Only Tonight
Only Tonight
Elizabeth Miller
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Text copyright 2015 by Elizabeth Miller
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized additions.
Synopsis: I have nothing. I’ve lost everything. The man I loved stole it from me.
The woman I was days ago no longer exists. What I believed to be true love is dead and buried. I’m leaving. Abandoning every reminder of the life I once had. I won’t need anything but shorts and flip-flops where I’m going. Alone.
Faith Owens ran away from life two years ago, losing herself in easy living on a small private island. Preferring carefree days as a bartender to the stressful haunting of her past, Faith chooses a life of isolation. A night like every other, she expects tips but she finds the one thing she isn't looking for—Kyle.
Kyle Sommerton walks through life alone, a traveling soldier protecting others. Physically exhausted from the pitfalls of his career, he seeks a night of solace on a small private island off of the Florida Keys. A night of solitude at a beach bar, he expects a beer but he finds the one thing he isn't looking for—Faith.
What happens when rules are broken and two hearts collide for only one night? Only Tonight is an adult contemporary romance, due to strong language and sexual content this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.
Acknowledgements
To Bryan, Jackson and Sean who sacrificed their wife and mother to allow me time to live my dream and see it to fruition—thank you. It means more to me than you will ever know. Lauren McKellar, editor extraordinaire. I will be forever grateful for your support, direction and encouragement. No words can express my gratitude. To those who have taken this journey with me – Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your enthusiasm and encouragement keep me going!!!
Xoxo -EM
Preface
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
In The Morning Light
Preface
Faith
If it were just a ringing phone, I would answer it. But it’s not. It’s an accusation. One more threat, added to the hundred others. Two days ago my world collapsed. An earthquake shook up my life until it lay in ruins, and now I’m ruined. In the span of twenty-four hours I’ve gone from respected New York City businesswoman, to a spineless swindler. I was a beloved fiancé and now . . . I’m not.
I have nothing.
I’ve lost everything.
The man I loved stole it from me.
Crippled by his deceit, I let the phone ring. The shrill sound echoing off the walls is a reminder of what once was, and what I will never allow myself to have again.
Faith.
The woman I was days ago no longer exists. What I believed to be true love is dead and buried. The constant barrage of insults and innuendoes has eaten away at my psyche. Was I too naïve? Were there signs I ignored? The whispered words and screeching shouts are all the same. I was his partner in love and life; I must be his partner in corruption. Everyone believes I knew everything, when truly I knew nothing. My only crime was believing in James.
I won’t make that mistake again.
A city that once hummed with vibrancy is now the brittle, dry gray of the daily newspapers filled with my reported and inescapable scandal. I can’t leave my apartment for fear of retribution, but I can’t live here. The walls are closing in on me with every minute that passes by. Andrew Mitchell, one of the best lawyers in the city, will represent me. A favor called in from the one friend standing by my side. He’s assured me that as long as I stay within the continental United States I can get out of this godforsaken city.
The ringing phone bolsters my resolve. I’m leaving. Tossing clothes into a suitcase, I abandon all reminders of James. I won’t need anything but shorts and flip-flops where I’m going.
Alone.
Chapter One
Two Years Later
Kyle
“You can only run for so long before getting tired. Are you tired, Faith?” It’s easy to see she’s exhausted. A darkness hidden in her eyes is telling a story too painful to share.
“I’d ask how you know my name, but I’m not sure I care to find out,” she says with a sweet, smooth voice that causes my dick to twitch in response to it.
“Come on. You have to be curious.” Resting my elbow on the bar, I wait for her reaction. She’s bent over an ice cooler, grabbing beer for the dude next to me. He’s practically salivating, and it’s not the beer he’s after. I want to kick his ass from here to tomorrow, but I’ll wait to see if he makes a move on her. She’s mine and I’m not afraid to let it be known.
When she stands, popping the caps off and handing the bottles over, she doesn’t glance at the buyer. Her eyes are on me. Sweet Jesus, they’re the song of purity: warm, liquid brandy, with flecks of the golden sun demanding truth. For a second I’m speechless. This is the first time I’ve gotten close enough to speak to her, taking the last two days to stare from afar. Stalking really. But hey, I’m just a guy looking at a pretty girl. No, wait—a hot-as-fuck, sexy-as-sin woman. There’s nothing pure about my thoughts, and there hasn’t been since I first saw her.
“I’m not interested,” she says finally and her eyes move away.
“Aww, come on, I know it’s killing you.” I taunt, trying to engage her in conversation. Her glance in my direction is half frigid—leave me the hell alone—and half fire—I need to know. I’ve got her attention. It wouldn’t be unusual to know a bartender’s name, easily overheard by many shouting it out in passing. Not this girl. She doesn’t use her real name, so I know she’s curious.
Wiping the bar top down she makes her way back to me. Leaning in until our breath connects, her intense stare nearly brings me to my knees. I can smell her. The ocean breeze mixes with the warm hint of jasmine and I need to adjust myself before my cock slices through my jeans. Just as I’m about to speak she whispers, “Fuck off”. The side of her mouth lifts before she pushes away to answer a call for another drink. I like the view. Her ass sways in the barely-there Daisy Duke cut-offs she’s sporting with her bikini top. Laughter wells in my chest, and feels good coming out. Damn this girl is hot.
She’s arresting, and not in the typical drop-dead-gorgeous sense of the word. Her lips pout and are almost too full, but they’re not. Combine them with big, hopeful brown eyes and the slight upturn of her nose and she’s just right.