Only for You Read online

  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, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2021 by Barbara Curtis

  Cover design by Daniela Medina

  Cover copyright © 2021 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  Hachette Book Group supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  Forever

  Hachette Book Group

  1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104

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  First Edition: June 2021

  Forever is an imprint of Grand Central Publishing. The Forever name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

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  ISBN: 978-1-5387-0310-6 (mass market), 978-1-5387-0309-0 (ebook)

  E3-20210615-DA-NF-ORI

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Epilogue

  Discover More

  About the Author

  Also by Barb Curtis

  For Chris,

  My Happily Ever After

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  Acknowledgments

  First off, I send the biggest of thank-yous to the woman who cheers me on with high kicks, answers my dumbest questions with patience and wisdom, and keeps me grounded whenever my crazy kicks in. Stacey Graham, I’m lookin’ at you. It can’t be said enough. I. Could. Not. Do. This. Without. YOU.

  To my editor, Junessa. You’ve got skills! You’re able to read into my stories and pull out the parts that make it better. Working with you on these books has made me a better writer. And Estelle, my publicist—where do I even begin? You’re a powerhouse, and I am beyond lucky to have you in my corner.

  To the rest of the team at Forever—Lori Paximadis, copyeditor; Daniela Medina, cover designer; Bob Castillo, production editor; and anyone else I may have missed. Thank you for helping bring Tim and Emily’s story to life.

  My writing tribe, especially Tara Martin and Kat Turner, who both read a very fast draft of this story and helped shape it into what it’s become, and my 2020 Debut group—I would have been lost this past year without our therapy Thursdays and our rants and raves. Publishing during a pandemic was rough, but having a group of other authors with whom to share the experience meant the world.

  A special note to Michael Cochrane and Will Bentley for all your answers to my questions pertaining to the US Navy. You gave me lots to ponder, and your input was integral in forming Tim’s back story.

  I can’t forget to mention my local community for all the kind messages and support for Forever with You, especially Kathleen at Mill Cove Coffee for promoting me on a local level.

  And of course to my family, many of whom have picked up a romance novel probably for the first time in their lives, all in the name of supporting my dream! And also my parents, who are always willing to listen and lend a hand when life gets a little chaotic.

  To Chris: You’re the first person to hear every random thought that passes through my head. The self-doubt has not gone away, but you constantly build me up and remind me how far I’ve come. I mean it when I say you keep me sane.

  And Keira: You continue to motivate me to reach for the stars, and I intend to be your living proof that you can be anything you want in this life.

  Chapter One

  Emily Holland had two simple New Year’s resolutions.

  The first, reorganizing her life. She’d kick-started the day—and year—by cleaning her apartment and purging her closet of two bags of clothes for Goodwill. Then she’d monopolized both sets of washers and dryers in her building’s laundry room down the hall, which was the reason for the cut-off jean shorts and threadbare NSYNC tank top she currently wore.

  With the holidays officially over and fad diets in full force, Tesoro, her patisserie in the strip of storefronts downstairs, would see a lull in walk-in traffic until business picked up again before Valentine’s Day. She could use the break to organize her work life, too.

  Her second resolution? Well, he lit up her phone with his third text in an hour.

  Tim Fraser—friend since high school, upstairs neighbor, fellow town council member, and secret object of her affection for longer than she cared to admit.

  As recently elected town councilors, she and Tim had spent the last six weeks on the volunteer committee for Sapphire Springs’ Christmas festivities. They’d also collaborated on last night’s New Year’s Eve party, which Emily had secretly hoped would end with a lightbulb flickering on in his ridiculously gorgeous head, when he finally realized they were both single now and a perfect match. He’d kiss her at midnight on the rooftop of town hall, fireworks blasting behind them, and the rest would be history.

  Too bad he’d bailed at ten p.m. without even saying goodbye. It had been the final straw, prompting her New Year’s resolution to kick her secret crush to the curb once and for all. All she had to do was stop hanging out with Tim all the time. From now on she’d put herself out there, meet other guys, and find the real Mr. Right—somebody who could look past the friend zone and see her as more than “the girl downstairs.”

  With a nagging buzz, her phone announced another text.

  Someone’s being persistent today.

  Curiosity tempted her to read his texts and see what had prompted so many, but she knew she would then feel compelled to respond, and that would inevitably lead into one of their back-and-forth conversations that lasted an entire evening, until one of them either invited the other over to hang out or said they were going to bed.

  Not today, Fraser. No way would she blow her resolution on day one. The clock was ticking, and watching her best friend, Leyna, fall in love with her soul mate and plan their wedding had Emily wondering if she’d ever get her own happily-ever-after. Determined to ignore him, she propped her bare feet on the coffee table and flicked on the television to channel surf as her phone vibrated again.

  They’d established a routine back in the fall, watching TV together, or more often than not, watching the same show separately and texting e
ach other the entire time. It had begun with a bunch of nineties teen flicks, like Clueless and She’s All That (her choices), then they’d spent a day on John Hughes classics and another bingeing Adam Sandler movies. Then the Christmas movies had begun. Emily loved the cheesy romances—in fact the cheesier, the better. Tim mostly teased her about it and always got even with a Tarantino flick or two.

  In these last few months he’d really leaned on her. They’d gotten close—well, they’d always been sort of close, but now she’d kind of become his “person,” which both thrilled her and ignited an ache in her heart that she’d never survive if she kept squashing her emotions. She couldn’t do it anymore. It was like the tighter their bond, the further the possibility of them ever being more became.

  A chill danced across her shoulders as the clicking of her thumb slowed. On a long sigh, Emily reached for the fluffy mauve blanket draped over the back of the couch and pulled it around her. She lowered the remote to the arm of the couch. Behind Closed Doors was airing a mid-season marathon.

  The reality TV show revolved around four men and four women in their thirties sharing a mansion in L.A., and it starred Tim’s ex, Melissa. After three years together, not only had she cheated on him with one of her roommates, but she’d come to Sapphire Springs back in early September, flanked by her entourage, and dumped him while the cameras rolled.

  Her phone lit up again.

  Shit.

  It was literally the only thing on TV right now, and she’d bet that Tim needed a distraction to stave off the temptation to watch. Emily tipped her head back, resting it on the couch, to stare at the ceiling medallion encircling the light fixture, willing the tiny bulbs to help her decide how to play this.

  If the roles were reversed, she could count on him, no question. Take Todd, the hunky police officer she’d dated back in the summer. When Emily dumped him, Tim had shown up with a chocolate cake that had CONGRATULATIONS piped across it in pink frosting. They’d spent an entire Sunday watching reruns of Friends. She laughed even harder during the commercial breaks than she did during the show.

  Tim was such a great guy. He hadn’t deserved to have his heart ripped out.

  The ache in her heart throbbed a little harder.

  Ugh. This was exactly the kind of thing that had gotten her into this mess in the first place. She plucked her phone off the coffee table.

  Six messages.

  Happy New Year!

  Mel’s show is on all day for the second day in a row. I keep landing on it and getting caught up, like an idiot.

  Maybe I’ll go for a run.

  And then the three most recent messages:

  I’m back. What’re you up to?

  There’s a “potty putter” infomercial coming on