One down, two to go.

Being a good girl hasn’t worked out for me, but being bad might have worked out for my bestie.

Now it’s my turn to switch to the dark side.

Muah ha ha.

My three best friends and I wrote a list in junior high that we would complete if we weren’t married by the time we were thirty.

Spoiler alert.

I’m divorced, and that means I don’t get a free pass.

My list items are enough to make my cheeks burn.

Make out with a stranger in an airplane bathroom?

I’d rather jump out of the plane.

Pole dance at a nightclub?

If my fourteen-year-old self could feel her body at thirty, she never would have put it on the list.

I’m going to break an ankle.

Or my own heart.

Because kissing the gorgeous rockstar who’s seven years younger than me on an airplane turns out to be the best naughty thing I’ve ever done.

It’s official.

Being bad is kind of delicious.

And so is the New Me.

Business or pleasure? Give me a break.

Business is pleasure.

I traded life on a farm for the glitz of New York City and the flash of a Rolex on my wrist.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a country boy.

I’m just rich now.

Imagine my surprise when a bridesmaid at my sister’s wedding turns my head—and then my world upside down.

She’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted.

I thought it would just be one night, but the universe had other plans.

Now that we’re in business together she’s everywhere I turn.

My office, my bed, and my dreams.

Speaking of, she has her own dream, and I have the means to help her.

If she’ll let me.

I fell in love with a bridesmaid. Now it’s time to make her a bride.

Baby, I should’ve known it’s you from the start.

Me and love go together like oil　water.

Hence why I've never been with a man. What's the big deal anyway?

The kind of men I like never like me, and the men who do like me?

Oh right, there aren't any.

The last one ended up falling in love with my best friend.

I have bigger things to worry about anyway.

Like saving my library from demolition.

Until he shows up.

A tattooed bad boy with a body that belongs on a romance book and eyes that undress me with every glance.

Gulp.

He's trouble.

Ex-con kind of trouble.

Hooking up in the car kind of trouble.

I'm not that girl—at least I didn't used to be.

He's the definition of what I shouldn't want.

So it begs the question.

Why him?

Falling in love once was enough for me.

I work hard for what I want and I don't make costly decisions.

Like getting married or settling down.

I've seen it happen to all my friends and they seem happier for it, but me?

I'm good.

I'm rich.

And I'm free.

All I need is a new executive assistant to keep my life in order.

But I get so much more than that.

I get her.

The only girl I've ever loved.

It feels like a lifetime ago that I walked away from her.

She still doesn't know why I had to bail.

Keeping that secret from her nearly killed me.

Now she's back, she's gorgeous, and she's keeping a secret of her own.

This time, I won't lose her.

I'll fight until I'm on my knees because it's not just her I'm fighting for.

It's our family.

She's my second chance sugar, and our daughter?

She's my redemption.

Love is a vice. Just not mine.

I like the stuff that's bad for me.

My brother thinks I need rehab.

I'd rather take a short walk off a very tall bridge.

I'll take an escape to a small town instead.

Some downtime could do this party boy good.

As soon as I hit the town limits, the town hits me back.

With her.

She's a sucker punch to my senses.

Instead of craving my next drink, I'm craving her.

Lucky for me, she's everywhere I turn in a small place like this.

And she just might be the salvation I've been looking for.

It won't be easy.

But our small-town love affair just might save us both.

I'm cursed.

One minute, I'm hooking up with the sexy bridesmaid at my sister's wedding.

And the next?

I'm out in farm country as a personal favor.

And whose farm does it happen to be?

Hers.

The bridesmaid who has owned my thoughts—among other things—for weeks now.

But me and her?

We could never work.

She's country through and through.

I'm a city boy.

Give me fast cars and designer suits over hay and farm animals.

The smell.

The repetitive days.

But the girl.

She's my end game in a pair of cowgirl boots.

It all started with a wedding.

Maybe it will end that way too.

Unless me and her were only ever meant for that one night.

I would break the curse.

I'd have my fun wedding hookup and I would not be marrying her after.

If I had it my way, I'd never have to see her again, either.

Joke's on me.

I run into her in the most unlikely of places.

My oil rig in the middle of the ocean.

Poseidon must have gotten a laugh at that one.

She's everywhere I turn, making an already dangerous environment even more treacherous.

Raging waves below.

Raging desires above.

She's a siren singing to me.

I'm ready to dive in.

But she's not.

I'm her brother's best friend.

But I could win her over.

And that's just what I'm going to do.

Come hell or high water, this girl is mine, and our future?

Well.

Maybe I won't break that curse after all.

Always the bridesmaid. Never the bride.

All my friends are falling in love and moving on, and here I am, aching for more.

Until one night when he walks into my bar.

He's six foot something of trouble.

I recognize his smirk and his jawline right away.

Simon Locke. Billionaire oil tycoon. Bad boy bachelor.

He's a walking neon red flag.

And for some reason all he wants to do is get to know me.

Maybe I never should have let him.

Half the country hates him, and right when I think I see the good side of him, I become a target for his enemies.

My friends are worried about me.

They're planning their weddings and I'm having tomatoes hurled at me by an angry mob.

I don't know if Simon is worth it.

But I know I might always wonder if I don't try.

I just can't help but wonder…

Really?

That jerk?

As the last man standing among my fallen comrades, it's my honor to be single.

No curfew, no wifely expectations, no bratty kids ruining the interior of my car.

Just me, my money, and my work.

And that's how I like it.

But working with a bunch of love-struck boneheads has turned business stale.

We need fresh blood.

Who knew my best friend's little sister was a marketing dream girl?

And maybe my dream girl.

Nah, who am I kidding?

She's off limits.

And so am I.

I don't want what she's looking for. If she can't do no strings attached, I can't do a relationship.

If only she were that easy to shake off.

A players gotta play.

But I don't think I'm making the rules this time.

I'm never going to get married.

But I'll play along and pretend to be a pretty girl's fake fiancé at a wedding when she springs it on me.

If only she knew who I was.

Bancroft.

Billionaire.

Bachelor.

The charade was fun while it lasted, but the tables turn on me fast.

Turns out I need a fake fiancée for more than just a wedding date.

I need a girl who will redeem me to the public and clean up my reputation.

Apparently I'm not marketable for my nonprofit and my name tarnishes it.

I know just who to call to cash in a favor.

The curvy vixen from the wedding who can spin a lie faster than I can bed a model.

She and I?

We're in it for the short haul.

Or are we?