It doesn’t matter to me that she’s my captain’s daughter or that she continues to turn me down. I know what I want, and it’s her. I won’t stop until she’s mine.I’m trying to resist him, but my efforts are fruitless. It’s those big calloused hands and their gentle touch. It’s the way he looks at me, and the way he’s adamant that I’m who he wants. It’s the way he can see right through me and knows he’s all I want.The sparks are flying, and it’s only a matter of time before they collide.

    So I ran.And when I stopped, everything began.She was tattooed and badass.She was the piece I never knew I was missing.She was real love.And she was keeping us a secret.But all secrets are bound to break free. I just hope that when ours does, she knows that this time, I'm staying.NOTE: A shorter version of this story was previously published in the BURN ME Anthology. This is the extended and complete story that will make your heart burst into flames. Grab an ice-cold drink and a fan; it’s about to get hot in here! Crash & Burn is a standalone romance. It is a companion novel to the Crashing Series.

    Now Cami is spending every day hanging around his fire station, and she’s remembering why she developed that childhood crush on him so long ago.Cami can’t let herself fall for Dane; she was rejected by him once, and she has zero desire to go through that heartache again. Allowing herself to entertain fantasies of the scorchin’ hot fireman can only end badly, distracting her from her upcoming baking competition and sending her ego up in flames.

    

    That is, until she moved from San Francisco to Chicago to be with her fiancé who thought she wasn’t taking her “job” of supporting him in his high-powered career seriously enough—and promptly dumped her for a more supportive and “feminine” nurse. Now, as the new assistant press secretary to Chicago’s dynamic mayor, she’s determined to keep her eye on the prize: no time to feel inferior because she’s a strong, kick-ass woman, and certainly no time for men. But that all changes when she meets Luke Almeida, a firefighter as searingly sexy as he is quick-tempered. He’s also the second oldest of the Firefightin’ Dempseys, a family of foster siblings who have committed their lives to the service—if Luke’s antics don’t get him fired first. When Luke goes one step too far and gets into a bar brawl with the Chicago Police Department, Kinsey marches into Luke’s firehouse and lays down the law on orders from the mayor. But at Engine Co. 6, Luke Almeida is the law. And he’s not about to let Kinsey make the rules.

       After coming off an overnight tour, yeah, I made some bad choices.   I’m my baby sister Joey’s legal guardian, and I work long hours as a firefighter to make a better life for us.   Now she’s in trouble at school. And after my unfortunate bunny brawl, they want to ensure there’s a stable presence in my sister’s life.   Someone like Kat, whom I begged to pose as my fake girlfriend to convince the school Joey is in good hands.   But fake soon becomes all too real. And we get very naked.   A time or sixteen.   Kat is exactly who we needed in our lives. She also looks exceptional nude, a fact I surely wish my sister hadn’t accidentally seen for herself.   Whoops.   There’s only one problem. Kat’s overprotective dad is the fire chief, aka my boss. I’m up for a promotion, one I desperately need. One we need.   But giving up my stand-in girlfriend isn’t an option.   Not anymore.   Author’s note: Austin Lancaster is a single father, although he didn’t become one the old-fashioned way. STAND-IN DADDY features characters introduced in CEO DADDY and is a standalone romantic comedy with no cliffhanger and a happily-ever-after.