Blackwell-Lyon

She's not the woman I thought...but dammit, she's the woman I want. I never thought of myself as cynical, but getting dumped at the altar changes a man. Now, I'm all about my job. About building my business and getting on with my life. Don't get me wrong; I still love women. I love the way they look. The way they smell. The way they feel. Especially the way they feel. And I've pretty much made it my mission to give each and every woman who shares my bed the ride of her life. But getting close? Getting serious? Giving a woman my trust again? Yeah, that's not going to happen. Or so I thought. Then I met her. It's funny how things can change in a heartbeat. How one case of mistaken identity can change everything. But there she was, all business and completely uninterested in me. And damned if I didn't want her. Crave her. Most of all, I wanted to help her. To keep her and her sister safe. But the more I get to know her, the more I want her. The whole package. The complete woman. And the miracle is that she wants me, too. Trouble is, we've both been burned before. Now, I know one thing for certain - the only way that we'll survive the heat that crackles between us is if we both find the courage to leap into the fire together.

Bedroom games are fine...but I need a woman who won't play with my heart. After years in the military, I've faced down a lot of things, and there's not much I shy away from. Except relationships. Because when you catch your wife in bed with another man, that tends to sour even the most hardened man against women. When I was hired to keep surveillance on a woman with a checkered past, I went into the job anticipating the worst. But what I found was a woman who turned my head. Who made my blood heat and my body burn. A woman who made me feel alive again. A woman who was nothing like what I expected, but everything I wanted. A woman who, it turned out, needed my protection. And wanted my touch. And as the world fell out from under us, and everything I thought I knew shifted, there was only one reality I could hold onto - that the more I got to know her, the more I wanted her. But if I'm going to make her mine, I'll have to not only keep her safe, I'll have to prove to her that I've conquered my own fears and doubts. That I'm done looking into the past, and that all I want is a future - with her.

It was wrong to stay together...but we couldn't stay apart. I've been with my share of women, but none touched my heart and fired my senses the way she did. Her smile enticed me. Her caresses teased me. Her body aroused me. And yet, it couldn't last. There were too many years between us. A gap we couldn't breach, and we broke it off. No. I broke it off. And I've regretted that decision ever since. Now she's in danger, and there's no one else I trust to protect her. But the more time we spend together, the more I want her back. And all I know now is I have to keep her safe - and despite both of us knowing better, somehow, someway, she will be mine again.