But I can’t help myself.I’ve worked my face off to make a name for myself in the architect world, and finally it’s landed me the perfect job—teaching at my local university. Not a day goes by when a student doesn’t flirt and try their hand at winning my heart, if only for a night. But I know the rules, and I follow them closely. No way in hell I’m giving up this sweet gig.My newest student has stolen my attention and has me thinking things I should never think.And her flirting goes to a new level. She’s defiant, dark, and not afraid of a little blackmail to get what she wants. The young woman is beyond beautiful and everything I fantasize about, but I have a secret I want to keep hidden. Unfortunately for me, she knows it and is more than happy to use it to get what she wants most—me.What started out as a one-time payment turns into a burning need neither of us can ignore. I just hope this girl is the type that doesn’t kiss and tell. Otherwise, I’m ruined.

    rawThe paparazzi are hounding me about a sex scandal and I have to escape.So I run.Not just from them, from my past, my present, from everything.My car breaks down and I end up walking straight into a peach of a bare ass.The f*cking luck of ending up in the middle of a boudoir photo shoot.Elsie’s bent over, ass in the air and ripe for picking, Insisting she’s not the kind of girl who normally does this sort of thing.A thousand things I want to do to her flash through my mind.Being my salvation isn’t one of them but that’s what she is.A green eyed beauty who belongs to me.Mine.Hope for the first time in my life.But she’s hiding something.And it ruins our future.

    I didn’t know he was back from Kuwait. When I came home from my position as an overseas correspondent, I’d expected I’d never see him again. And that was the way I’d wanted things to be. After all, I couldn’t let him know about my daughter. Our daughter. I couldn’t help my feelings for him, though. I’d always been drawn to him. But he had never wanted children. I had to respect that. But he wasn’t the same man I’d met in Kuwait, and I wasn’t the same woman either. I knew sooner or later he would find out my secret and sh*t would hit the fan.

    What I got was sexy, mysterious Jake Maxwell and the most amazing one-night stand of my life.Months later, he seeks me out with an unconventional offer: He’d like to take me and my dog for a walk. My lazy dog could use the exercise, and I could use something to distract me from the pain of my sister’s death. Jake’s bad puns, gorgeous smile, and protective nature turn out to be the perfect medicine for my injured soul.But just like the day we met, that one date turns into so much more. And as Jake and I grow closer, it becomes difficult to separate his pain from my own. All I want is to share the burden of his secret. But some truths are too savage to be spoken.

    

    Sure, he's a gorgeous, perfect specimen of the human race, but I can't bring myself to hit on a total stranger. However, my best friend-slash-colleague Vince Carson thinks I should do more than talk to the guy. In fact, he's borderline obsessive about "getting me laid." (His words.) But the more time we spend together, the more it's clear: The one I'm falling for is Vince. Vince: Jackie Butler's got it bad for some pompous, over-pumped A-hole who struts his stuff past her window. That doesn't bother me. I know she deserves nice things. What does bother me is that she friend-zoned me big-time last year, so I can't ask her out myself. But what if I set her up with Mr. Steroids? Then, when he breaks her heart, I can swoop in and save her like the nice guy I am. Everything's going according to plan . . . until we share a ridiculously epic kiss. And suddenly anything is possible.

    They’re a family that grows every time a wayward soul crosses their path, and now I’m an honorary member. A former spy, I was married at twenty-two—a father at twenty-six and a widow by thirty. To say my life is in transition would be an understatement. Winding up in small-town Vermont was a curveball I didn’t see coming, but I’m learning that the Westbrooks take their motto of Welcome to the Chaos seriously, and I’m in over my head. Having taken down one of the most notorious crime families of our generation, I thought it prepared me for anything. Then I met Ari, and Ari met the Westbrooks, and their chaos consumed us. My daughter will always come first, but when Ari gets under my skin, will I find the courage to love again? Or will the lure and danger of my old profession prove to be the only commitment I’m able to make?

    Me? I only have one, my baby bump, and it's starting to show.Dalton "The Destroyer" Maxwell.That's what they call him.He's the sexy older man, the distinguished battle-hardened SEAL turned brooding, introspective professor. There isn’t a red-blooded female in five hundred miles that wouldn’t kill to trade places with me.It was only a fling - just a chance encounter in a faraway place. I wasn't looking for a fairy tale ending beneath those starry skies.But what should've stayed a memory didn't. It chased me home, leading me right where it shouldn't - his arms.Now the consequence has me feeling like I'm cramming for an exam I'll never pass. The truth is, everything about us is forbidden. Nothing good can come of it.There's only one problem. Dalton disagrees and won't take "no" for an answer.When he promises he'll give it all up for me and his baby, that's when his ten-figure truth leaves me with an impossible choice.What have I done?