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Chapter 1

Lukas

The party was in full swing Usually, o for Masks Anonymity Dark corners for darker deeds

Hell, I’d been eye-fucked by half the single women here and a few of the married ones, too

That was the most action I’d had in five months

Five Fucking Months With zero fucking

None

Because the one woman I wanted didn’t want me

And there she was My breath caught as Faith stepped into ainst the wall, content to simply watch her

I’d gone from man-whore to pathetic

Hell, even if I wanted to fuck another woman here, I wasn’t sure my dick would let me It rose for only one woman—the one who smelled like pears and vanilla With the Midwestern accent, silky red hair, and the greenest eyes I’d ever seen Like fresh new grass after a Swedish winter

Swedish winters were really fucking long

She suy next to her said, but even with the mask, I knew that wasn’t her stupid frat-boy boyfriend

Her , just like the dress that fell down her curved body in a sensuous drape of liquid sunlight

Faith God, even her nas New hope

She was everything I wasn’t Hu to every aspect of the life I’d chosen—that clung to me like the cheap perfume I used to wake up covered in

But not in five months

Not since I’d decided she was it Only her

She glanced over, saw me, then ripped her eyes away quickly, only to slowly let them return I knew she felt it too, the seismic shift that happened whenever our eyes locked

I knew it frightened her, which hy she stayed with Frat-Boy Fred

But that was okay I was in it for the long haul I’d wait for her to decide she was ready to step onto the ice, for her to accept what I kneould change us both

Until then, I’d sit on the bench and wait Hell, she was only twenty-one We had time

“Crab is good,” Noble said as he came to stand next to me “You should try some”

I grunted

He followed ht “Jesus, you and Faith Maybe you two can just fuck and get it out of your systems”

“She has a boyfriend,” I snapped Like everyone didn’t know that And if there was one thing I didn’t do, it was get involved with someone as committed to someone else

“You haven’t heard?” he asked, his brows drawing together

“Heard what?” I asked, watching Faith walk away, her curves swaying as she headed toward the edge of the room

No doubt to find Frat-Boy Fred in one of those aforementioned corners

“They broke up last week”

My head snapped toward Noble “What?”

“Yeah Gentry was talking about it in the locker room They’re done”

Gentry would know since he was her older brother He was also h

So electric rippled downI had just before I geared up

I walked away fro Faith across the room

She ht not be with the frat-boy anyle

She was already mine

Now I just had to prove it to her

Game On

As if she sensedwhen I didn’t look away I was done looking away

“Vestergaard! How is that new clothing line co?”

Lewis Paulson’s voice stopped me dead in my tracks I threw up a prayer for patience and turned to the newest owner of the Seattle Sharks The buyout had come as a complete shock, and the dust had yet to settle from the purchase

“Well, thank you,” I answered hi his considerably weaker hand with care

“You’re launching soon, aren’t you?”

“This su a rather rushed retreat

Fuck

“Ah, good It’s a good thing to diversify your portfolio Good” He nodded, the ostentatious ruby-coloreddown his nose

“Yes, good,” I repeated with a forced sh to lish

“As long as it doesn’t distract froht it was a wink It was more a drunken attempt

“Of course not The Sharks come first”

Shit, she was sneaking out the side door

“If you’ll excusein the middle of the ballroom Probably not my finest moment, since the man controlled my career, but Faith wasFaith

I blatantly ignored a feo them with the quick reflexes I’d been born with Apparently, the as out that I hadn’t been fucking around the pastto finally settle down in a real relationship

The status-seeking women of Seattle smelled blood in the water, and in this case, they were the sharks

None of the to settle down into a relationship I was looking to settle down into Faith There was a difference

I blew through the side door, stepping into the marble-floored hallway of the swanky resort My eyes swept left, then right, catching the slight shimmer of Faith’s dress just before she slipped into one of the sittin

g rooms that lined the hallway

Making sure I hadn’t been seen, I turned the antique brass handle and followed Faith The last thing either of us needed was a ment could easily cause She’d be ht on

The door closed behind me with an audible click

The rooe the walls Velvet and silk in shades of old fell from the s, upholstered the furniture, and somehow made the roo at the far end A lit fireplace softened the lines of Faith’s curves as she stared at the flames, her back to me

On instinct, I flicked the lock on the door

She looked over her shoulder sloithout fear

“It doesn’t scare you when a man locks himself in a room with you?” I asked, my voice not nearly as smooth as I’d come to depend on when it came to women

“Not when I already kneas you” She tilted her head, and I caught the movement in a mirror just above the fireplace She’d seen me the whole time

“And now that you know?” I leaned back against the solid wood door, crossing my arms over my chest