A Beautiful Sight

I have two rules in life: first, no relationships, falling in love, or attachments; and second, no sleeping with clients of my interior design firm. Since the last guy turned out to be married, they’ve been easy to follow, until Callum Huxley, a ridiculously sexy Brit. The connection we have the moment our eyes lock scares the ever-loving hell out of me. Thank God, I came to my senses before going back to his hotel where I would’ve ended up naked, panting, and unable to forget him.

The second I saw him walk through the door, I knew he was trouble. A gorgeous rebel with a bad attitude and a huge chip on his shoulder. My heart warned me. I didn't listen. I saw something protective and good beneath the fierce, tough exterior. I fell hard and fast. He promised we'd be together forever and then left me with a broken heart. Now, 10 years later, Jace Jacobs is standing at my door. Sexier than he's ever been. Little do I know, Jace holds the key to everything I've lost and everything that threatens my future. Now, he will either save me or break me all over again....

By the age of 30, I had suffered more tragedies in my life than anyone should ever have to experience. Even though I ran and owned a multi-billion-dollar enterprise that I saved from bankruptcy, had more money than I could spend, and lived in a high-rise penthouse on Fifth Avenue, my life was still desolate and empty. I closed off my heart and myself to everyone. This was my life until a woman named Zoey Benson crossed my path. For the first time in over five years, I felt something. A feeling that I had long buried deep inside me. A feeling I never wanted to experience again.

I'm not a one-night stand kind of woman. I'm especially not the woman who has a few drinks at a concert and ends up in bed with my childhood celebrity crush, Eli Walsh. However, that's exactly where I find myself. What's a girl to do after a drunken mistake? Run. I grab my clothes and get away from the powerful, irresistible, and best-sex-of-my-life superstar as fast as I can.

Jackson "The Beast" Boudreaux is rich, gorgeous, and unbelievably rude to the staff at Chef Bianca Hardwick's New Orleans restaurant. Bianca would sooner douse herself in hot sauce than cook for Jackson again, but when he asks her to cater his fundraiser, Bianca can't refuse, knowing the cash will help pay her mother's medical bills. Then Jackson makes another outrageous request: Marry me. The unconventional offer includes an enormous sum - money Bianca desperately needs, even if it does come with a contract - and a stunning ring.

We met in a trapped elevator. Emmett was on his way to work, sophisticated and handsome in his tailored suit and tie. I was on my way to the sperm bank. Awkward, right? At 35, my life hadn't taken the path I thought it would and I was tired of waiting - I wanted a baby. And I was ready to take matters into my own hands to make it happen. After our ill-fated elevator encounter, Emmett insisted on taking me to dinner - he also insisted on something else - that I ditch my plan involving a turkey baster and let him do the job. He would be my baby daddy.

My name is Jack Sutton, CEO of Sutton Fashion Magazine, and I had the world at my fingertips. A successful career, loads of money, and beautiful women who were always at my beck and call. My problem? I lived under the shadow of my mother, who started the company over 30 years ago. Not to mention her being married and divorced six times, which left a bad taste in my mouth as far as relationships were concerned.

I was a charmer, a seducer, and the woman that men were hungry to get their hands on. Rich men never should have trusted me, but they did. It was stupidity on their part. Things were going well and I was doing what I was supposed to do, until I ripped off the wrong millionaire. A millionaire who came after me with a vengeance. My name is Kate Harper and this is my story.

Men. Lying, cheating bastards. All of them. I had a great boyfriend, a great job, and a promising future. Until the redheads started ruining everything. In an instant, my life changed. My boyfriend cheated on me, I was forced to quit my job, and my father went and had a massive heart attack. Before he died, he left me something: His company, Winslow Wines. I was the newly appointed CEO of my family-owned business, which was in the midst of financial ruins until one man stepped in and offered to save me.

My name is Emily Wade and I was raised to believe that happily ever after didn't exist. That relationships were doomed before they even started, and that as long as the attraction to someone is purely physical, life is uncomplicated and good. I lived by that and was probably the only anti-relationship person in the world. I found myself in the midst of so much man drama that I decided to take a hiatus from the dating world. Until I met the brutally handsome CEO of Caine Property Development & Management, Jackson Caine.

The first time we met was at a party. Your ex arrived to show off the person he'd left you for last month, and you asked me to pretend to be your date. I was more than happy to help. You were attractive, smart and witty--and that kiss we shared? It left me wanting you for days. The second time we met was in my office on campus where we were both surprised to discover you were the new master’s degree student in poetry that I would be working with. You promised to be professional. I did no such thing. The late nights and intense study sessions spent alongside you majorly throw me off my game. I want you, and I fight with myself daily over this fact. I know I'm crass, that my sexual innuendos and dirty mouth annoy you, but I live for those two bright spots of color in your cheeks. If that's the only reaction I can get out of you, I'll gladly take it. You hate Mondays so every Monday I slip an anonymous poem into your bag and your smile gets me through the week. I think I'm falling for you, and I know it's wrong. I know that I'm only supposed to be the adviser to your program and nothing more, but here's the thing. I think you're falling for me too.

One wild and reckless night changed my life three years ago. I got a taste of what it meant to be with a real man - how just a whisper could ignite my desire, and his commanding voice could have me kneeling at his feet in submission. He was my everything and I only knew him for a few hours. But like everything good in my life, it went up in flames. When I learned the truth about him, I ran as fast as I could. I’d like to think I would’ve stayed if I knew about the baby… but I doubt even that would’ve stopped me, not after what I learned.

Jason Thorn...my brother's childhood friend. Oh, how stupidly in love with that boy I was. He was the first boy who made me blush, my first official crush. Sounds beautiful so far, right? That excitement that bubbles up inside you, those famous butterflies you feel for the very first time - he was the reason for them all. But you get to live in that fairy tale world only until they crush your hopes and dreams and then stomp on your heart for good measure. And boy did he crush my little heart into pieces.

Meeting Beth Harrison in the first-class cabin of my flight from Chicago to London throws me for a loop, and everything I know about myself and women goes out the window. I'm usually good at reading people, situations, the markets. I know instantly if I can trust someone or if they're lying. But Beth is so contradictory and confounding, I don't know which way is up.

He's loved me since the day I was born. He's taken care of me. He's awakened me. Tor is my father's best friend. Fifteen years older than me, he's always been my protector. The one I should never, ever want. But I was born to be his.