Ward Sisters

You know the hot neighbor boy you crushed on all your teenage years? Imagine seeing him ten years later and he turns out to be a complete jerk, then you know how I feel. Our last encounter was awkward, given I'd climbed into his bedroom window to turn my unrequited crush into something ... requited. That day was bad enough, but things just got worse. Noah Griffin turned himself into one of the best football players in the country and a transfer to the Washington Wolves- the team I work for-lands him on my doorstep. The timing couldn't be worse, because my boss just handed me the opportunity of a lifetime. And that promotion rides squarely on Noah's big, muscular, condescending shoulders. He wants nothing to do with me, and the feeling is so very mutual. But for the sake of my career, I can ignore all those things about him that drive me insane. His eyes. His mouth. His big, big ... hands. Until one day, we can't ignore them anymore. You know what they say about the line between love and hate though? They're so very right.

I should've known better than to swap places with my twin sister. No one would ever believe that me, Claire Ward-the straight A student who never gets in trouble-, would impersonate her sister just to earn a night out with the guy she's crushed on forever. But how else could I get her best friend Finn to notice me? It would've worked perfectly. Except Finn wasn't the guy to pick me up that night. In Finn's place-wearing a perfectly tailored tux and looking like sin-is his brother, Bauer. Finn's exact opposite in every way, my date for the evening is a tattooed snowboarder with a sexy smirk and a chip on his shoulder the size of Mt. Olympus. I should've known better. Because now the good girl is stuck with the bad boy for the night, and the consequences of that are much bigger than I could have imagined.

Have you heard the one about the impulsive American grad student and the broody Brit who argued about which kind of football was better? It's a good story, especially because it ends with me clutching a pregnancy test in my tiny Oxford flat. In my defense, it was never meant to be more than a harmless flirtation. But he was just sitting there, with his accent and his muscles and his tattoos, telling me that his football was better than the one I grew up watching my brother play. Next thing I knew, that flirtation got a whole lot hotter and even though I wasn't sure I'd ever see him again-my mystery Brit-it was the kind of night a girl goes to her grave remembering. You know how the story goes though ... a few weeks later, the impulsive girl gets a little pukey, and sees a sports headline featuring her mystery Brit kicking the black and white ball that got us into this mess.

It takes a lot to rattle me, but nothing could've prepared me for the day that Aiden Hennessy walked through my beloved gym doors, ownership papers in his big hands. I know a lot about my gorgeous new boss, a former fighter whose posters used to decorate my bedroom walls. I know he retired at the height of his fame to take care of his sick wife. I know he's now a single dad raising an adorable little girl. And I know that no matter how broody and quiet he is, my innocent teenage crush has turned into a highly inappropriate adult fantasy. I would've gotten over it, until one night sparring with him at the gym, it's clear my feelings aren't so one-sided. It's impossible to pretend I don't want him. Especially when I have to see him every single day, and watch him take care of his daughter. Aiden thinks I'm too young for him. He says he shouldn't want me. But all it takes is one step over the line to prove what they say is true- forbidden fruit really does taste the sweetest.