by Lea Coll
Only with You
Copyright © 2020 by Lea Meyer
All Rights Reserved.
This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.
All characters and storylines are the property of the author and your support and respect is greatly appreciated.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Editing by Evident Ink
Editing by Heart Full of Ink
Proofreading by Virginia Carey
Cover Design by Okay Creations
Photography by Wander Aguiar
Table of Contents
Books by Lea Coll
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
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Epilogue
Books by Lea Coll
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Excerpt from Choose Me
Books by Lea Coll
All I Want Series
Choose Me
Be with Me
Burn for Me
Trust in Me
Stay with Me
Take a Chance on Me
Annapolis Harbor Series
Only with You
Lost without You
Perfect for You
Boudreaux Universe Novel
Easy Moves
Download a free novella, Swept Away, when you sign up for her newsletter.
To learn more about her books, please visit her website.
To my husband, whose childhood story about breaking his arm is finally memorialized in writing.
Chapter One
Hadley
I set my empty champagne glass on an empty table, tired of being at the Belles and Beaus Charity Ball. I turned to Layton to tell him it was time to leave, finding him on one knee. My face heated as the conversation around us quieted. A few people backed up to give us space.
“Layton, what are you doing?” I hissed.
“Hadley, we’ve only been together for a short time, but I’ve always wanted you in my life. Will you marry me?” His face was tilted up to mine, he grabbed my hand tightly, as if holding me in place, anchoring me to the moment.
I tried to draw in a breath around the tightness in my chest.
Our few dates flashed through my mind—outings with friends, charity events, and business dinners. We were rarely alone. We hadn’t even had sex. We didn’t love each other. Staring down at his face, the one filled with expectation, I wasn’t sure I even liked him.
I tugged on the hand Layton held, hoping he’d stand so we could speak privately. I needed to get him away from the crowd of spectators, but he didn’t budge. How could I tell him no in front of everyone? These people who pretended to be our friends were more interested in what we could do for them, whether it was status or money.
Layton’s eyes narrowed as if he sensed my hesitation. I sucked in a breath. He’d planned this. He wanted to put me on the spot so I couldn’t say no.
“Layton, we’ve only been dating for three months.” I smiled tightly keeping my voice low so no one could overhear.
Layton stood, tightened his grip on my right hand, lowering his mouth to my ear. “Say yes, Hadley.”
I was used to giving in to pressure from my father in situations like this. I wanted to please those I loved, but I didn’t love Layton. I couldn’t say yes to save him from the embarrassment of public rejection. I was irritated he’d put me in this situation, to begin with. I closed my eyes against the curious stares and the heavy expectation. “I didn’t put us in this situation.”
“Don’t embarrass me.” His voice was low and threatening. One thing I did know about him was that he hated not getting what he wanted. I’d seen him lash out at his employees if they didn’t do what he demanded. I never thought I’d be the recipient. If anything, he’d treated me with cold indifference. This public display was confusing.
The crowd around us began to shift. I’d been silent too long. Even if I said yes, the damage was done.
Layton cupped the back of my head, forcing me to look up at him. “Smile, sweetheart.” A muscle in his jaw clenched and his eyes held a warning—don’t make a scene.
I shook my head subtly, trying to communicate without words that we needed privacy for this conversation.
Layton turned away from me, raising our joined hands in the air. “She said, yes!”
My heart sank. How would I fix this? I didn’t like public spectacles or manipulation.
Shouts and claps erupted as relief swept through the room. Our parents and friends offered congratulations and hugs, but I didn’t take my eyes from Layton’s. His eyes warned me not to disagree with him. The one thing I’d been taught since I could remember was never make a scene. Reputation was everything, but this was different.
“I didn’t say yes, and you know it,” I said when most of the crowd dissipated. I also didn’t say no. The thought caused a trickle of panic down my spine.
“You didn’t have to. You’re mine.” He lifted my hand, slipping an enormous diamond ring on my finger.
A sick feeling filled my stomach. Layton never saw me. He only saw a woman who looked a certain way, who held an advanced degree, and whose father was friends and business associates with his father.
I didn’t want to embarrass Layton, but I wanted to be clear about what I wanted. I tugged my hand away, slipped the ring off, and held it out for him. “No. You don’t ask someone you’ve dated for three months to marry you in front of a room full of strangers. I don’t love you.”
“Who said anything about love?” He crossed his arms, refusing to take the ring.
I sighed, disgusted that I’d gone out with him to keep my father happy. I shouldn’t have wasted any time on him. I slipped the ring into the front pocket of his suit jacket.
“You should have discussed it with me first. We could have avoided this.”
“I asked your father’s permission,” Layton said as if that was the sole deciding factor. As if my opinion didn’t matter.
Dad stood behind Layton. I had done what he’d wanted ever since Mom died. In the beginning, it was a desire for him to work less and be home more often. Over the years, it morphed into wanting his love and approval.
My father leaned in, whispering in a low voice. “Hadley Ann Winters, he’s a good match. Don’t say or do anything you’ll regret.”
“Why?
What do you get out of me marrying Layton?” It had to benefit him in some way. He’d insisted I major in business and attend law school. Working at the U.S. Attorney’s office reflected nicely on him. He’d expressed pleasure when I started dating Layton, but he’d never taken things this far before. It was too much.
“It’s time for you to settle down and come work for me.”
“The answer is no, and it will always be no.” I looked at my father and then at Layton, so there was no mistake I was speaking to both of them. If I stayed, I’d say something I regretted. I hadn’t called my dad out on his behavior since my mom died and it wasn’t the time or the place. Instead, I turned and walked away.
I ignored the stares and whispers that followed me. I knew my dad operated on manipulation and lies but expecting me to marry Layton—someone I didn’t like, much less love, went beyond what I tolerated from him in the past.
A doorman opened the door as I approached, and I stepped out into the humid Louisiana evening. I was done with my father. I stood on the sidewalk, waiting for my driver to pull up, unease curling up my spine. I needed to go home and regroup. I needed to figure out how I was going to handle the fallout.
“That was quite an exit, sister.” I turned to find Colin leaning against the wall, a teasing smile on his face, his hands in his suit pockets.
“I wasn’t expecting any of that.” I gestured behind me.
“You weren’t expecting Layton to propose or weren’t expecting him to do it at an event in front of Dad, our friends, and a room full of strangers?” He placed air quotes around friends before walking the few steps to stand next to me.
I raised my brow at him. He smiled wider, so that his dimple popped. The town car pulled up and we waited for the driver to open it for us. “Neither. Where were you?”
“I didn’t want to interrupt the touching moment.”
“You’re such an asshole, sometimes.” I smiled as I sunk into the soft leather cushion.
“I’m a lovable asshole.”
“You are.” The little brother I’d worried about had grown into a man—one who, despite our father, was carefree and fun.
Colin’s face tightened. “It’s about time you stood up to him.”
“He said it was time I came to work for him.” He’d groomed me for a position in his business but now he was interfering in my personal life.
“He thinks marrying Layton will keep you close?”
“And under his thumb.”
“Will you let me be here for you like you’ve been for me?”
When I didn’t respond, he sighed heavily. All teasing was gone from his face, leaving the haunted look. The one he’d had after Mom died. The one I swore I’d fix. At her funeral, I vowed to be there for him. I’d never let him down.
“You’ve fulfilled your vow to me. It’s your turn to live a little. I’ll be fine.”
He was the reason I’d stayed so long in New Orleans when I wanted to escape Dad’s reach. What would it be like to be on my own with no apartments, no drivers, and no safety net? It usually would have scared me, but this time, the desire to escape overrode that fear.
“I think it’s time for you to do your own thing,” Colin said.
Since I graduated from law school, I tried to carve out a life separate from Dad, but in reality, I still lived in an apartment I didn’t pay for, in a building my dad owned. Who was I? What did I want? The sad part was after twenty-eight years, I had no idea.
Chapter Two
Hadley
I stood in the doorway to my friend, Taylor’s office, at the U.S. Attorney’s office the Monday after the proposal. I was starting to think of my life as pre-proposal and post-proposal.
“What are you going to do?” Taylor asked.
“I don’t know. I live in my dad’s building at his insistence I live in a safe building.” I’d acquiesced, but it was more evidence of my father’s manipulation and control.
“Are you going to take that transfer to Baltimore?”
It was another Assistant U.S. Attorney’s job. Instead of trying cases, I’d be assisting with rape kits and victims—ensuring the kits were processed timely and the cases proceeded without delays. Taylor had recently applied for and gotten a similar job here in New Orleans. Baltimore was far away from New Orleans, and my father. The thought of living on my own was scary.
Taylor’s forehead wrinkled. “If living in his building means you have to marry who he wants, then it’s not worth it.”
“Each thing he has financed came with strings and expectations. If you major in business, I’ll pay your tuition. If you go to law school, I’ll pay for it.” I’d wanted to major in English, but Dad thought it was an impractical degree.
“Someone offering to pay for your education is a big deal. I don’t blame you. My parents did too, but there were no expectations or requirements.”
“It seemed innocent. In law school, you’re told not to work. We were going to be too busy studying. My dad was all too happy to set me up in an apartment and with a driver. It was easy. It allowed me to focus on my classes.”
Looking back, Dad wanted me to be indebted to him. When he needed me to fall in line, I would.
“The only tie left is this apartment you live in?”
“Yes, and my nonprofit.” When I’d asked dad for money to start Kids Speak, I was thinking about what good I could do, not what he’d ask in return. I should have known better. I had plans to expand the nonprofit to other cities. Moving wouldn’t necessarily change anything. I’d already begun interviews for an acting director who could oversee the day to day operations when I couldn’t.
“He’s not planning on pulling his support from Kids Speak, is he?”
“He hasn’t said that. I wouldn’t think he’d want the negative publicity that would come with that move.” Kids Speak was just as good for him and his business as it was for me. Although, he benefitted from the positive publicity, and I thrived on building kids’ confidence through improved speech.
I’d started an organization of volunteers who worked to identify children with speech needs who didn’t meet the requirements to receive benefits through the county or school. Speech therapists worked with them after school to improve their speech and confidence. Some parents didn’t know there were private options available or, if they did, couldn’t afford it. Schools were already stretched thin with budget constraints and limited staffing.
“That’s good.”
“You must think I’m an idiot. Who allows their parents to have control over their lives like this? I’m twenty-eight years old and I’ve never made a single decision on my own.”
Taylor shook her head in disbelief. “I’m sure that’s not true. Did he make you work here?”
“He was strongly in favor of it.” My stomach churned. I was embarrassed to admit the reach of my father’s control, even to a friend.
“If you don’t want to work at the U.S. Attorney’s office, I have a couple of friends from law school, who are opening a firm in Annapolis. It’s a general practice law firm. Maybe you could figure out what you want to do. It’s also—"
“The opposite of this job. It’s risky and not part of Dad’s plan for me.” But was that a way to live my life? Doing something dad would hate? First, I did what he wanted. Then what he’d hate. Either way, he’d still have power over me. But maybe I’d be happier in a job where I could practice law in a variety of fields, instead of just criminal law, and figure out what I wanted to do.
“Think about it. You don’t have to make a decision yet.”
“Do you think they’d hire me? I’d need to take the Maryland Bar exam.” The thought of studying for months for another bar exam was not appealing.
“You could take the attorney exam since you’ve been practicing for a few years already and petition the court to practice while you wait for the results.”
The attorney exam would be easier. I was touched Taylor had researched the options for me. I had someone looking out
for what I wanted versus what I could do for them. “You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?”
A smile played on Taylor’s lips. “You told me a few weeks ago that you needed to get out of Louisiana. Be honest with yourself—you’ve wanted out for awhile. Layton’s proposal was the catalyst to do something finally.”
I had told her that when I saw the job opening in Baltimore. The itch to leave, to get out from under my father’s thumb was strong. She was right. This feeling wasn’t new, but it had taken new meaning since the proposal. I had to do something. I had to figure out who I was.
“You’re right. Can you forward me your friends’ information?”
“Of course. Just so you know, I don’t want you to leave. You were the first person who was friendly when I moved here, but I think you need to. If you stay here, your dad will always have control over you.”
A shiver ran down my spine. Would my father always have some control over me? Would I ever be free?
I returned to my office to find my phone buzzing with messages from Layton and my father.
Layton: Babe, will you answer my calls? We need to talk about this. If you need me to say I love you—I will.
I snorted. Not that he loved me, but if I need him to say it, he would—how chivalrous of him. I ignored his message.
Dad: We need to talk about this. I think you’re making a mistake.
Hadley: I fail to see why we need to talk because I turned down a marriage proposal. My heart rate increased as anger spread through me.
