If I Only Knew

by Corinne Michaels

  My hand is holding Danielle’s as we walk in. It was adorable how nervous she was on the way here.

  “Mum, I’d like you to meet Danielle, my fiancé.”

  Might as well get it all out now. Give the old woman a chance to lose her rag and then settle down. I’ve never been a man who minces words, why start now?

  “Fiancé?” she asks.

  “Yes,” I state. “I asked her to marry me today and she accepted.”

  Her eyes widen and then soften. “I see.”

  Danielle elbows me and then walks toward her. “It’s very nice to meet you Mrs. Huxley.”

  “My Milo is a very special man. You must be a special woman if he’s asked you to marry him.”

  “He is very special to me as well,” Danielle tells her and then looks back at me.

  As our eyes meet, I wonder how I lived before her. Everything since we’ve met is just . . . better. The sun is brighter, the days are more colourful, and life makes sense. I now understand why my brother packed his life to go to America. When you love a woman like this, you’ll do anything to keep her.

  Before Danielle, the word marriage alone would’ve repulsed me. In my mind, it was damnation for life. One person? Who the hell wants to eat the same flavour of ice cream for the rest of their life? Not me. Not until Danielle. There’s no one else I’d ever want to taste again.

  “Milo,” Mum says. “Give Danielle and I a few minutes alone.”

  Mum is the kindest woman I know, except when it comes to her boys. However, it’s sort of inevitable that they get this over with. I walk over to her, kiss her cheek and whisper. “Be nice, Mum. She means a lot to me.”

  Her hand pats my cheek. “Go away, son.”

  That’s not exactly the encouragement I was hoping for.

  I touch Danielle’s hand and head out of the room, hoping that they both come out alive and that it goes better than her meeting with Nicole.

  Once out in the hallway, I decide to call my brother.

  “Is Mum okay?” he asks.

  “Yes, why wouldn’t she be?”

  He grumbles. “Because it’s fucking early and I was up all night with Colin who thought he’d become nocturnal for a change.”

  “Danielle is here,” I tell him, ignoring his complaining.

  “Yes, I know.”

  “She said she quit.”

  “Yes, again, I know,” Callum sighs. “I’m assuming you didn’t fuck it up when she showed up?”

  I’m not a moron. I know what I’m doing when it comes to women, unlike him. “I asked her to marry me.”

  He nearly chokes. “You what?”

  I hear Nicole in the background. “What is he saying?”

  Callum moves the receiver and reiterates what I just said.

  “You what?” Nicole’s voice is now the one on the line.

  “I proposed, do you have a problem with that?” I ask.

  Nicole goes quiet for a second and then sighs. “No, it’s sweet and romantic. Good job, Milo.”

  “Well, I love her and never wish to be parted again. She left her job, is willing to move to London, and there’s no fucking way she’s living anywhere but in my house.”

  Again, there’s silence.

  “Nicole, are you there?”

  “I’m here,” she sniffs. “Here’s your brother.”

  Callum comes back on the line. “Great. You made her cry, now I’m going to have to listen to how you’re the better Huxley again.”

  “Was there ever a question about that?” I joke.

  “I hope you know,” he starts, “I never wanted you two to be separated. It wasn’t because I don’t care about you or that I was being cruel. It was that there really were no options.”

  In a small part of my heart, I know that. But something I loved was being taken from me, without any choice in the matter. To have it be my brother pulling the strings was even worse. Was my anger misplaced? Maybe.

  I’ll forgive you . . . depending on the wedding present.”

  He laughs. “Your wedding present is that I created another senior level position where Danielle will be your equal at Dovetail.”

  “My equal?” I scoff. “I’m the bloody Vice President! There’s no way I’ll be under her again, damn you.”

  My bastard brother snickers. “Co-Vice President. Your soon to be wife is the other. Have a great day, Milo.”

  Before I can say another word, the arsehole hangs up, leaving me stunned.

  Once again, Danielle is going to find a way to make me pay—forever, and that works just fine for me.

  Epilogue

  Danielle

  Three Months Later

  “Are you planning to move anything?” my husband asks.

  “Not really.”

  “So you’re going to sit there on your arse whilst I carry the boxes?”

  “Pretty much.” I shrug.

  “And here I thought we were equal partners,” Milo laughs as he carries another box in.

  Oh, how silly men are. Sure, we’re equal—at times.

  I grab my cup of tea and take a sip. I figure I should start getting used to my new homeland. In America, barely anyone drinks tea. It’s all about coffee, but I actually prefer tea, so I’m happy. Plus, the tea here is really fantastic.

  “I’m just doing what Nicole said to do.”

  He stops and looks at me. “And what was that, my darling?”

  I give him a playful smirk. “Supervise.”

  We’ve been living in London for a little over a month and finally our household goods shipment from America arrived. My home sold quick, and the kids were about done with school, so we said our goodbyes and headed to our new home of London, England.

  I started two weeks ago as Co-Vice President of Dovetail Enterprises. It was a little crazy, but it’s been amazing. Callum wants his family to all hold board seats and now that we’re officially family, it works.

  Really, I think he wanted to make Milo miserable. Which is another thing I don’t mind either.

  Keeping him a little hostile makes him work harder.

  “Could you supervise while holding a box?”

  I smirk. “I could, but you didn’t ask nicely.”

  “I’ll give you nicely.”

  “I sure hope so, husband.”

  Milo’s eyes fill with warmth. Each time I say husband or remind him that I’m his wife, his entire face lights up. I love that it makes him so happy. The truth is, I love it just as much.

  Milo wasted no time in getting married, he said he wanted to make sure I couldn’t change my mind.

  Our wedding was super small, but perfect. We had a week in between the move and needing to be in London, so we hopped on a plane to the islands and were married. The kids, us, Nicole and Callum, that’s it.

  Of course, Nicole was supposed to get a video for us, but instead, she went live so everyone else could see. In the end, it was perfect.

  “You’re really going to sit there?” he asks with a chuckle.

  “You could come over and make me get up.”

  “I could, or we can make a wager that you’ll come to me . . .”

  Milo and his betting.

  “Are you sure you want to bet me, sweetcheeks?” I say with sarcasm. “I mean, the last time we bet . . . you lost.”

  Milo puts the box down and heads over to me, his arms cage me in on the couch and he grins.

  “I rather think I won.”

  “Do you?”

  He grins. “Most definitely. Besides, you wouldn’t hold out on your husband, would you?”

  I pretend to think about it, and sigh. “It’s such a shame you’re so hot. It’s hard to resist you.”

  “That’s what I thought you’d say.”

  “Arrogant much?”

  His lips move closer. “Just hedging my bets.”

  Right before our lips are about to touch, Ava’s voice kills the moment.

  “Mom! Can you please tell Parker he doesn’t get to put his crap in
my room!”

  Milo pulls back.

  “Really? You guys are always making out, it’s freaking weird,” she says with her arms crossed.

  “Yes, being married and in love is so weird,” I toss back.

  She’s been genuinely happy since we decided to move here. Ava loves the arts, and London is a great place for her to study. We’ve already found a ballet school that she loves, and the instructor has trained some of the most renowned dancers.

  Ava sits on the couch beside me.

  “Aren’t you glad we’re married and now you get to help raise them?” I ask Milo with a brow raised.

  He kisses me hard and then pulls back. “I am.”

  “Mom!” She covers her eyes.

  I grab Milo’s arm as he starts to walk away. “Kiss me again.”

  His lips break into a slow, sexy smile. “Happily.”

  “Ugh!” She huffs. “I’m going upstairs to torture Parker.”

  “Bye!”

  Milo laughs and tucks my hair behind my ears. “I’m excited to be their bonus father. I know you worry, and I don’t blame you, but I love them as much as I love you.”

  “I got really lucky with you.”

  He kisses my forehead. “I’m pretty sure I won the lottery with you, sweetheart.”

  I wonder if he understands how much I love him. There’s something very different about my second marriage. I’m older, wiser, more understanding at the amount of work that goes into a relationship. There’s no grandiose ideas on how perfect things will be. I know there will be times I’ll hate him, days where I wonder what the hell I was thinking, and even times we may want to throw in the towel.

  On the other hand, there will be days like this. When nothing else matters but getting another kiss from the man I love. When the kids can be stupid or his mother—whom I freaking love—will require our attention, but I’ll see the beauty in our love.

  He pulls back and taps my nose. “Enjoy Ava’s attitude.”

  Yeah, there’s so much fun for me there.

  Ava and Parker each got their own rooms on the third level. Milo and I are on the second level. His house is magnificent, and it’s truly the most beautiful building I’ve ever seen. He bought it when it was run down, and spent God only knows how much money to renovate it.

  Their bedrooms were once a guest room and a study. He easily converted it to a bedroom before we moved officially.

  “Please stop fighting,” I say to them both.

  “Milo said I could have this room and if I needed space for my comics that I could use Ava’s room.”

  “No he didn’t!” Ava yells.

  “Okay, well, you have your room, Parker. If something doesn’t fit, which makes no sense, then you’ll have to throw it out,” I settle that one and then look at my daughter. “And you can be nice and let him put something in there since you decided you had to have the bigger room.”

  I swipe my hands together and nod. That’s done.

  Since Milo already had so much, we sold pretty much all of our furniture. There was no point in bringing it here, except for a few sentimental items that I couldn’t part with.

  I get downstairs where Milo is unpacking a box. He removes a wooden box that has my initials engraved on the top, and I freeze. Peter gave me that on the day of our wedding. He wanted us to fill it with memories. However, instead of memories, it’s where his ashes are contained.

  “Sweetheart? Where do you want to put this box?” Milo asks.

  I step forward, touching the lid. “I wasn’t sure what to do with this.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s Peter.”

  Milo covers my hand with his. “Why don’t we keep this on the mantle? He’s part of our family, and I never want you or the kids to feel as though I’m trying to replace him. If it weren’t for Peter, Ava and Parker wouldn’t be. If things didn’t happen the way they did, you never would’ve worked for Cal, and I never would’ve met you. I owe my entire life’s happiness to him, and he’s always welcome in our home.”

  My other hand rests on his cheek. “Why do you always say the perfect thing?”

  His eyes lock on mine. “Because you’re the perfect woman for me. Our hearts aren’t two beating as one. They’re the same heart that finally found it’s rhythm. Now . . .” he smiles. “Go grab a box and get to work. I’m going to need a rub down later.”

  And that’s my Milo. Sweet, sexy, and a smartass who stole my heart.

  Thank you for reading Danielle & Milo’s story. If you loved this tribe and aren’t quite ready to let go, swipe to the next page and get EXCLUSIVE bonus scene!

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  Did you love this group? Be sure to read We Own Tonight, One Last Time, and Not Until You to see each girl get their Second Time Around!

  Bonus Scene

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you so much for all your love and support and I hope you enjoyed If I Only Knew! Do you want more of Milo and Danielle? If so, just sign up for my newsletter and you’ll get an exclusive bonus scene that you can’t get anywhere else!

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  Books by Corinne Michaels

  The Salvation Series

  Beloved

  Beholden

  Consolation

  Conviction

  Defenseless

  Evermore: A Salvation Series Novella (Coming 2/26/19)

  Indefinite (Coming 2019)

  * * *

  Return to Me Series

  Say You’ll Stay

  Say You Want Me

  Say I’m Yours

  Say You Won’t Let Go: A Return to Me/Masters and Mercenaries Novella

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  Second Time Around Series

  We Own Tonight

  One Last Time

  Not Until You

  If I Only Knew

  * * *

  Co-Written Novel with Melanie Harlow

  Hold You Close

  Untitled (Coming 2019)

  Acknowledgments

  If you deal with me during this process, you deserve so much more than a thank you that’s back here. For real, I’m a little crazy and you know this, but . . . here it is.

  To my husband and children. I don’t know how you deal with me, but I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you. I love you all with my whole heart.

  My beta readers, Katie, Melissa, Jo: Thank you so much for your support and love during this book. I love you guys and couldn’t imagine not having you. I hope I did the British parts proud.

  My assistant, Christy Peckham: When I say I hate you, I’m totally lying. I love you so much. I’ll totally deny this.

  My readers. There’s no way I can thank you enough. It still blows me away that you read my words. You guys are everything to me. Everything.

  Bloggers: You’re the heart and soul of this industry. Thank you for choosing to read my books and fit me into your insane schedules. I appreciate it more than you know.

  Sommer Stein, from Perfect Pear Creative, for being my friend and creating the most amazing covers ever. Christine, from Type A Formatting, your support is invaluable. I truly love your beautiful hearts.

  Melanie Harlow, thank you for being the good witch in our duo or Ethel to my Lucy. Really you’re the good witch and I’m the bad, but your friendship means the world to me and I love writing with you (especially when you let me kill characters.)

  Bait, Stabby, and Corinne Michaels Bo
oks – I love you more than you’ll ever know.

  My agent, Kimberly Brower, I am so happy to have you on my team. Thank you for your guidance and support.

  Melissa Erickson, you’re amazing. I love your face.

  Vi, Claire, Mandi, Amy, Kristy, Penelope, Kyla, Rachel, Tijan, Alessandra, Syreeta, Meghan, Laurelin, Kristen, Kennedy, Ava, and Natasha—Thank you for keeping me striving to be better and loving me unconditionally.

  About the Author

  New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Corinne Michaels is the author of multiple romance novels. She’s an emotional, witty, sarcastic, and fun-loving mom of two beautiful children. Corinne is 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. She enjoys putting her characters through intense heartbreak and finding a way to heal them through their struggles. Her stories are chock full of emotion, humor, and unrelenting love.