Suddenly the precious little flower girl with wild blond ringlets and a frilly lavender dress ran to where an uncomfortable little boy was standing in his miniature tuxedo amidst several giant men dressed the same and planted a kiss smack on his surprised slackened mouth. Much to the little boy’s credit he didn’t flinch or pull away from the fairy-like little girl. Instead, he seemed to give a resigned sigh and took her hand and guided her down the aisle as the music for the wedding party to exit started to play. Just like a tiny little gentleman. They were adorable. They stole the show and it was the perfect ending to a flawless ceremony. When life moved on like this, it was a charmed thing.
I was still chuckling at the kids under my breath when Lando turned to me and put a hand on my thigh. His pale eyes glowed like the forget-me-nots that surrounded us and his heart was shining there as clear as day.
“I’m so glad you are here with me.”
My chuckle turned into a lump in my throat. He did that to me a lot.
Leveled me with the way he loved me.
“There’s no other place I would rather be.” And no other man I would want to be there with.
BUILT
Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you can find the kind of love that is Built to last …
Sayer Cole and Zeb Fuller couldn’t be more different. She’s country club and fine-dining, he’s cellblock and sawdust. Sayer spends her days in litigation, while Zeb spends his working with his hands. She’s French silk, he’s all denim and flannel.
Zeb’s wanted the stunning blonde since the moment he laid eyes on her. It doesn’t matter how many smooth moves he makes, the reserved lawyer seems determinedly oblivious to his interest—either that or she doesn’t return it. Sayer is certain the rough, hard, hot-as-hell Zeb could never want someone as closed off and restrained as she is, which is a shame because something tells her he might be the guy to finally melt her icy exterior.
But just as things start to heat up, Zeb is blindsided by a life-altering moment from his past. He needs Sayer’s professional help to right a wrong and to save more than himself. He can’t risk what’s at stake just because his attraction to Sayer feels all consuming. But as these opposites dig in for the fight of their lives, battling together to save a family, the steam created when fire and ice collide can no longer be ignored.
Available January 2016
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Prologue
I met her at a bar.
She had a beer bottle in her hand even though she looked like she should be sipping champagne out of an expensive flute and that inexplicably turned me on. She was pretty and looked completely out of place in the no-name bar sitting across from one of my longtime friends who also happened to be her long lost brother. He was the reason she was here. In that split second that I laid my eyes on her I wanted to be the reason she stayed.
I knew it was rude and that the two of them needed some time together, some time to figure out what they were to each other now that she had blasted into his life unannounced. If I was a better friend I would have left them alone. As it was I made my way over to the tiny table and sat down. I was covered in sawdust and had drywall mud caked in the hair on my head and on my face, but she didn’t flinch or bat an eyelash when I purposely broke up their party of two and placed myself as close to her as I could without actually touching her.
My buddy Rowdy St. James lifted his eyebrows at me as I stared at her while he introduced us. Sayer Cole. Even her name was elegant and sophisticated-sounding. She was an enigma, this pretty woman that seemed like she should be in anyplace but this bar with the two of us. She’d shown up out of the blue a couple of months ago claiming to be his half-sister, claiming that they shared a father, claiming that all she wanted was to be in his life and have some kind of family of her own. She looked too delicate to be that brave. Came across as way too proper to have said “fuck it all” and picked up her life to move it someplace unknown without being sure of her welcome. She looked like silk, but if my guess was right about her it was silk wrapped around steel.