Had to Be You

HAD TO BE YOU MELANIE SHAWN Had To Be You by Melanie Shawn Melanie Shawn © 2023 All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this book. No part of this may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission in writing from Melanie Shawn. Exceptions are limited to reviewers who may use brief quotations in connection with reviews. No part of this book can be transmitted, scanned, reproduced, or distributed in any written or electronic form without written permission from Melanie Shawn. This book is a work of fiction. Places, names, characters and events are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author. Disclaimer: The material in this book is for mature audiences only and contains graphic content. It is intended only for those aged 18 and older. Cover Design by Wildcat Dezigns Book Design by Wildcat Dezigns Published by Red Hot Reads Publishing Rev. 1.0 CONTENTS 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 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Coming Soon About the Author Also by Melanie Shawn 1 "A wedding? Sure, I’ll go to a wedding." Knox Savage hadn’t planned on attending nuptials today, but he wasn’t mad at the prospect of going as his cousin’s plus one. "I love weddings." "You love weddings?" The doubt in his cousin Keaton’s voice came through loud and clear over the speakers in his Range Rover. "Promises of forever. Dancing. Drinks. What’s not to love?" "And single women," Keaton added. Knox’s cousin knew him well. He did love women, and thankfully, women loved him. Knox had never suffered from false modesty. At six feet four, with brown hair and brown eyes, an athletic build, and a strong jaw line, he was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome. And that just scratched the surface. He was also a tattooed, recently retired Navy SEAL who had been blessed with what his grandad referred to as the gift of gab. His mom maintained that flirting was in his DNA. One of his earliest memories was being in the grocery store with his mom; he had to have been two or three because he was in the cart where toddlers sit. He remembered, clear as day, asking the cashier if she was a princess. She told him no, and he told her she should be because she was as pretty as one. Her face lit up with a megawatt smile, and even at that young age, he remembered feeling a surge of happiness for being the one who put the smile on her face. He still loved that feeling. "How close are you?" Keaton asked fortuitously as Knox drove past the sign that read Welcome to Whisper Lake Population 3,476. "I just passed the city limits." After driving for the past twenty-plus hours straight from Florida, Knox was definitely going to have to rally to be up for the celebration. But a shower, some coffee, and some food, and he’d be ready to do the Cupid Shuffle, the Macarena, or whatever the wedding DJ threw at him. "Does he know you’re coming?" Keaton asked. The ‘he’ that Keaton was referring to was Knox’s older brother Ford, who had no clue that Knox was going to be showing up on his doorstep in just a few minutes. "Nope." And that’s going to make it even sweeter. "You know how he feels about surprises," Keaton warned. "Yes." A wide smile spread on Knox’s face. "Yes, I do." There were few things in life that brought Knox as much pleasure as fucking with his older brother. Which, to Knox’s great delight, was very easy to do since Ford was basically the real-life version of Oscar the Grouch. In fairness, Ford hadn’t always been that way. If memory served, Ford used to be a lot more fun. But when his older brother was ten, Knox was six, and their youngest brother Sebastian was four, their dad died suddenly. After that, their mom had to work two, sometimes three, jobs. The brunt of caring for Knox and their younger brother, Sebastian, fell on Ford’s shoulders. And to add more to his plate, their cousin Keaton, who was the same age as Knox, had moved in just a few years later. As much as Knox appreciated his big brother stepping up and making sure that none of the younger Savages ended up in jail or six feet under, he loved getting a rise out of him so much more. "Well, you know you can stay with me if Ford tosses your ass out on the street," Keaton offered. "Thanks, but I’m good. I got a short-term rental. I get the keys tomorrow." "Are you going to tell Ford you’re only staying at his house for one night?" "Where would the fun be in that?" Knox planned on letting his brother sweat, thinking that he was going to have a houseguest for an undetermined amount of time. Which Knox knew would be his brother’s version of hell. Keaton chuckled over the phone. "How long are you planning on staying in town?" "The summer. I got the rental for three months." "Where do you think you’ll head after that?" "Wherever I want to." As much pride as Knox took in serving his country as a SEAL for the past twenty years, he was happy to finally have no one to answer to. He planned on taking full advantage of his newfound freedom. He’d been out for nearly a month now. The first person he’d gone to see, after a quick tropical trip to the Bahamas with an