Breanna stood in the middle of her front room and surveyed the confined space she had to work in for her party. There was no way thirty people could fit in her apartment. With a deep sigh, she raked her fingers through her thick hair and lifted it off her neck.“Why did I agree to this?” she grumbled.But she knew the answer. If Tom hadn’t upset her by canceling their date—again—she wouldn’t be worrying about the unknown guests who would be arriving soon.She exhaled deeply and walked into the kitchen. She leaned against the wall as she tried to figure out how to get rid of these disturbing thoughts. At times, Tom made her feel unwanted, and lately, his actions had really hurt. Why did he always choose his friends, Kevin and Trisha, over her? She would be the one marrying him, for heaven’s sake. But it was like pulling teeth to get him to spend time with her.She rearranged the food items on her table and counters

Monte studied the shy woman dancing with him whose attention darted around the room more than it had rested on him. He liked the way she pressed against him so intimately and yet didn’t seem to mind. He enjoyed the way she’d gazed at him as if she’d never seen anything so perfect. He also liked the scent surrounding her – better than a flower garden. Of course, roses had always been his favorite.The longer he watched her scan the crowd, the more he realized she was purposely trying not to look at him. His mouth twitched into a grin. He’d change that in a hurry.While the crowd distracted her, he had the chance to examine her eyes. They were actually prettier than he remembered from this morning. Not very often had he met women with gray eyes, but hers were such a pretty color. Being this close to her, he couldn’t help but notice they also held specks of gold as if God had sprinkled stars in her eyes.As he studied her face mo

At two o’clock in the morning, Pat Gurrister announced the party was over. Monte agreed, since some of the guests had disappeared from the swimming pool about an hour before. Although he had the time of his life, he knew when to call it quits.After waving goodbye to the last guest, he walked beside Breanna back to her apartment. It wasn’t fair to let her cleanup by herself, and he’d promised her she could count on him to help.Breanna sighed heavily as she stared at the living room. “Well, I guess it could be worse.”He chuckled. “Yes, I’ve been to parties where the house was completely destroyed. This is nothing compared to what I’ve seen.”“Before we get started, I’m going to go change into some dry clothes,” she said, pulling her wet T-shirt away from her body.He didn’t want her to leave. He liked seeing her in wet clothes. He took her hands in a loose hold. “No, don’t go. You can’t change now. If you do, I’ll be the only one wet. Besides, you’ll have to wait until you’re a littl

“Monte?  Are you playing or not?”Monte’s attention snapped to his father and brother who’d walked ahead of him toward the next hole. Golf usually kept Monte’s interest, but for some inane reason, he couldn’t stop thinking about the night with Tyger. She’d been on his mind for two days straight and he couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear. “Yes, Dad. I’m coming.”Corey, his older brother shook his head and laughed. “If I didn’t know you better, I’d think you had your head in the clouds.”Monte chuckled. “Good thing you know me better.”“Yes, I know you better.” Corey arched an eyebrow. “But I’m still wondering if your glued-on smile is because of the party you attended the other night.”Monte’s grin widened and he shrugged. “Could be.”It was obvious by his father’s scowl that he di

Thankfully, Monte pulled away and gripped the steering wheel. “But don’t worry about it now. You can think about it over breakfast.”Relief poured over her, yet at the same time, disappointment lodged in her chest. Perhaps she shouldn’t feel let down because he hadn’t kissed her. After all, this was only the beginning of their day together.It didn’t take long before he was pulling the truck into the parking lot next to Denny’s. She wanted to laugh. Why would he pick this place when he was supposed to be a billionaire?“Seriously?” she asked, arching her eyebrow.“What can I say?” He parked the truck and killed the engine. “I love their breakfast.” He touched her arm. “Don’t move.”She wondered why he’d told her that and then jumped out of the truck. But as he walked to her door and opened, she understood. “Monte, you don’t have to do t