Pat

Gordon Benson is the one man I never wanted to see again. He’s grumpy, antagonistic, and so irritatingly more attractive than he was 12 years ago. Those biceps, that muscular chest, those dark green eyes that still manage to get me all twisted up…it’s not fair. I broke up with him. He demolished my heart. End of story. Or at least it was until I ran into him after a figure skating gig. And then his sister offered me a job as their executive assistant—a job I didn’t need until the company I worked for went bankrupt.

Hooked on You is a single dad meets a struggling single mom, age gap, nanny romance.

The things I've lost could shatter any man. Send him on a downward spiral. I would've punched my own ticket if it weren't for the Satan's Knights. Instead, I became the VP of the Knightdale Charter. A man can't drown in his misery when he's got responsibilities. So I look for things to dull the pain. Sex. Drugs. Whatever. When you've been to hell and back, the only time worth having is a good one. My little Birdie knows this self-destructive path, too. That's why I can't stay away from her.

Clean cut, all-American, hot as sin, and sweet enough to lick all over. That’s how my friend Skye describes Miles Blake. It’s how I’d describe him, too, if I didn’t just find out the one-night stand that rocked my world is my best friend’s fiancé’s best friend…God, what a mouthful.

Riggs Malone. Star quarterback and captain of the football team. The boy all the girls wanted and all the boys wanted to be. My first love. And the only person who ever broke me. I have a great life. I've fulfilled my dream of running my own coffee shop-slash-library in my hometown, I own my own home, and I have the best group of friends a girl could ask for. Everything is perfect. Or it was. When a neighboring town starts its very own professional football franchise, he gets himself traded to be the starting quarterback of the Branston Bandits.

A music label wants my band. I just want her. I never knew a smile had the power to change the course of a life, until she smiled at me and shifted my world off its axis. There’s no way I couldn’t marry her the first chance I got. They said we were crazy, that getting married so soon was insane. I don’t care. I love her more than anything. And then my band gets the call that changes everything.

He told me he loved me, then abandoned me. My sister was his first choice. Too bad for him, I refused to be his second. Dante Leone was bad news with a gorgeous exterior and a dangerous mind. Emotionally unavailable and slightly unhinged, he was a heartbreak waiting to happen. Again. I ran. He gave chase and my fate was sealed.

I didn't wake up one day and decide to be a Disney princess, but for the last six months, I've been living the dream. Of course, that dream includes screaming little girls at birthday parties every weekend. At least there's cake. When my roommate offers to cover my share of the rent if I work her friend's little girl's party, I don't hesitate. Only she forgets to mention a few things. Like that I would love the birthday girl the moment I met her.

Fighting is what saved me. It shed the old me, and I became a newer shinier version of myself. Until it took away everything I loved. I gave up and tapped out. Then one day, she came back into my life and reminded me that some things are worth fighting for. Now, I'm fighting for us, day by day, proving to her that our happily ever after is worth fighting for.

I fell in love once and it was amazing. Until it wasn't. I swore to protect her. Until I didn't. I swore to love her forever. Until forever came too soon. After I lost her, I swore I would never fall in love again. Until I met Ashley.