Gwyneth Bolton - If Only You Knew

Latonya didn’t have the energy to get up from her bed and answer it. Then she realized that if she was going to make any headway against the flu that had her flat on her back for two days, she was going to have to muster the strength.

She draped the sweat-soaked sheet around herself and walked the few steps from her bedroom to her front door.

“One second.” Her sore throat was tested by even those two words. Leaning against the door for rest, Latonya realized she would be lucky to tell the irritating person on the other side that they had the wrong apartment. Her illness and annoyance blocked her normal caution of looking through the peephole and putting the chain lock in place.

She angrily snatched open the door and immediately regretted her haste. A cold chill washed over her as her worst fear materialized.

Her husband and his grandfather had found her.

became an avid romance fan after sneak-reading her mother’s romance novels. In the nineties, she was introduced to African-American romance novels and her life hasn’t been the same since. She has an M.A. in creative writing and a Ph.D. in English. She teaches writing and women’s studies at the college level. When she is not writing African-American romance novels, she is curled up with a cup of herbal tea, a warm quilt and a good book. She currently lives in Syracuse, New York, with her husband, Cedric. Readers can contact her via e-mail, gwynethbolton@prodigy.netor visit her Web site www.gwynethbolton.com

If Only You Knew

Gwyneth Bolton

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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My mother Donna Pough

My sisters Jennifer, Sandy, Michelle and Tashina

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoy reading Latonya and Carlton’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it. A major theme of the novel is the issue of intercultural relationships between people of African descent. As an African-American woman with friends and ties across the African diaspora, this theme is near and dear to my heart. I like to believe that for the most part people in general have more similarities than differences. So the way certain black-on-black biases and prejudices play out as we relate to one another has always intrigued me. I think that Latonya and Carlton show us that love finds its way past the obstacles of cultural and class difference. Their love story provides inspiration for us all to move past the things that stop us from connecting more fully. I’d love to hear what you think!

Gwyneth Bolton

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

“Hey, beautiful.”

Latonya Stevens glanced up from the papers on her desk. Smiling, she tilted her head and batted her eyes playfully at her coworker.

Jeff Weatherby leaned against the entryway to her office wearing a designer suit and a smile that could best be described as sexy with a little mischief thrown in for good measure. His tall, lean, muscular build, along with his Hollywood heartthrob looks and boyish charm, made him almost irresistible. And he knew it. Observing the player-on-the-prowl gleam in his eyes, Latonya thanked God she had developed immunity to smooth-talking playboys ever since the first one, her father, broke her heart.

Jeff loosened his tie as he stepped into the office and took a seat. “So, beautiful, how about you come to Soka’s with us for happy hour. It’s Friday and it’s time to get ready for the weekend.” His piercing cobalt-blue eyes glimmered as he spoke. He casually leaned back in the chair.

Watching as he made himself comfortable, Latonya admired his easy, laid-back nature. She figured that it must have been nice to let go and not have to worry about anything but working and partying hard, sometimes in that order.

Unfortunately, she had too many responsibilities to test the lifestyle Jeff seemed to promote so wholeheartedly.

“Thanks for the invite, but I have to get a head start on next week’s projects.” She stood up and stretched, moving her neck and head in a circular motion.

“You know what they say about all work…” Jeff ran his fingers through black hair that would put male-shampoo-commercial models out of business and let his words linger.

“I know. I’m dull,” Latonya admitted as she sat back down in her seat. She didn’t need anyone to tell her that she didn’t have a social life. She couldn’t remember ever having one. And given the amount of responsibilities she now had, she doubted she’d be getting one anytime soon.

She’d started working for Harrington Enterprise’s Miami offices fresh out of her MBA program full of energy and hope. The company exported cement and refined petroleum products from the Bahamas and imported crude oil from the States into the Bahamas. At twenty-four years old, the job with the Fortune 500-company allowed her to remain at home and help out her family in a stressful time: her grandmother—who had single-handedly raised Latonya and her sister—had just had a stroke.

She’d needed a job that would allow her to take over the mortgage payments on the small two-bedroom home where she’d spent most of her life and pay the part of her sister’s tuition that wasn’t covered by scholarships. The entry-level position at Harrington had barely allowed her to make ends meet when she combined those responsibilities with her own student-loan debt, but she was getting by.

Jeff smiled as he stood up, slinging his suit jacket over his shoulder. “You’re not dull, beautiful. Just a little uptight, that’s all. But I intend to make it my business to loosen you up. You work too hard. You need to learn how to relax, and I’m just the man to show you how.” He winked at her.

Tilting her head, Latonya squinted and pursed her lips. “I’ll tell you what, when I have time for a social life you will be the first person I call. How about that?” She knew she would never take him up on his offer. Flirting was fun, but it didn’t pay the bills.

“That sounds like a plan to me, beautiful. I’ll see you on Monday. That is, unless you want to give me a call later and hang out this weekend. Let’s say Saturday night. You, me, a little dinner—”

“I’ll see you on Monday, Weatherby. Now, go and party or whatever it is you guys do on a Friday night. I have work to do.”

“Right. Catch you later, beautiful.” Jeff gave her one last wink as he strolled from the office.

I’ll tell you what, when I have time for a social life you will be the first person I call. How about that?

Carlton Harrington III let the words linger in his mind as he continued down the hallway. He hadn’t meant to listen in on the conversation between Jeff and Latonya. He’d simply been walking by her office when he heard a sound that he seldom had the pleasure of hearing from her. Laughter.