Heartbroken, Charleigh Wrylee, a charming and driven associate architect, dedicates her life to her career. She grabs the opportunity when a new project promises her a promotion. Bryce Chase is a tough daddy and a great baker with only two goals in life-raising his child and managing his cake shop. But things change when he runs into a new girl. Even though their interests don't align, it turns the heat between them, pulling them together like magnets. Will they be able to set their issues aside and follow their hearts instead? Or will they rather stick to what they're fighting for; his shop and her promotion? *** Sometimes hiding the truth comes with a great price. That's what the quiet and preserved Arizona Sky realizes after meeting Tripp Wrylee- a hardworking overconfident CEO of a top architectural firm. She finds herself doing things she never thought she'd do- marrying a man she barely knows and leaving her the next day. Three years later, he comes back, asking for a second chance, filling the husband's role he left empty, bringing out the other side of him that Ari never knew he had. Things between them become surreal until his job is at risk, their relationship is in hot water, and the people she loves are against their relationship, but something between them is maybe worth saving.
Fantastic!
That was the last word Charleigh heard from her brother and boss, Tripp, after her presentation before him and Kayden Braxton, the COO, and co-founder.
She'd been working her ass off for the past three years at Braxton and Wrylee Associates as an associate architect, and she just spent four weeks on her desk to make a good impression. She deserved more than just the word fantastic.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't even get a good job from him. It was not that she was fishing for compliments. This time, she wasn't sure if he meant it because she didn't get a lot of it from Tripp. She didn't care about it anymore for as long as he would keep to his promise.
"Are you ready for your promotion?" Tripp Wrylee asked.
Charleigh said silently, "Been born ready."
"Great. Your flight will be tomorrow. Do your best, Charleigh. Don't come back until you impress the client."
She stopped placing her things back into her tote bag and finally lifted her gaze to her brother. "I think you've been hard on me for years, Tripp, to know if I can do this or not. I can handle this. This is not my first project, anyway. And the last time I checked, I haven't screwed things up." If she didn't count her last relationship. She inwardly grimaced.
"Okay. I'm just reminding you that the firm's credibility lies in your hands." Jeez, he had his own way of boosting her confidence.
"You haven't told me about the client. And where exactly I am going? You only told me to design a 26,000-square-foot modern commercial three-story building. That's it." She assessed her brother. As always, she couldn't see any emotions on his face.
"It's in Hopes Spring."
"Oh, I can do it." Wait. Where is it exactly? "I hope you can tell me more than 'fantastic' when I come back," she said confidently.
She was a hundred percent sure about her promotion, and already dreaming of her name on a nameplate on her new office door.
"You need to get the approval from the city mayor. He also owns the old building." Why did she feel like there was more than what Tripp was telling her?
"You mean, our client. Piece of cake." She hung her bag around her shoulder. "I'll check my email. Thanks."
Charleigh was ready to leave the conference room when Kayden called her name. "Yeah? Wanna add something? Like the great history of Hopes Spring, maybe I should be making a three-story floating building above the spring, on a lake, or at a mountain's peak. I just wanna make sure I won't miss every detail, you know. Do they ride a horse sleigh? What's the weather there? I should have done my homework."
Kayden chuckled. "Nope. The city is a little bit smaller, but they're not completely outdated when it comes to technology. And they definitely have Wifi and Netlfix."
"Good to know." Charleigh nodded because she couldn't live without the internet. It was part of her daily life.
"We made sure the building is going to be built on the land. Good luck."
Kayden Braxton was the definition of tall, dark, and handsome. His dark bronze skin made him more attractive in his dark blue tailored suit. When he smiled, he could be a toothpaste model.
"Thanks, Kayd." She stepped closer to wrap her arms around him. She could easily hug him like a brother.
She'd known Kayden since college. He was also Tripp's best friend. She felt that Kayden was the one who convinced her brother to let her join their firm. When it came to Tripp, she wouldn't exactly expect anything from him other than his cold shoulder and authoritarian. Maybe that was why the firm was successful.
"There's another thing you should know," Kayden said when he pulled from their embrace.
"Kayden," Tripp warned his best friend, and it didn't miss Charleigh's suspicious eyes.
Since she got this project, Charleigh knew something was off. For the starter, Tripp handed it to her on a silver platter. Then, the client should have been around during her presentation, and that never happened today.
She would be traveling to Hopes Spring to do another presentation and make a good impression, but she was more determined to get her promotion than to grill them with questions. If she had to climb the highest mountain, she might not think twice.
What was so special with the city mayor that he couldn't even join if this project was so important to him?
"Our client is-"
Tripp cut off Kayden. "Dax Easton."
Charleigh sucked in a breath. She could feel the color draining from her face. Well, she wasn't exactly expecting that kind of revelation, but she had no more escape from this, had she?
"You're making this up." She swallowed hard while staring at her brother in utter shock.
"No." Tripp almost looked hurt, but she knew it was bullshit. He wouldn't give this job to her if he even gave a damn because he was aware of how the breakup affected Charleigh.
Everything was still fresh when Dax freaking Easton broke her heart in front of a breathtaking landscape. She moved on, but it didn't mean that she'd forgotten her humiliation.
Her way of moving on was devoting to zero interest in relationships. It was as if written in stone. She had hook-ups and made sure no personal entanglements were involved. She pushed that thought to the other side of her brain.
"So he's also the mayor, huh?" she scoffed. Wow! She never saw that coming. Mayor Dax Easton. It actually had a ring to it.
Kayden sighed deeply and nodded to confirm. "Well, it was easier than we thought."
She arched a brow before she faced her brother. "Let's not get too sentimental. It was a long time ago. And you do plan on making me look like an idiot there, don't you, Tripp?"
"I just don't want you to turn this project down. It's a stepping stone for you, Charleigh." Gah, how she hated it when Tripp looked at her so damn little. She didn't look like so useless piece of an architect, only in her brother's eyes. Besides, for years, she'd proven useful, and she passed the exam, for God's sake, so she deserved a little respect from him.
She wanted to punch her brother. Stepping stone his ass! After three years? God, how did he become such an insensitive jerk?
"I'm not turning it down because I designed his castle. I can prove to him that I wasn't so broken when he left me. Just like you said, this is my stepping stone. He was my ex, and what happened between me and Dax was all in the past. Water under the bridge. I'm over it." She slightly stiffened when she sounded defensive and desperate at the same time.
Well, she was.
She couldn't take her mind off the project on her way to her apartment. She wanted to turn around to the nearest bar to drown her sadness with the strongest poison she could get. Then she laughed alone, thinking, perhaps it was Tripp's way of punishing her. She wouldn't let him win.
There was no sibling rivalry between them. Besides, what was Charleigh's match over her brother's achievements? He was the CEO, and well, she was just an associate in the firm full of greedy sharks.
She curled up on her couch, replaying the day Dax broke her heart. The truth was, she still blamed herself. It was her fault after all. She shouldn't have let Dax break the bro code by dating her.
Dax was the only guy who showed interest and attention and made her feel like she was special. For almost two years, she was even thinking of her future with him, and then, all of a sudden, it was nothing more but a dream.
Her phone pinged. It was an email from her brother's assistant about the details of her flight and her stay at the Inn.
There was no turning back. She wouldn't want the month of her hard work would go to waste because of these damn terrible men in her life.
***
The flight attendant announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Hopes Spring Airport. The local time is 5 p.m., and the temperature is thirty degrees."
She was picked up by the local car service arranged for her. The ride was less than fifteen minutes to the Inn. The entire city was not what she expected when Kayden informed her about the not-so-left-behind ideas. It looked like from the 90's movie scenes. When she climbed out of the cab, she was more surprised by the Inn signage in front of her.
It was more like an Airbnb.
"Lovely."
"Why did you bend over, Maverick?" Â "Because you told me to, assh*le." Â "I'm so tempted to f*ck you right now. You're the most exquisite woman I've ever been with, the only beautiful thing I see and have." Â "Then what are you waiting for? Just punish me already!" *** MAVERICK As a working college student, I struggle to make ends meet until a stranger approaches me with a proposal-- to be his employer's wife for an enormous sum of money. Knowing the cash will help me pay my grandmother's medical bills, I accept the offer with a demand-- just a marriage of convenience, no intimacy. It's too late to realize I'm marrying the charming and gorgeous to a fault, young Mr. Winston. And there's this instant fire between us despite my inhibitions. Things get more complicated when our sham marriage is put to the test by his father, who threatens to expose my dirty little secret. *** LAKE Being a Braddson-Winston heir is sometimes a curse. My father is a real SOB and a pain in my ass. He makes one outrageous demand for me to secure the CEO seat in the company-- marriage. So I found a perfect bride- Maverick Bates II, who is beautiful but in a dire financial situation. I only ask two things. We stay MBA and keep things purely business until the contract ends. As simple as that. It was meant to be a straightforward deal, but each day I get to know her, my position is not the only thing at stake but also my heart. I realize I can't let her go even if I have to make a dangerous bargain with her father, who happens to be a ruthless crime boss.
Without warning, he grabbed me by my ankles and dragged me to the edge of the bed. “Take your panties off,” he ordered me as he unbuckled his belt and worked on his pants, letting them fall on his ankles. Then he grabbed his dick out of his boxers. He was already hard and began stroking it. When I was too shocked to move, he growled at me, his green eyes searing against mine. “Panties. Off. Now, Nirvana.” I did as he said, scrambling to remove my shorts and underwear. My chest started heaving. My lips went dry as I watched him enjoy stroking himself. “Open your mouth, suck me, and take me all in.” His order woke up something inside me. Lust fired up through my veins, and my clit ached for him. I opened my mouth, and he shoved his shaft inside. “That’s it, sweetheart. Good girl.” *** All her life, Nirvana Thorne thought she was just human, at least not until a mysterious guy rejected her for no reason. When she finally uncovers her family secrets, Knight reclaims her as his fated mate and forces her to dig deep into the unimaginable danger of the underworld to undo the curse. Fighting her attraction towards him is hard enough. Every time they get close, their chemistry sizzles, and the heat between them becomes irresistible. When the pack is under siege, she must learn to gain control of the newfound power within her while the alpha intends to show her where she belongs. *** All Knight Blackwell ever wanted was to run his pack while getting rich. What he didn’t need was a woman demanding his attention, let alone a human mate like Nirvana. So he rejects her. What he never sees coming is his mate possesses an ancient secret— she’s a creature bound in magic intertwined with an ancient dark prophecy and the key to something bigger than anything they’ve ever imagined. With his primal urges getting harder to resist and the powerful being wreaking havoc in his wake, Knight has to sate his dark cravings for his mate before they go to war that Nirvana might have to sacrifice a piece of herself.
“Do it again.” “Be more specific, baby.” I heard a smile in his words. He was enjoying this and wanted me to beg. “Fuck you. You know what I mean.” I grunted in frustration. “I actually don’t.” He stopped again. His rough hand remained between my thighs. “Stop playing games, or I will stroke myself until I come.” I wiggled my ass, seeking a quick relief from the throbbing in my core. Breathing raggedly, he said, “No one is playing games here, baby. I just want to know what you want.” “You really make me do this, don’t you?” My voice was a combination of frustration and irritation. He was enjoying this too much, probably punishing me for giving him blue balls twice. “You were complaining earlier, so, yes. I don’t want another broken nose.” “Spank my ass, Califf. Then touch me and fuck me with your finger. I wanna come. Do you think you can do that?” *** All Shadow ever wanted is to live in peace with their pack, but as a royal Lycan and the daughter of a witch, it comes at a price. When a faceless enemy targeted her, she did not only lose her wolf but also her healing gift, leaving her powerless and vulnerable. Now that the bond is gone and her happy ending is not guaranteed, she has nothing left to offer. She doubts whether she’s still worthy of her mate and Luna of their pack. Alpha Califf becomes a formidable Alpha after defeating a sinister enemy. He should be invincible with allied packs everywhere and witches at his disposal, but Shadow becomes a liability. Despite what happened to his mate, he’s willing to leave the pack and live with her away from threats, but their enemy is two steps ahead of them, and Shadow becomes cold and distant, leaving him nothing but agony he’d never felt before. Will Shadow get her revenge and find a way to get her wolf and gift back? Will they uncover the ugly truth behind their enemy? Or their foe is just right under their noses all along.
“I can smell you’re wet for me, my little mate.” My nose flared. My chest heaved. My rage boiled inside my body, making me want to explode. “Well, take this, Alpha. I, Shadow Raven Hawks, omega of Night Stalker Pack—” “Shadow, what the fuck are you doing?” He was fast to cup my face as his eyes began brewing the pain. “Rejecting—” I wasn’t finished when he slammed his mouth against mine, stopping me. *** She’s a lone wolf— a rogue. Shadow Hawks learns to keep her head down. That’s how she survives until she wakes up in a pack run by a control freak hot-as-sin ruthless Alpha. With one single sniff of him, she feels an intense connection with irresistible heat. Now she’s got her old pack on her heels. The only one who can protect her is Alpha Califf. She will do everything, even if she has to bow down and reveal herself. Califf Stone doesn’t have time for a relationship but to protect his pack from a sinister, vicious Alpha killing the neighboring packs. Until he meets a mysterious rogue who enjoys defying his orders, he finds himself craving for her, losing control— And he knows she’s the one. When their common enemy threatens her, he’s ready to break his defenses to protect his mate. What surprises him, she’s not only half-Lycan, half-witch. She’s also a Lycan Princess.
Estelle Bladwyn has a certain type— a little older with a little less demanding job and knows his way in bed. When she bumps into a hot thirty-ish man on her not-so-romantic-getaway on an island, he does check two on her checklist, and exactly what she wants for that moment. One thing that doesn’t set right— their growing attraction is overwhelming, and her life is already complicated. But who can deny someone like Linden, who held you captive with his eyes, caged you in his arms, and still promised you a good time? Gabe Linden is getting old and still single and done with hookups and doing favors. When some big guns like Moses Braddson, a man he looks up to, he just can’t say no to. The only problem is he hasn’t taken the job yet— he knows he’s already failing it. Looking into her celadon blue eyes, he sees right into her soul. There’s no way he’s letting her go, even by means of breaking his number one rule— The beautiful billionaire is his to keep.
LONDON I’ve never been a rule-breaker. Until the God-like and hotter-as-sin, I despise for two years comes back and becomes my temporary bodyguard. I hate his work ethic—Striker Cade never mixes his job with pleasure, but when he looks at me, he’s got heartbreak written all over him. When my father threatens to shut down, the only thing that matters to me, he volunteers to help. Our marriage is supposed to be the solution to my problem, but my father has another evil plan. The more we spend time together, the more I realize I don’t have to act madly in love. I already am. *** STRIKER I’ve never lost focus at work. When London becomes my client, she’s got forbidden fruit written all over her, and she hates my guts, but something tells me she’s worth it. Until I find myself in her bed without any recollections, the next day, we’re engaged. I would love to play her in-love husband. Only we’re trapped by her father’s demands, pawns to his bigger plans. When her life is threatened and our marriage is at stake, I reach out to my last resort. And I realize she has become the person I can’t live without. *** Don't forget to check out THE BILLIONAIRE'S BARGAIN BRIDE , THE BILLIONAIRE'S CREED, and THE BILLIONAIRE'S ROGUE PRINCESS.
Three years ago, the Moore family opposed Charles Moore's choice to marry his beloved woman and selected Scarlett Riley as his bride. Charles didn't love her. In fact, he hated her. Not long after they got married, Scarlett received an offer from her dream university and jumped on it. Three years later, Charles's beloved woman fell terribly ill. In order to fulfill her last wish, he called Scarlett back and presented her with a divorce agreement. Scarlett was deeply hurt by Charles's abrupt decision, but she chose to let him go and agreed to sign the divorce papers. However, Charles seemed to delay the process deliberately, leaving Scarlett confused and frustrated. Now, Scarlett was trapped between the consequences of Charles's indecision. Would she be able to break free from him? Would Charles eventually come to his senses and face his true feelings?
"You're a creepy bastard." His eyes smolder me and his answering grin is nothing short of beautiful. Deadly. "Yet you hunger for me. Tell me, this appetite of yours, does it always tend toward 'creepy bastards'?" **** Widower and ex-boss to the Mafia, Zefiro Della Rocca, has an unhealthy fixation on the woman nextdoor. It began as a coincidence, growing into mere curiosity, and soon, it was an itch he couldn't ignore, like a quick fix of crack for an addict. He didn't know her name, but he knew every inch of her skin, how it flushed when she climaxed, her favourite novel and that every night she contemplated suicide. He didn't want to care, despising his rapt fascination of the woman. She was in love with her abusive husband. She was married, bound by a contract to the Bratva's hitman. She was off-limits. But when Zefiro wanted something, it was with an intensity that bordered on madness. He obsessed, possessed, owned. There'd be bloodshed if he touched her, but the sight of blood always did fascinate him. * When Susanna flees from her husband, she stumbles right into the arms of her devilishly handsome neighbour with a brooding glare. He couldn't stand her, but she needed him, if she was ever going to escape her husband who now wanted her dead. Better the devil you know than the angel you don't. She should have recalled that before hopping into Zefiro's car and letting him whisk her away to Italy. Maybe then, she wouldn't have started an affair with him. He was the only man who touched her right, and the crazy man took no small pains in ensuring he would be the last.
Janice, the long-forgotten legitimate heiress, made her way back to her family, pouring her heart into winning their hearts. Yet, she had to relinquish her very identity, her academic credentials, and her creative works to her foster sister. In return for her sacrifices, she found no warmth, only deeper neglect. Resolute, Janice vowed to cut off all emotional bonds. Transformed, she now stood as a master of martial arts, adept in eight languages, an esteemed medical expert, and a celebrated designer. With newfound resolve, she declared, "From this day forward, no one in this family shall cross me."
After two years of marriage, Sadie was finally pregnant. Filled with hope and joy, she was blindsided when Noah asked for a divorce. During a failed attempt on her life, Sadie found herself lying in a pool of blood, desperately calling Noah to ask him to save her and the baby. But her calls went unanswered. Shattered by his betrayal, she left the country. Time passed, and Sadie was about to be wed for a second time. Noah appeared in a frenzy and fell to his knees. "How dare you marry someone else after bearing my child?"
Rumors claimed that Fernanda, newly back with her family, was nothing more than a violent country bumpkin. Fernanda just flashed a casual, dismissive grin in response. Another rumor suggested that the usually rational Cristian had lost all sense, madly in love with Fernanda. This frustrated her. She could tolerate gossip about herself, but slander against her beloved crossed the line! Gradually, as Fernanda's multiple identities as a celebrated designer, a savvy gamer, an acclaimed painter, and a successful business magnate came to light, everyone realized they were the ones who had been fooled.
Kallie, a mute who had been ignored by her husband for five years since their wedding, also suffered the loss of her pregnancy due to her cruel mother-in-law. After the divorce, she learned that her ex-husband had quickly gotten engaged to the woman he truly loved. Holding her slightly rounded belly, she realized that he had never really cared for her. Determined, she left him behind, treating him as a stranger. Yet, after she left, he scoured the globe in search of her. When their paths crossed once more, Kallie had already found new happiness. For the first time, he pleaded humbly, "Please don't leave me..."Â But Kallie's response was firm and dismissive, cutting through any lingering ties. "Get lost!"