Emery

“Just tell me to wait for you,” Quinn whispers desperately as he slides his nose along mine. My ribs are having a hard time containing my hammering heart as I keep my eyes locked with his blue ones.

I stroke my fingers along his cheek as a sob hiccups out of me. “I can’t. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“I would, though.” His words match the promise in his eyes.

On another broken sob, I whisper back, “I know, which is why I won’t ask.”

I walked away from Quinn Adler three years ago.

It was the biggest mistake of my life. I had my reasons, and I thought it was best to let him go. I am chaotic…too much. But even knowing that about myself, I still crave him. I still miss him.

I need him.

I love him.

But while I’ve been building an empire he’s supposed to be a part of—and pining after him like a love-sick fool—he’s been off getting engaged.

To someone who isn’t me.

It’s laughable, really.

He thinks I’m going to allow him to marry someone else?

Not a chance.

Quinn

“I’m getting married.”

Emery’s eyes flash with mischief as a slow, knowing smirk pulls at her thick lips. With a ballbusting confidence only she can exude, she says, “We’ll see.”

I furrow my brow. “We’ll see?”

Her lips curve higher, those gray eyes wicked as they hold mine. “Yup. We will see.”

Emery Brooks has been causing me trouble since we were toddlers. She is loud, assertive, and maybe even an evil genius, but my love for her knows no bounds. She walked away from me, left me behind for a new life, and I had no choice but to watch from afar. I put myself out there countless times for her to take me as her own, but she wouldn’t budge. Something was always holding her back.

So, I moved on. I got engaged.

And now, Emery is back. It’s not a big deal. Everything will be fine. I won’t fall back into my old ways of needing her like I need my next breath. I won’t let her close enough to see the secrets I’ve been hiding from everyone. I’ll keep her at arm’s length.

I’ve got this.

Or so I think. Because, in true Emery fashion, she barrels into my life with no cares for the destruction she causes.

I thought I had a handle on her. But honestly, when have I ever been able to handle Emery Brooks?

Eliza McDavid is done with dating. Every man she meets does nothing for her. After years of abuse, she knows she wants safety—but most of all, she wants love. Each of her sisters has her own passion, and Eliza thinks she's found hers when she decides to open her own coffee bar. But she doesn't have a clue how to run one. She knows someone who does, however, but he won't give her the time of day.

Until he does.

Coleson Katz's reputation is worse than the sludge shoveled off the ice between periods of a hockey game. He has made some bad personal choices, so when it's time for him to be called up to the NHL, no one wants to give him a chance. He's told that the only way to fix his reputation is by finding a wife, but he wants to do anything other than that. Who would want to marry a hockey player who is known for sleeping around?

But then he's reminded that Eliza wants to learn how to operate a coffee shop. He owns one of those, has been running it his whole life. He proposes a trade. His coffee shop in exchange for a year of her life in a fake marriage to him.

Easy peasy.

Or so he thinks.

Elliot

I'm pregnant.

And the father has no clue.

I pushed him away.

I shut the door in his face, and while I thought it was only my broken heart he left behind, that wasn't the case. He left a child inside me.

And I kept it.

Now he's back, and it's time to face off with the only man I've ever wanted.

But can he forgive me?

Alex

I think I've loved Elliot McDavid since the moment I met her.

She watched me for weeks, lusted after me, but never said a word. Even denied that she would work out just to see me. When I finally got her where I wanted her, she pushed me away.

She slammed her walls up and reinforced them with distance.

But now I'm back.

And she has secrets.

More than just the fact that she's pregnant with my child.

She thinks I'll let her get away a second time, but that's not happening. I'm known for protecting the net, and I'll protect her.

Even from herself.

Riggs McCoy

The last thing a Scottish man like me is accustomed to is perpetual sunshine. But Clara McDavid is a ray of light with a bright personality and an unstoppable smile who threatens to chase away all the clouds and gloom I prefer to surround myself with. And I need her. To watch my dogs, that is. Just that.

I thought I would be okay with her sleeping in my bed while I was out of town coaching my hockey team to a championship. But one look at her on the camera I forgot I set up, and I know immediately that I want to be right beside her. Forever.

Clara McDavid

I've always had a thing for older guys. And Riggs McCoy ticks every box on a list I didn't even realize I'd written. But he only wants me to dog-sit. Not make myself at home in his house.

Even after watching all four of my older sisters rush the ice for their hockey player lovers, I never thought I'd want the boys' grumpy coach for myself. But being wrong has never felt oh-so right.