly I’m fine,” Natalie assured her, even though that was probably fifty percent true.

  The other fifty percent of her was still waiting eagerly to see how she would feel when she spoke to Luke and got closer than the significant distance she was at now.

  “Good. Well guess what?” Jessica beamed. “Laura’s diet worked. I lost two pounds.” She squealed.

  Laura looked so pleased with herself. “You can thank me when you’ve lost ten pounds by next week.”

  “Or end up in the hospital,” Natalie interjected.

  She looked at them both and shook her head. Jessica didn’t need to be on a diet. Jessica was a beauty. The same girl who could have been wearing a garbage bag and still look like a million dollars with her perfect figure and seriously close resemblance to Tyra Banks.

  The woman was the perfect ten but wanted to be an eight for her wedding.

  “No, don’t you dare, Natalie. I am fitting into my dream dress.”

  Natalie frowned. The dress to which she was referring was actually made for someone who was a size six, and no, Jessica did not want that same dress in her size. She said it looked different and had her heart set on how the damned thing looked on the model.

  They’d gone dress shopping just after Natalie came home, and it was actually a nightmare and a half. Jessica could be fun to shop with, and the three of them had spent many pastimes shopping until they emptied their bank accounts. But when Jessica was looking for something specific, she was a demon, and friends beware.

  That day had been horrible, and they ended it with Jessica distressed and making plans to address her weight situation. Of which there was none.

  If Natalie ever got married, she’d be eloping to do something small on an exotic beach somewhere where she didn’t have to deal with the extravagance and worry over everything being uber perfect.

  “And you will,” Laura smiled.

  “Laura, you shouldn’t be encouraging her.”

  “It’s fine. I’m just making sure she stays away from those Krispy Kreme glazed donuts and hot wings.”

  Natalie laughed at that. Her friends were too funny. “That was the diet?”

  “Not entirely. I made my grandma’s secret recipe for weight loss.” Laura looked so proud.

  Natalie had to stifle a groan. Right from high school, Laura’s grandma had made the weirdest things and claimed they could do all these miraculous things for you. Grow hair, lose weight, increase your memory a hundred fold. This had to be one of those concoctions.

  “Oh look, my Josh is here.” Jessica chuckled with a little hop. “And he’s wearing the baby blue shirt I got him so we can match.”

  Natalie straightened up and tried to hold back on the unsettled feeling that always brewed in the pit of her stomach every time Joshua was around.

  She followed Jessica’s gaze and saw Joshua. Looking like he’d just materialized from the billboard of some ad, he walked from the door to the area where Jessica’s father now sat talking with Natalie’s mother and father. They greeted him like they would a son.

  When she first came back home, she realized that there was one thing that was evident: everyone loved Joshua, and they were glad that Jessica had found such a good man. A good man who was a good-looking, successful accountant with his own business, and who would treat their princess like a queen.

  He sounded like the complete package, the dream man who was rare and desirable. It was just her who had a problem with him.

  While everyone raved about him, she’d snooped to try and find out how much he earned and how he’d come by the kind of wealth that movie stars displayed. Cars, houses, holiday homes, everything. It was all so excessive, and he splashed out on Jessica like it was nothing for him to spend a few thousand.

  Natalie was a financial analyst and had worked for some seriously high-profile companies back in L.A. It was her job to spot things that didn’t look right, or pick up on something that would be the next big thing. She had that attention to detail that was a notch above the average person, and it was that that was making her spidey senses tingle.

  “I’ll see you guys in a little while,” Jessica said, bouncing away before Natalie could comment.

  “And I’ll be back,” Laura chimed in with a saucy smile. “I’m going to check my make-up. I was talking to this super gorgeous guy before we started looking for you. I’m just going to make sure that man-grabbing Shawna doesn’t get her hands on him.”

  Laura and Shawna had had this feud from high school, which was actually quite hilarious and nothing like what Laura made it out to be. It was just coincidence that they always seemed to like the same guy or happen to do similar things at the same time, like wear the same dress.

  Natalie laughed and shook her head. “I’ll see you later.”

  Honestly, she didn’t plan on staying long. She’d stick around until she got her chance to speak to Luke, then go.

  Laura left her.

  Natalie turned back to the crowd before her and took a moment to observe Joshua. Jessica had gotten to him and he had his arm around her while he laughed.

  Natalie felt bad that she couldn’t push her feelings of warning aside, but she couldn’t shake it.

  She narrowed her eyes at him and unleashed that scowl she’d held back.

  “Lord have mercy. If looks could kill, Joshua would be a dead man,” cajoled a voice she’d recognize anywhere. Asleep or awake.

  She turned slowly and found herself gazing up into Luke’s striking brown eyes.

  They were brown like the darker parts of raw honey and vibrant against the warmth of his skin tone.

  Those eyes always got her. Always, even against her will.

  Her brain couldn’t be fooled, and neither could her emotions.

  This was the moment she’d been waiting for and wondering about for nearly ten years. Standing face to face with Luke in a normal setting.

  “Luke,” she breathed.

  “Hey, Nat, it’s been awhile.” A slow easy smile lifted the corner of his sensual mouth and that was when she felt it.

  That spark that she felt so long ago. It rippled through her heart like a jolt of electricity awakening it. She didn’t expect that. She expected…

  Well, she didn’t know what she expected, but it wasn’t that.

  Maybe the one sure emotion she should feel is embarrassment, because the last time she stood this close to Luke she’d been wearing nothing but a barely there, see-through, baby doll negligee and a thong. She was practically naked.

  The memory of the most embarrassing and humiliating moment of her life, and Luke’s rejection, tightened her throat, and that overshadowed the spark.


  It was times like this when she was grateful for her dark skin, which concealed the blush that crept up on her and made her cheeks tingle.

  She should say something, but she couldn’t think past the memory.

  “So that’s it? You’re just going to stand here all night looking at me?” He chuckled and suddenly he became the boy she grew up with who would always have that cheeky smile, signaling he was up to no good.

  Right now it also served the purpose of showing her that, while years had passed, too many years, he was still the same guy. The same guy who could joke around and be mature, but oh so immature at the same time. Like the time when he threw a dead rat on her, or the time when he gave her a present and, when she opened it, a disgusting bullfrog jumped out. The sight of it was so gross she threw up. That was at her tenth birthday party.

  He was still the same guy who was able to make her feel like no other had. She didn’t know if that should be something she should take note of or…be saddened by.

  No one else in the last decade had been able to make her feel like Luke had, and they never even had a romantic relationship. He’d just simply been a guy who she knew all her life. Her best friend’s hot older brother, who she had the complete hots for.

  “I’m not staring,” she replied finding her voice.

  “Don’t I even get a hug?” His brown eyes twinkled.

  Yes, she could hug him, at least.

  She offered a sweet smile and stepped forward to hug him, but was interrupted when someone boomed, “Luuuuuuuke.”

  It startled her. They both looked around to see three of Luke’s old friends approaching them. There was Evan, Kenneth and Darnel. Broad smiles filled their faces.