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 © 2020 by Corinne Michaels
Cover illustration and design by Elizabeth Turner Stokes.
Cover copyright © 2020 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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First Edition: March 2020
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LCCN: 2019955892
ISBNs: 978-1-5387-4565-6 (trade paperback), 978-1-5387-4566-3 (ebook)
E3-20200206-DANF-NG-ORI
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue: Teagan
Chapter One: Teagan
Chapter Two: Teagan
Chapter Three: Teagan
Chapter Four: Teagan
Chapter Five: Derek
Chapter Six: Teagan
Chapter Seven: Teagan
Chapter Eight: Derek
Chapter Nine: Derek
Chapter Ten: Teagan
Chapter Eleven: Derek
Chapter Twelve: Teagan
Chapter Thirteen: Teagan
Chapter Fourteen: Teagan
Chapter Fifteen: Derek
Chapter Sixteen: Teagan
Chapter Seventeen: Teagan
Chapter Eighteen: Teagan
Chapter Nineteen: Teagan
Chapter Twenty: Teagan
Chapter Twenty-One: Teagan
Chapter Twenty-Two: Derek
Chapter Twenty-Three: Teagan
Chapter Twenty-Four: Teagan
Chapter Twenty-Five: Derek
Chapter Twenty-Six: Teagan
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Teagan
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Derek
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Teagan
Chapter Thirty: Teagan
Chapter Thirty-One: Teagan
Chapter Thirty-Two: Teagan
Chapter Thirty-Three: Teagan
Chapter Thirty-Four: Derek
Chapter Thirty-Five: Teagan
Chapter Thirty-Six: Teagan
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Derek
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Teagan
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Derek
Chapter Forty: Teagan
Epilogue: Teagan
Discover More
Acknowledgments
About the Author
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Prologue
Teagan
Twenty-one years old
Fate. Hope. Love.
All words I think of as I stand at the front of this church in a gorgeous dress beside my best friend, Derek. It should be a happy day. One filled with tears of joy instead of tears of sadness.
No one knows that I’m not happy, though.
No one knows that he’s the one I love.
No one knows that I wish I was standing in her place, hearing him proclaim his love to me.
“Do you, Derek Matthew Hartz, promise to love, honor, and obey Meghan Kimberly Aston from this day forth?”
I stand behind him as his best woman, as he so called me, unable to see his face, but I don’t have to. I know what’s there. His strong jawline will be set, because when he’s serious he can’t stop himself from showing the determination that fills him. His two-day stubble that covers his cheeks is there just to please her. The love, though, the love that’s in his eyes should bring her to her knees. Because no one loves like Derek.
Another tear falls, but I plaster on a smile so people won’t see how much I’m breaking.
Please don’t say it, Derek, I want to beg. Please see that it’s me who you belong with. Just turn around. Just look to your left. See me. See us. See what could be if you’d open your eyes.
“I do,” he says with pride.
The ring slips on her finger, sealing their love, and I try not to feel the pain that’s threatening to overtake me. I would give anything to be the friend he believes me to be. The one who loves him like a brother, wants him to be happy, and stand beside him on the biggest day of his life. Instead, I’m dying inside. I know I will never—we will never—recover from this.
I can’t be his friend when I love him this much, and yet, I’m not strong enough to quit him.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride,” the pastor says with a triumphant smile.
Derek dips Meghan back, presses his lips to hers, and seals their union and my broken heart.
I follow behind him as he walks his wife back down the aisle.
Wife.
Another wave of emotion hits me, and I rest my hand on my very large stomach, trying not to be sick when the baby kicks, reminding me why exactly I could never have Derek anyway.
“Are you okay?” he asks as we exit the church.
Our eyes meet, and I use every ounce of strength to mask my emotions. “Yeah, sorry, just felt a little dizzy.”
Meghan immediately takes my arm. “Here, honey, sit. Someone get Teagan some water.”
“I’m fine! Really, I stood too long because Derek talks too much.” He rolls his eyes, and Meghan smiles. “I mean it, the baby is doing the salsa in there and I’m fine. This is your big day, please don’t worry about me.”
He eyes me like the protector he has always been. “You don’t have to be so tough around me.”
Oh, but I do.
I shake my head. “I would tell you. I always tell you.”
The lie slips from my lips so easily it’s scary. Derek and I have been best friends since high school. I’ve always told him the truth, until now.
“Okay. Just know, I’m really happy you’re here, Tea,” Derek says as he tucks Meghan into his side. “It was a lot for you to travel and probably hard to be on your feet the entire wedding, but you’re my best friend and I couldn’t have imagined anyone else by my side.”
The ache I had gotten under control is back to a steady throb. He has no idea why the wedding was hard. He thinks it’s because my now ex-boyfriend knocked me up and then left me. Keith doesn’t want anything to do with the baby, neither emotionally nor financially and now, I’m here, with a choice to make. I can fight him or run the
