Jennifer J

By thirty, you’re supposed to have a home, a dog, a boyfriend or at least a string of lovers in the past. Instead, I’m a twenty-eight-year-old virgin living with my parents to save money. My job managing an apartment complex is the one thing I’m proud of–and that’s not just because a complete hottie just walked in the door. Tyler Griffen is here working on a construction project for nine months, which means we’ll be seeing a lot of each other. Which I don’t mind one bit if it means getting more face time with those tattooed, muscled arms and his heart melting smile.

Marcus grew up believing his father killed his mother—then blamed it on the boogeyman under the bed. Always leave the lights on, his father warned, or the boogeyman will get you. Marcus still heeds the superstition, especially when he invites his new girlfriend over. Is Marcus haunted by a creature or has he just inherited his father’s murderous delusions? The night will tell.

I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out...and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late. But I reassure myself: The Winchesters don’t know who I really am. They don’t know what I’m capable of....

The first time I meet the devil, he knows my name. The second time I meet him, the truth becomes clear: Mark Trevena is to be my husband. No matter that we don't know each other. No matter that he's older than me; shameless and sinful; the owner of a secret club where the powerful come to play. My father has spoken, and I'll be the devil's bride the minute I graduate from college. Except my future husband has one condition for this arranged marriage: We have to pretend it’s real.

After being a soldier, working as a bodyguard should have been simple: Keep the owner of DC’s ultra-secret club safe, don’t think about his midnight eyes or his devil’s smile, don’t surrender my body to his wicked desires. But I underestimated Mark Trevena and the power of his dark, seductive world. I underestimated the hold he’d have on me, the way I would do anything for him at all. And so when he asks me to escort his soon-to-be bride home, I can only—miserably, broken-heartedly–say yes.

There was something about him and our conversation that made me feel alive. That made me feel heard. That sparked a fire within me. When our paths crossed again, I never expected the stranger to be Fordham Sharpe, one-third of the sinfully rich and ridiculously successful Sharpe International Network brothers. Nor did I expect we’d become partners—50-50—in a hotel transformation that dreams were made of. My dreams, anyway. To him, I was off-limits. He was my venture partner, and we knew better than to mix business with pleasure.