Lincoln Harrington knows what it’s like to be used. To feel as if he’s not good enough or he’ll never measure up. His emotional wounds as a teen burned worse than the flesh ones. As an adult, he knows what to look out for and how to safeguard his heart. He’s made a promise to himself to never get in that position again…except for once in his life, he might not be able to keep that promise.

Grace Stone doesn’t have the Bond last name but everyone knows she is an heir to her grandfather’s billion dollar fortune. Her entire life has been judged and based on what she’ll get or have rather than who she is. As a result, her trust issues tend to push many away. She gave up on men a long time ago but one keeps catching her eye. She decides it’s time to make her move. But the joke is on her as his trust issues will keep him from getting close. The question is whether the two of them can move past their history and open themselves up to a future.

Prologue

“I’m leaving,” Eve Hall said to her mother. 

“What do you mean you’re leaving?” her mother Evelyn asked. “Leaving the house? The way you said it is—”

“I’m moving to Charlotte,” she said. 

Her mother laughed at her. Not a funny sound but a sarcastic one.

Normally her older sister, Hope, was the recipient of their mother’s bullying and mean sarcastic comments. But since Hope moved, found and married Devin, Eve was the one on the receiving end of it all.

That was probably what the world considered karma because for years Eve would say things to Hope like their mother just did to her. She only did it back then so that their mother didn’t direct her nastiness to her.

She should have found her backbone years ago and then maybe she wouldn’t have been in the situations she’d lived silently with recently. 

It’s not like she could confess the shit show of her dating life to anyone because her mother wouldn’t be supportive and Hope didn’t need that drama when she finally got her life in order.

Could be seeing Hope’s success in life was what made Eve decide it was time. There was only one way to get out of the mess she was in too. Escaping like her sister did.

“Why would you want to do that?” her mother asked. “Just because you and Phil had another tiff doesn’t mean you should run. Don’t be a coward. He’s perfect for you.”

She snorted. Her mother had no clue. She wouldn’t understand even if Eve explained.

“He’s not perfect. Not at all. But that isn’t the point. I’m doing this for me. I need to start over and to do that I’m going to start fresh.”

“You don’t even have a job,” her mother said. “What are you going to do? Live with Hope and Devin? That is what every newly married couple wants. A third wheel. I thought you were the smart stable boring one. Are you doing drugs or something that I’m not aware of?”

Figures her mother would jump to conclusions like that.

“First off,” she said firmly, “I’m not doing drugs. I’ve never done drugs even when you thought I did in high school.”

“Well, some of your friends were,” her mother said. “You hung with that party crowd. My in-girl.” It was sickening that there was pride in her mother’s voice over that.

“I wasn’t as popular as you made me out to be,” she argued. Just like falling for the pressure of her mother bullying her sister, she fell into the pressure of that group in school. Be a bully or get bullied.

She didn’t really think she bullied anyone, but she hung around with those that did, and in her eyes, it didn’t make her much better of a person for not standing up for people.

But she finally grew up in college. Then in her career she knew it was best to be professional and not an asshole. Or a bitch.

She kept her head down, did her boring stable job that everyone thought was hilarious when she said what she was majoring in, but she held her ground and didn’t fall for the pressure then.

The one thing she was glad for, looking back.

Her father never stood up to their mother much. Or more like ignored their mother and in turn did the same to his daughters.

But Ryan Hall had pulled his youngest daughter aside when she was in her senior year of high school and told her that she was smart and a good person and not to let anyone tell her otherwise. If she wanted to be an accountant, then go for it. It was her life and no one else’s.

She’d listened to her father and even got her CPA. She had a darn good job and made great money for her age. Her new job might slow down her career growth some, but she had to move past that.

Starting over sometimes meant stepping back to reevaluate. 

“Second,” she said. “I’ve got a job. I’m not stupid. And third, I’m only staying with Hope until I can get into my apartment in two weeks.”

Her mother’s jaw dropped. “You’ve got a job and an apartment there? You’ve never said a word until now and you’re already set up? What has your sister done to you to make you keep these secrets from me?”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t put this on Hope again. It has nothing to do with her. It’s my decision. I need to leave. I interviewed for a job via webcall. Then two weeks ago, when I went to go visit Hope, I had my final interview in person. I got the offer four days ago. Hope and Devin found an apartment complex for me and walked through it. I signed the lease yesterday.”

“Without looking at it?” her mother asked. “That isn’t you.”

Her mother was laughing now. Seriously laughing like this was some joke. Not asking caring questions. Not trying to talk her out of anything.

Nothing.

“You don’t know what is me anymore because you don’t ever ask. That is fine.”

Her mother snorted at her. “Like you’d tell me. It was months before I even knew you were dating Phil. Not sure why it’s always a secret when you date.”

“Because I don’t need you judging me like you did Hope for years.”

It was a good thing her mother didn’t know about all the guys she’d dated over the years. Colin for one. She tried not to think of that horrible situation she’d found herself in for eight months.

She got out and didn’t look back. Didn’t even date for almost six months. 

Then she met Phil and it all seemed so great…until it wasn’t.

Her mother only found out by mistake because Evelyn Hall decided to stop over early unannounced one morning and Phil was there.

It was obvious he’d spent the night and rather than be called a whore like her mother did to Hope so often for going from one man to the next, she’d explained about the relationship.

Maybe she would have rather been called a whore than have her mother side with the guy that was causing her so much misery that she was literally running away to escape him so she didn’t fall for the pressure of giving him yet another chance.

“Your sister is filling your head again with bullshit,” her mother said.

“Whatever,” she said, waving her hand. “As you can tell, I’m not flying by the seat of my pants. My decision is final. I’ve got a good job waiting for me. I’ve got a place to stay. I gave my notice and am done in less than two weeks, then will pack up a moving truck to bring all my things to Charlotte. Devin is nice enough to let me store it at his house until I can get into my apartment.”

“Good luck,” her mother said. “You’ll never survive there on your own. Don’t think your sister is going to be there for you. You burned that bridge treating her the way you did as a kid.”

Her mouth opened and then closed. The tears filled her eyes.

She considered herself damn lucky that she didn’t burn a bridge and yet mended it considering how horrible she’d been to her sister.

Her mother not only couldn’t see that but was also trying to pit the sisters against each other.

“That’s your problem,” Eve said. “You’re not happy unless you’re making everyone else miserable. I’m done with this. I wanted to tell you I’m leaving and I did.”

She turned and left before she burst into tears.

If she ever needed confirmation that this was the right decision, she just got it with her mother’s treatment of her once again.

She wasn’t going to be anyone’s verbal or physical punching bag again. 

Doormat no more. 

New life… here I come.

That old saying about karma holds true in Eve Hall’s mind. Her childhood was spent falling for peer pressure not only at home but in school, resulting in some not-so-nice actions and behaviors. To free herself of that and be the person she wants to be, she moves closer to her sister in hopes of repairing the damage she might have caused. She knows she can never be happy with herself, let alone in a relationship, until she can clear at least some of her conscience.

Ben Kelly knows what pressure feels like. But he’s not falling for it. Matter of fact, he rebelled against it every chance he could. Though he had his parents’ support, it was his grandfather who pulled all the strings. Years after the old man’s death, he meets Eve and realizes he’s still holding onto those rebellious actions. Can the two of them help the other move on or will they both be stuck in their past forever?

Prologue

“Why the sad face, Abby?” Liz asked her. “It’s your birthday.”

She looked at her older sister of seven years. Liz was thirteen, Abby just turning six. She wished she was older and they could hang out together more. But her sister had friends and got to be with them. 

Well, not during the day on summer break. Their father worked long hours with his own fencing company and they had a sitter here.

A sitter to watch her while Liz got to do her own things most times.

Abby shrugged. “Don’t know,” she said.

“Sure, you do,” Liz said, moving in to sit on the bed next to Abby. “Dad will be home any minute with pizza and cake. Aren’t you hungry? You got to pick out your dinner like we always do.”

Her father was great like that. He did everything for them. He cooked, he cleaned, he gave them special dinners for their birthdays.

He couldn’t be their mother though and Lily Sherman wasn’t around. When she was around, she wasn’t present. Abby knew that well enough even if she wished it weren’t so.

She just couldn’t fully understand what was wrong with her mother, and for a young girl craving love and attention from an adult female, she didn’t care there was more bad than good with her mother’s visits.

“I know,” she said.

Liz reached her hand out and rubbed it on Abby’s thigh. “Dad is trying to make it a good day for you. He even took the afternoon off and we went to play mini golf like you asked.”

Her father worked a lot in the summer. Early mornings and long days. She didn’t see him as much as she wanted but understood he had to do what needed to be done.

Nope, she didn’t understand that. She just had been told that enough by Liz.

“I beat you too,” she said, cracking the barest of grins.

“You did,” Liz said. “You’re better than me.”

She was positive Liz had let her win. Her sister played a lot of sports and was good at them. The last thing she wanted was to be allowed to win because it was her birthday.

Or worse yet, because she was the baby of the family and everyone had to protect her.

“I don’t think so,” Abby said. She still was looking at the coloring book on her lap. She hadn’t picked a crayon up to apply it to the pages since Liz came in. 

“I know you want Mom to be here,” Liz said.

She turned her head to look at her sister. “She said she’d come for my birthday.”

Liz sighed. “That was months ago. We haven’t talked to her since.”

“Why does she come and then go away and not talk to us?”

“No one knows exactly,” Liz said. “Mom is sick. Dad told us that.”

“She looks fine when we see her,” she argued.

“Sick in another way,” Liz said. “You know that. She needs help and until she gets it fully, it’s too hard. See how much she upsets you when she comes and then leaves again? Don’t you want to have things be normal?”

“What’s normal?” she asked, crying. “None of my friends have this problem. Even the ones whose parents don’t live together, they still see their mothers.”

Liz hugged her. “I know, Abby. But what fun is normal? Why not be different?”

“I don’t like being different,” she said, sniffling. “I just want Mom to be here for my birthday.”

Abby knew there wasn’t anything her sister could do about it. She didn’t understand why her father couldn’t fix it though. He fixed everything else in life that she asked of him.

“If she could be here, I’m sure she would be,” Liz said.

“There is still time for her to show up,” she said, hoping.

Her sister moved out of her arms and didn’t say a word about her statement.

“Why don’t we go get the plates out and set the table? Then when Dad gets here we can eat the pizza steaming hot and have the roof of our mouths burned with the cheese dripping everywhere.”

Abby smiled. “That’s the best way to eat it.”

The two of them jumped off her bed and went to the kitchen.

The plates were out and down, the table set and they heard two car doors.

She ran to the front to look out the window, saw it was only the neighbor and came back.

“Who was it?” Liz asked.

“I thought it was Mom. It was just the Smiths.”

Her mother didn’t have a car last she knew. If she came, someone would have to bring her.

Or maybe since her father seemed to be gone so long for the food, he was picking their mother up as a surprise.

Yeah, that had to be it!

“You just got a big smile on your face,” Liz said. “What’s going through your head?”

“Do you think Dad is getting Mom? He’s been gone a long time.”

Liz sighed. “Don’t get your hopes up, Abby. He’s not. They are probably just busy at the pizza place. He had to get your cake too.”

“But you don’t know,” she argued. “Dad could be surprising you too.”

Liz didn’t bother to answer and got the glasses down. “Do you want milk with dinner?”

“Sure,” she said.

When her father came in the door ten minutes later, all he had with him was a pizza box and a cake.

She tried to keep the sadness from her face. The tears back too.

“There is the birthday girl ready to eat this whole pizza,” her father said. 

She giggled. He could always make her laugh. 

“I’m going to eat more than you,” she said.

“Then we should eat it while it’s hot, and you can open your gifts after the cake.”

She wondered what she got. She only asked for two things. The new Beach Barbie and the outdoor playset that came with summer clothing.

Liz had never been interested in Barbies and there weren’t any to hand down to her. But her mother gave her her first Barbie a few years ago and she treasured it and wanted to continue to add to her collection and play house when she could.

That perfect life she always dreamed and wished for. What she thought a normal family had.

When they were stuffed with pizza, her father brought the cake out with the six candles on it lit.

“Close your eyes,” Liz said. “Make a wish and blow them out.”

The pink cake was placed in front of her. She knew it was chocolate flavored, her favorite. The candles were pink and white stripes and the flames flickered fast.

She closed her eyes, wished that her mother would show up and then took a deep breath and blew with everything she had.

“They all went out,” her father said. “Good girl.”

She opened her eyes and still only saw her father and sister there.

Her father handed her a few boxes, she ripped into them and got exactly what she’d asked for from him. Like she always did.

She couldn’t wait to go to her room and play. 

“I can play house with you if you want,” Liz said.

Her sister never offered. “Please,” she said, smiling.

It was turning into a great night after all, but when she was in bed by herself and the lights were out, her mother not only didn’t show up, she didn’t even call to wish her a happy birthday.

Abby felt the tears slipping down her cheeks and realized she should have listened to her sister and not gotten her hopes up. 

Billionaire West Carlisle has put his career and amassing his fortune first in his life. He’s the oldest of eight kids and has been the fill-in dad since he was eighteen. After meeting a blonde-haired beauty, he realizes he’s not ready to let her go. But how will she feel when she finds out he’s not just a regular guy on vacation?

Abby Sherman has always been a dreamer. She wants the quintessential family with a white picket fence. What she got growing up was a single father and a mother who couldn’t be bothered to put her daughters first, second, or maybe even third. A trip of a lifetime lands in her lap where she meets a man that just piques her interest to do something she’s never imagined she would do. She has no future plans after her week with West and even less once she finds out who he really is. Yet he was determined to give her everything she’s ever wanted. She just has to open her heart and throw away her fear of being left again and make him understand it’s not money she is after.

If you haven’t read the Prologue, you can catch up now.

Chapter One

Better Than Conflict 

Two Years Later

“I’m going to stay with Brooks tonight,” Ivy said.

Dahlia looked at her younger sister who just popped her head into her office at Blossoms.

“Have fun,” she said.

Ivy grinned and did a little booty shake. “You know we will.”

She rolled her eyes playfully. 

Not that long ago Brooks had ended things with her baby sister. She’d tried to warn Ivy that Brooks wasn’t the man for her. Her baby sister had a thing about depending on men in her life. Or needing them to take care of her.

But she’d been wrong and realized that Ivy had done a lot of growing up in the past few years that she’d missed.

Her sister was much more mature than she remembered and stood her ground. Brooks realized his mistake and the two were back together. 

Even living with Ivy for the past nine months Dahlia didn’t see what was under her nose. That her sister was stronger than ever before.

Just like what Shawn had been doing with her almost two years ago. Treating her like crap and her allowing it because it was better than conflict. Guess she’d spent a lot of time with her eyes closed for no reason at all other than laziness…which totally wasn’t like her.

Dahlia could admit when she was wrong and she’d done that with Ivy. 

“It’s not all about sex,” she said.

Ivy giggled. “If you were getting some then you’d think otherwise.”

“Ivy,” she said in that motherly warning tone.

“I’m just kidding,” Ivy said. “Seriously, Dahlia. You need to get out and have some fun. You haven’t been on one date since you’ve lived here. We didn’t even know you were dating someone back in Chicago until recently. Have you not seen any man since then? What’s it been, like two years?”

Ivy was always bugging her to get out and have a little fun.

She supposed she was the dull one of the family.

She didn’t have a problem with it. Dull and boring…stable. Those weren’t bad things in her eyes.

Dahlia was the oldest of three girls, the second oldest in the family of five kids.

The way they’d lived and moved around for their father’s job, a doctor with Doctors Without Borders, gave them a unique upbringing.

One that all the kids hated but others thought was exciting.

Sure, it was exciting if you weren’t living it.

She wanted exactly what she got. Dull, boring, and stable.

Something she’d never felt she had until she gave it to herself.

When things stopped being stable a few years ago with Shawn, she’d ended it.

He wasn’t happy and made a few scenes in the office. She’d been passed over for Bob’s position that she’d wanted but told herself the next one would be hers.

When that didn’t happen, she decided that maybe taking a risk wasn’t so bad.

Ivy let her know about a job opening at Blossoms for a Director of Finance. 

It was out of her comfort zone, but she’d told herself she needed to be that young kid out to take a risk.

Besides, maybe she missed her family.

Jasmine, the sister she was the closest to at two years younger than her, was married and had a child.

Ivy was living in Jasmine’s old apartment.

It just seemed like the thing to do and she didn’t have one regret.

Other than everyone was so freaking happy and cheerful finding love and, as her baby sister said, she hadn’t had a date in almost two years.

“Does it matter?” she asked.

Ivy walked into her office and sat in the chair across from her. Guess it was time to chat.

She wouldn’t complain. Ivy didn’t bug her much at work and she appreciated that.

The last thing she wanted was her boss Lily Bloom-Wolfe to think she was slacking off when she pushed herself to work harder than ever because this job was different than the one she had before.

She didn’t want Lily and her sisters to regret hiring her. Or think they only did it because she was Jasmine and Ivy’s sister who already were employed by her.

The Bloom sisters had a thing about flower names and it being fate.

Dahlia wasn’t so sure she believed in those things.

She was too practical for it.

“Kind of,” Ivy said. “I just feel bad. You moved here to live with me and now I’m not home much.”

She grinned. “I didn’t move here to live with you. I moved here for a job and living with you was the logical decision. It helps us both split the bills and allows you to put money away.”

“Blah, blah, blah,” Ivy said, waving her hand with a massive grin. “Always logic with you.”

“Someone has to be the logical calm one.”

“It’s always been you,” Ivy said. “Jasmine is the peacemaker in the middle. Open minded and more tolerant of me and my moods.”

She laughed. “You do have a lot of moods. More so when you were a kid. But we all have to be who we need to be and not what someone thinks we should be.”

Ivy cocked her head to the side. “Oh boy. What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” she said, frowning.

“You make those statements when you’ve got a lot on your mind. Jasmine told me that. I guess I was always so self-absorbed in my life I didn’t see it.”

“You have been self-absorbed most of your life, but now you’re not so much. It was just a statement, Ivy. Nothing to look deeper into.”

“Are you sure?” Ivy asked. “I’m not missing something because I’m not around to see it?”

“You’re not,” she said softly. 

“Phew,” Ivy said. “Good. Otherwise, I’d have to go get Jasmine and I know she’s at the greenhouse. We can gang up on you for once.”

“I’m positive,” she said. “Go have fun with Brooks. I’ll see you tomorrow if I don’t before you leave today.”

Ivy had an office down the hall from her but spent a lot of time running around or in the store. 

Her baby sister was good at her job and Dahlia was thrilled to see that when Ivy was the one that couldn’t seem to figure her life out in the past.

Ivy stood up and left and she went back to work.

“Don’t let her get to you.”

She looked up to see her boss, Lily, standing there. “How much did you overhear?”

“Most of it,” Lily said. “Sorry about that. You know Ivy talks loud.”

“She does,” she said. “She’s always been the one of us so full of life.”

“Just like Poppy,” Lily said of the middle sister and co-owner of Blossoms. Lily walked in and sat down. At the start of her third trimester with her second child, Lily was looking as lovely as ever but showing much faster this time. 

“Yeah,” she said. “There isn’t anything wrong with it.”

“No,” Lily said. “Never. It’s exactly what you said. We have to be who we need to be not what others want. You and me, we have a lot in common.”

“The oldest of the sisters,” she said. “The one that had to be more responsible.”

“That’s us,” Lily said. “You know my sisters didn’t always agree with my choices in life, but it all worked out in the end.”

Dahlia knew the story. When the Bloom girls’ mother was killed by a hit-and-run driver when Lily was eighteen, she married a much older man, the former owner of Blossoms, which was just a flower shop back then. It was the best way to keep the sisters together by providing a stable home life for them.

Dahlia had to say she wasn’t sure she would go as far as Lily had, but if put in that situation, maybe she would have to keep everyone together.

“It did,” she agreed. “Just like me coming here. I took that risk that I needed to.”

“We are thrilled to have you,” Lily said. “And because I think you are so much like me at times, wanting the world to see we’ve got it all together, I remind myself that it would have been nice to have been told it too.”

“Thank you,” she said. “But you don’t need to do that.”

“Yes,” Lily said, “I do.” Lily shut the door and came back to sit down. “Being the responsible one holding the family together, you never want your younger sisters to think you’re worried or something is wrong. Being a parent I understand that even more. It’s our job to protect our children.”

“You were protecting your sisters long before you had children,” she said.

“I was. Now that my sisters have families of their own—maybe even before that—they got on my case to put myself first too. They pushed me with Zane. Gave me the nudge I needed.”

“Oh no, are you going to tell me to start dating too?”

“No,” Lily said, smiling. “I am going to tell you that I know you were nervous about taking this job and worried that you were only hired because of your sisters. I’d like to think by now you’d know we wouldn’t do that.”

“I know it now, but it’s always in the back of my mind.”

“Don’t let it be there,” Lily said. “I’ve always put the business first.”

“You have.”

“I’ve said more than once that Jasmine saved me. I couldn’t run the flower shop after Carl died. It wasn’t my passion, but I knew I needed it to funnel the rest of the business. That meant letting someone take control of it though.”

“Which would be hard for you to do,” she said.

“Being hard doesn’t mean it’s not the right decision. Just like you moving here. Whatever was going on in your life, you knew you needed to be by family. I’d like to think this job fell into your lap as much as you fell into mine.”

She smiled. “I think you’re right. That doesn’t mean that I wasn’t still scared.”

“And it’s the first you’re saying that to anyone,” Lily said. “I understand. Don’t be scared about your job. You’re doing a great job. Wonderful. We are in the best shape we’ve ever been in and I know it has to do with you. You’re seeing things my last person didn’t because she didn’t have the knowledge or experience you do.”

“It’s nice to hear that,” she said.

The last person in this position just paid the everyday bills and they had an accounting firm doing the rest.

The position had been revamped with Dahlia doing it all. It was a lot of work, but she was up to it once she wrapped her head around for profit from not-for-profit.

Now that she’d done it for nine months, she wondered why she never thought to before. There were fewer restrictions in her eyes and she was thrilled she’d been able to help her bosses expand their business and personnel.

“Which is why I’m saying it. You can relax some. I told you before not to use work as an excuse to not have a life.”

“And back to that,” she said, laughing.

“No,” Lily said, grinning. “Just making a point. You’ll move on when you’re ready. The reason for keeping to yourself is yours. Trust me, I know. But I wanted to be clear that you are a huge asset to the business and you can take that worry out of your brain. I’d be lost without you and I’m not sure how we did what we had before you came on board.”

She felt her eyes fill a little. She knew Lily was being sincere and didn’t realize how much she needed that praise.

“Can I be honest with you? It won’t go any further?”

“Of course you can. And you know I won’t say a word.”

“You have no idea how much I needed to hear that. My last job, I worked so hard. I thought I had this great reputation and then worked my way up fast. I started to date a coworker. Things were good and then when the relationship didn’t work out, I noticed changes with people at work. I was looked at differently dating him. Then he said things at work to me that weren’t nice and other people overheard. He made scenes when I ended things. Two promotion opportunities were passed by me. I felt like having a personal life burned my professional one.”

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” Lily said. “And I can understand where that might make you a little skittish to try again. But nothing is going to ruin or burn your professional career. It’s not like that here.”

“No,” she said. “It’s not. I think I needed that reminder too. I love working here and everything you and your sisters stand for.”

“Thank you for saying that. We try. It’s a business, but it’s family too. Not just my sisters, but your family and everyone else.”

“You’ve done a beautiful job with it,” she said. “And I’m honored to be a part of it.”

Lily got up and left after and Dahlia returned to work feeling much better about herself and her life.

Maybe she would try again if the opportunity presented itself. 

Prologue

“Why are you so moody?” Dahlia Greene asked her boyfriend. He’d snapped at her twice already and she was getting sick of this. 

Shawn marched over to her office door and shut it with a loud firm click that echoed in her brain like her father’s words that it was time to move once again. “Don’t get testy with me in the office,” he hissed.

When she started to date Shawn months ago it never occurred to her that they couldn’t work together and have a romantic relationship. They were both CPAs for a large accounting firm. They never worked together on a project, as they were both managers. They might be in the same department, but it wasn’t a conflict in her eyes.

They didn’t even do the same job. She spent most of her time going out and auditing not-for-profits while he managed for-profit businesses. Even overseeing the daily accounting at some of those businesses.

Nothing the two of them did ever crossed paths.

Yet their office romance brought up more than one conflict in her life.

Like now when she was trying to work and he was in her office pacing. He was doing his best turtle impression trying to take the tip of her finger off as she held out some food. Just like he’d done for a few months now.

She was over this.

“You’re the one that walked in here and started to question me on things I don’t know anything about.”

“I just wanted to know if you’ve heard anything about Bob’s new promotion.”

Bob was her boss. They had a few in the department. He’d just been promoted to partner. That was her goal in life. But at just thirty, she knew she had some more work ahead. 

“Nothing,” she said. “Good for him. He deserves it.” 

And she hoped that meant there was a chance she’d get promoted into his position too. In her core group, she was next in line, but that didn’t mean someone from another group might not bump her.

She hoped not but had seen it happen. More so because she’d heard the rumors that she wasn’t always all that warm and friendly.

She wanted to know where in life it said you had to kiss someone’s butt to do a good job.

She was professional and respected by all her clients and even her coworkers. Just because she didn’t want to go out after hours to drink with people when they asked didn’t mean she wasn’t soft and fuzzy.

If she were married with kids no one would bat an eye at her turning down invitations. But because she was single—even though she was dating Shawn—it’s like she was expected to socialize more to move up. Why? 

The double standard always got to her too.

Like the double standard she had growing up and living in different countries. The boys had more freedom than the girls.

She was the one who didn’t fight it, just accepted and moved on. It was easier that way.

“I heard he’s going to be put in charge of my core group and that Tiffany was moving to another division,” Shawn said.

Dahlia shrugged. “No clue,” she said. “Partners move around and oversee multiple divisions. You know that. They always do. What’s the big deal? I thought you liked Bob.”

“He’s a do-gooder,” Shawn said sarcastically.

“I find him thorough. I think he’s going to do a great job. If that is the only reason you came in here, I’ve got work to do.”

“I’ll be at your house at six tonight for dinner. What are you making?” If he wasn’t asking her to pick up the tab when they were out to eat, then he was expecting her to cook for him.

She raised her eyebrows at him. He didn’t ask. They didn’t live together. She had no intention of living with him.

If he kept up this attitude of talking down to her, snapping at her, making assumptions and putting her in the slot of a woman who had to have his dinner on the table, they weren’t going to be together much longer.

“I’m not sure I’ll be home by six,” she said. “I’ve got to finish a few things here.”

“Bring it home with you. I’m in the mood for something light. Chicken is good.”

She crossed her arms. “Then you can pick it up and cook it,” she said. “I don’t know what I’m doing yet.”

“Fine,” Shawn said. “We’ll do it tomorrow. I’ll go out with the guys tonight.”

“Works for me,” she said. He’d mooch a meal off his friends, she was sure.

“You know,” he said, opening the door, “you could be a little nicer to me when I’m under stress.”

He’d been doing that crap more and more lately. Blaming her and doing it where others could hear, making her out to be the villain.

It wouldn’t help her chances at the promotion.

She ground her teeth but refused to say anything back.

When there was a knock in her doorway, she looked up to see Lori standing there. One of the new accountants that she supervised.

“Can I help you with something?” she asked.

“I should mind my own business,” Lori said. “But I can’t help it. You’re so good at your job and never say anything bad about anything or anyone. Why do you let him talk to you that way?”

Dahlia let out a sigh. Shawn’s voice had gotten loud, but she’d learned to not tell him to lower it or he’d get even more upset. 

If other people were seeing this, it wouldn’t bode well either. They could think she was a punching bag and that might be worse in her eyes than being looked at as not outgoing or unwelcoming to clients.

She was starting to wonder if Shawn was sabotaging her career and didn’t know why that might be.

“Sometimes we need other people to point out what is obvious. The truth is, I don’t know.”

“I’m sorry,” Lori said. “I’ll stay out of it.”

“No,” she said. “I’m glad you said something.”

When Dahlia was alone she put her head down and wondered how she fell victim to a relationship like this when she’d sworn she would never follow a man or be talked down to. She’d stand on her own and make the decisions that worked for her and no one else.

Yet here she was, not listening to herself.

Growing up all over the world, moving from one poverty-stricken country to another, Dahlia Greene wants one thing out of her adult life. Stability. She’s worked hard to get to where she is, even relocating to be by her sisters. Life was dull and boring—and just like she wanted it! Until the FBI comes knocking on her door, letting her know she is under investigation for missing money at her last job.

Special Agent Hugh Crosby left the Special Victims Unit behind and moved states away to work with white-collar crimes. He’s seen and experienced one too many horrific things that will never leave his memory and now craves a slower career. A failed marriage and sleepless nights are the least of his worries. He meets Dahlia Greene working on his next case and knows beyond a doubt this woman is going to disrupt his life more than ever before. He can only hope he doesn’t blow it but to do that, he has to protect her from the demons he carries.

If you haven’t read the PROLOGUE check it out first.

Chapter One

Little Mishap 

Fifteen Years Later

Laine cranked up the music in the studio at her home.

She’d closed her business at eight tonight. She’d had a wine and paint party and the group of ten ladies was having a ball on this August Saturday night.

No one was producing much more than good times at those parties and that was what she wanted.

But at eleven thirty she was in the little studio in her craftsman home on Amore Island up on a cliff looking down at the waves crashing below. There was a storm brewing and she loved that the best.

She stood back to look at the canvas in front of her she’d been working on for hours.

Stormy Night. That was what she was going to call this. 

The moon was peeking through the clouds and she’d tried to capture this before the night ended and she lost her mojo.

Angling her head side to side, she was almost done. At least to the point where she could stop and finish up the next day. She’d snapped a few pictures with her camera when the storm was at the peak she was trying to replicate to look back on.

After the last finishing touch, Beyoncé’s “Put a Ring On It” piped through the ceiling speaker.

“Now you’re talking my language, Beyoncé. Best way to end the night.”

Laine broke out in a dance. She had the imaginary microphone in front of her, singing along, her horrible off-key voice echoing off the walls.

She was voguing, switched off into the running man, found herself halfway across the room, then broke off into a head whip, her hair swirling around her, the sweat dribbling down her back.

When the chorus ended, she switched it to the floss. Big mistake!

In the process of “flossing” her arms front and back, she slammed her left hand into the wall.

“Holy mother of sweet potatoes.” She swung her wrist around, trying to shake off the pain tingling into her pinky. 

“Fart snookers! Stomp on some monkeys!”

She was hopping around the room doing her own version of a “What the heck did I do to myself?” dance.

Not one to swear because it wasn’t polite, she was running out of funny sayings to pop in her head with the way her knuckle was beating a conga drum in her brain.

She took a few deep breaths and stopped moving. She closed her eyes and held her hand out in front of her, then popped one eye open, saw the swelling on her knuckle and realized she couldn’t bend her pinky. 

“Fork me!”

Her bottom lip started to wobble. The pain was really hitting home.

She went to the freezer and got a bag of frozen veggies and slapped it on her hand. 

The first person she thought to call was Avery. Her new best friend lived on Amore Island. She’d brought Avery here a year ago when the island decided it needed a full-time vet.

In that year her old college friend and she had gotten extremely close and now Avery was even engaged. A few days ago Carter Bond popped the question in Laine’s studio.

She picked her phone up and then put it down when she saw it was close to midnight. Nope, not waking her friend for this.

Besides, it’s not like Laine had paws or claws that Avery could tend to.

After thirty minutes of ice, the swelling was only getting worse and not better.

Time to put her big girl panties on and drive herself to the ER. “Deviled eggs!” she yelled.

Maybe she’d get lucky and it’d be slow there at this time of the night. 

She was only half lucky when she arrived ten minutes later. 

She was brought into an exam room quickly, saw a nurse within thirty minutes. Thirty minutes more, a doctor pulled the curtain back.

“I’m Dr. Mills,” he said. “I see you jammed your knuckle…dancing? Were you at a club?”

She looked down at her tan cotton shorts that were barely mid-thigh, her black T-shirt that had paint splatters on it from when she was flinging the paint in her excitement, down to the droplets on the top of her feet that were seen from the flip-flops she’d slid on.

More than once she wished she’d changed her clothes before she drove away from home.

“Yeah,” she said, putting a big smile on her face. “It’s called the Idiot Club. One where you turn the music up loud and break out in kids’ moves to look like a fool, then jam your digits on the wall.”

He laughed when she said that. “It’s always good to have a sense of humor.”

She snorted. “I’ve got that in abundance. Or I did before this little mishap.”

“Let’s take a look at your hand.”

She held her hand out to him. The nurse had been nice enough to swap out her frozen peas for an ice pack and towel.

Dr. Mills removed the towel from her hand. “Well. A betting man would guess this is broken.”

“You feeling lucky enough to go to the casino?” she asked. “I bet you’d hit it big.”

“That’d be great, but I’m stuck here chatting with the members of the Idiot Club.”

She burst out laughing. “You’re funny,” she said.

“Thank you. My wife thinks so too.”

“Delaney,” she said.

“Oh,” Dr. Mills said. “Do you know my wife?”

“I’m on the town board,” she said. “I know a lot of the Bond family. But my best friend just happened to get engaged to a Bond this week.”

He frowned. “Give me a second. I know everyone and what is going on. The only person I know that isn’t engaged but dating someone is Carter. Did Carter get engaged?”

“A few days ago,” she said. “At my studio.”

“Damn,” Dr. Mills said. “Good for him. Let’s get you down to X-rays. You’ll get your fill of the Bond family tonight. The other Dr. Mills is working. He might not be as good-natured as me tonight. He’s short staffed and doing the X-rays himself so it’s slowing down the results being read.”

Her heart started to race more than when she’d been dancing.

She was going to be talking to Carson Mills.

Yeah, she knew who Hudson and Carson were. The twins. Carson was the single hot one she’d seen around the island that got her blood pumping.

They’d never talked. Never had a reason to.

Tonight they would.

Too bad she was drunk on stupidity served up at the Idiot Club.

“Guess we are all in for a fun-filled night,” she said, putting a smile on her face.

“I’ll have a nurse bring you down when she gets a minute. It could be a bit. As I said, short staffed but thankfully not that busy. It could be worse.”

“Isn’t that a fact of life? It could always be worse.”

It was what she’d told herself since she was little.

She popped her earbuds in that she’d taken off when Hudson came in and turned the music back on.

No dance music. Nope. Instead she was chilling to Zac Bryan. A nontraditional combination of punk and folk music. Some made her bop in her seat. Others mellow out. None made her want to break into a dance and that was what she needed.

She lay back on the bed and closed her eyes.

She didn’t know how much time had passed, maybe twenty minutes, since she’d just gone through about five songs, when a nurse tapped her on the arm and she all but fell out of the bed. Yeah, that would have put a cap on the night, but at close to two in the morning, she was ready to pass right out. Good thing her studio was closed on Sundays because she’d be sleeping most of the day away.

“I’m so sorry,” the nurse said. “I know it’s late. We can go get your X-rays now.”

“My pinky doesn’t need a wheelchair,” she said in almost a panic. No one knew her fear of hospitals and she was proud of herself for having gotten herself here and staying as calm as she was.

No way she was getting in the chair though. Nope, not doing it. 

“It’s just procedure,” the nurse said.

She put a big smile on her face. “I know, but I’m trying to stay awake and a walk will help. Can I walk? Please. There might be someone else that needs that. Like if they jammed their pinky toe, not finger?”

The nurse giggled and Hudson popped his head in the room. “She can walk down if she wants.”

“Thanks,” Laine said, letting out a breath. Maybe he’d heard the anxiety in her voice or just decided to be nice. 

She swung her legs off the bed and found her flip-flops on the floor that she’d slipped off before she lay back to get comfortable. She feared she was still in for a few more hours here. Talk about a sucky way to spend a Saturday night.

Might be the most excitement she’d had in a long time though. 

When they reached the X-ray waiting room, the nurse said, “Just have a seat here. Dr. Mills will be out to get you when he can.”

“Thanks,” she said. She slid her earbuds back in. No reason to bring the Bluetooth ones and risk losing or dropping one. The ones that plugged in let everyone know what she was doing anyway with her phone in her pocket. 

She barely got through one song when the sexy Carson Mills…the other Dr. Mills…came into the room where she was waiting.

“Laine Connors?” he asked.

“That’s me,” she said. “I’d raise my hand for clarification, but since I’m the only one here and you’re a doctor and all, I’m assuming you could deduce that yourself.”

He laughed like his brother had. “Hudson filled me in. He said you were funny.”

Guess the twins chatted back and forth while they were working. “Does this mean I get pushed to the top of the list to get out of here faster?”

She hated asking that. Her father would be throwing money around and she would have been out of here an hour ago.

Though she had more than enough of her own money for a comfortable life, she didn’t have her dad’s wealth. Not yet at least. But she didn’t want to think of that or how she’d end up with it.

“It’s not too busy back here,” he said. “I’ll read them right after I take them if you want to wait and keep me company. I could use some entertainment.”

“I could show how to bust a move if you want,” she said. 

“Let’s just stay away from the walls,” he said. Which told her that Hudson had filled him in. Or more likely, he just read her chart like any other doctor could do.

“Trust me, I’ll be more aware of that next time. I was just going right at it. I shouldn’t have closed my eyes during the running man, and then I had to shut them when I was doing the head whip thing or I would have gotten dizzy. What I should have done was recalibrate myself before I went into the floss.”

“I’m getting a visual with everything but the floss,” he said.

She giggled. “You might look good doing it.” She stood up when he walked in. Before they moved to the X-ray room, she pulled her phone out, found a quick video and showed him.

“Oh,” he said. “Yeah. I can see how that might damage a finger.”

“There you go,” she said. “My impulsiveness celebration brought me to the ER. I should know better, but when excitement takes over, I just can’t control it.”

“I bet,” he said. His eyes were laughing at her, but there was a touch of something more going on too. She’d heard a bit about this particular Bond family member when it came to women.

She’d let it pass for now. 

A little flirting never hurt anyone. Or at least she figured not much could hurt her tonight, including her pride. 

Prologue

“I think I’m going to love it here,” Laine Connors said to her father when she got out of the van at Cornell University. She’d be here for the next several years studying Fine Arts and she couldn’t wait for this journey to begin.

Ithaca, New York, was five and a half hours from Providence, Rhode Island, where she grew up.

The Northeast was in her blood and she wanted to stay in that region. She wanted to see the changing of the seasons and feel and breathe in the fresh clear air for inspiration and creativity.

Not to mention it made her father proud to go to an Ivy League school. Yale and Harvard were too big in terms of city living for her. Nope, this was where she wanted to be even if it was further away.

“You love it anywhere you are,” her father said.

Her gaze dropped from the campus she was looking around at and the rolling hills in the distance to her father sitting in his wheelchair. She was going to miss him the most.

Though she split her time with both of her parents, there was that Daddy-Daughter bond that had a stronghold on her heart. She often wished it wasn’t so strong because it almost felt one-sided at times. 

“I do,” she said. “Life is about living it, not wishing, hoping or looking off somewhere else. Didn’t you teach me that?”

“I did,” her father said. “Looks like your mother and Stewart found a parking spot.”

She turned to see her mother and stepfather making their way closer. They’d have to get a dolly to move her luggage in. The mini fridge she had with her TV too. 

“There is my little girl,” Madelyn Connors-Ringer said and gave her a big hug. You’d think she hadn’t seen her mother in years with the way there was a death grip on her. Nope, last night she was there packing up the rest of her things, but she’d said she would ride with her father for this trip.

“You can let go before you squeeze the oxygen out of her,” her father told her mother.

Her mother laughed. “Caleb. You know how hard this is going to be. And why.”

Stewart ran his hands over her mother’s shoulder.

“It’s going to be fine,” Laine argued. “I’m not going to do anything stupid.”

Her parents passed a look to each other. One of fond memories and laughter. Of a time before…the accident.

Her parents would always love each other. She knew that. 

Now they were best of friends it seemed. In her heart, she knew if her father hadn’t done what he had, they might still be together. The fact they co-parented her for years proved it. Her mother had even lived on the same property as her father, but in a smaller house, for years.

Yeah, it was an odd relationship and most judged, but she didn’t care. To her, it was all about being loved.

She got plenty of that.

“You better not,” Stewart said. “I’m going to be calming your mother the whole way home tomorrow.”

“You’re up for it,” she told her stepfather of eight years. He was a good guy. Married her mother when Laine was ten. He wasn’t so comfortable living in the small house on the property with her father, but he’d done it for a few years until he could get her mother to move a few miles away.

“I am,” Stewart said. “Why don’t I find a dolly and we can load everything up to get to your room? Second floor, right?”

“That’s right,” she said. Stewart and she went in to see if they could locate one and left her parents out in the parking lot.

When they returned pushing the dolly, the smile was gone from her face. “They don’t have an elevator,” Stewart said.

“What?” her mother asked. “We’ve got to carry this all up the stairs?”

“Stewart and I can handle the fridge,” Laine said. “It’s not that heavy. Neither is my luggage or TV.” This had more to do with the fact her father wouldn’t be able to see her room.

“I’ll find some young strong men that want to earn money,” her father said and wheeled off before she could stop him.

That’s what he always did. Flashed his money and got things done.

If she wished that he’d found another way to do things in her life, she kept it to herself.

She understood his limitations but not everything had to be solved with a bankroll.

“Let’s go get my stuff out of Dad’s van,” she said. It was easier to load everything in her father’s vehicle knowing they’d be closer in a handicap spot.

“One benefit of today,” Stewart said cheerfully. “Your mother and I must be half a mile away.”

“Not that far,” her mother said.

“Close enough,” Stewart said.

The three of them got everything out of the van by the time her father came back in his electric wheelchair. He had a manual one he used most times and had a strong upper body from it. But not knowing everything that would be going on with this trip, he opted for this one instead today.

“These three young men are more than willing to earn money for a few trips up and down the stairs. What are your names again?”

“Kyle, Stefan, and Mike,” the first guy said. He pointed to himself when he said Kyle and then the rest of the men. 

“I’m Laine and it’s nice to meet you. Thanks for helping us out.”

“No problem,” Mike said. He was cute and gave her a look like he wanted to check her out more but was trying not to with her parents all around.

“We loaded everything on the dolly. It just needs to go to the second floor.”

“Well then, let’s go to your room,” her mother said.

She handed her key to her mother. “I’ll be there in a second.”

Her mother nodded while Laine stayed behind with her father. “I wish you could go up too.”

“It didn’t work out that way,” her father said. “It’s all about you. The second floor is more secure than the first and you know it.”

She’d had safety shoved down her throat for years. The only child that was protected by everyone other than her father.

Correction, it was on her father’s dime, but she wished he didn’t always push it off to someone else.

The fact he took the time to come with her today was something though.

He was a busy man with a large company to run. The business took a lot of time, energy and put stress on his shoulders.

Her father tried to make time for her over the years and she welcomed what she got. She was just happy he was in her life when there were times she wasn’t sure he would be.

Her father pulled a piece of paper out of his shirt pocket. “Here is the name of a man you call for anything you need. He’s local and a retired trooper.”

“Why?” she asked, opening up the paper and seeing the name there. “Why can’t I call you?”

“You can and I expect you will. But he lives locally and is on the company payroll while you’re here. Anything you need, you call.”

“Like if I want a milkshake in the middle of the night?” she asked, giggling. She’d never do that.

“I want to say yes, but you wouldn’t inconvenience anyone that way. Next year you’ll have a car on campus. You might get a flat or your battery could die.”

“Oh,” she said. “I get it.”

He was always thinking ahead and looking out for her.

“If you need anything in this area, he’s who you call. Where to go, the safest places to eat and party. I know you’re going to party. I want it done the right way.”

She forced a smile. She knew why he was saying this and hated every minute of it. 

“Times are different,” she said.

“Not different enough. I don’t want a call like the one my parents got and have you end up in a chair like this. Your mother and I weren’t smart. Always remember that.”

All she had to do was look at the man she loved to remember. 

“I will,” she said. She leaned down and kissed him. “Will you be here when I’m done unloading everything?”

She could tell he wanted to take off, but he said, “I’ll be at the hotel. There is too much traffic here and I’m in the way.”

“Oh,” she said. 

“Mom and Stewart are going to talk to you about it. We’ll all go to dinner tonight. I won’t leave without saying goodbye, I promise.”

“You better keep that promise,” she said, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek.

She’d keep her tears in place and hoped he did keep his word and was there tonight when so many other times he said he’d be somewhere and wasn’t. That something came up. 

Her father held her stare. She meant business and he knew.

“Dinner tonight.”

But hours later, her father chartered a private plane to go home for an emergency at work. Just as she expected. 

Laine tried not to be disappointed while her mother and Stewart cheered her up. She put on a happy face as she’d done most of her life.

Her father couldn’t help who he was and she had to stop hoping for more.