I dreamed about being an architect when I was a child, but when my brother was sentenced to life behind bars only weeks after pleading for my pardon at the feet of a ruthless mafia don, my plans altered. Now I am a first-year intern at the number one defense firm in the country. I’m seeking help from the right side of the law, so the last place I expect to find it is in a man who’s far from lawful.

Sam Rider is mouthy, bossy, uppity as shit, and I have no choice but to deal with her smart-mouth since she’s my daughter’s teacher. Sam waltzes into our small town on a temporary contract equipped with brochures and more change than a single dad can handle. I never trusted anybody to tell me what to do and I sure as hell won’t start with Sam, ten years younger, a city girl and only in Starlight Canyon for the short haul. I have to watch those sinful pink lips tell me what’s right for three solid months and she won’t stop until I change my mind.

I’m the arrogant one. She’s the woman who could tame me. What I don’t expect is to fall in love. The minute I hear her laugh, I smile. The second my fingers touch hers, I never want to let them go. When my eyes take her in, I know… Sadie Spencer is meant to be mine. She’s everything I never knew I wanted. Her curves put me in a trance. Her body has me in a chokehold. She’s an addiction, and I can’t keep my hands to myself. It’s the sexiest one-night stand I’ve ever had. At daybreak, the bed is cold, and Sadie is gone.

The Ivanov family exudes wealth and power, so when its founder shows up on the surgical roster of a third-year resident, even with me not laying eyes on her previously, I’m thrust under their spotlight. Her son’s, to be precise. Maksim Ivanov is a walking red flag. He oozes confidence, and appears to have never been told no, but despite our differences, sparks ignite the moment we trade sultry glances. The tension is white hot. I’ve never experienced such an immediate mutual connection. But as quickly as his mother was placed under my care, she is removed.

Having been kidnapped by his mother at age ten and left to die in a fire, billionaire lawyer Ares Huxley trusts no one. But he needs a wife to get a critical promotion at his law firm, and wakes up the morning after a friend’s bachelor party to find that he’s somehow married to an eccentric blonde he doesn’t even remember meeting! He immediately plans to annul, but it turns out she needs a husband to receive her inheritance. They have nothing in common, but if he plays along, she promises to be his dream wife.