Alexa like a physical blow the moment she pushed through the unmarked door. The

the drunken bumps and shoves. Her best friend, Chloe, was waiting in a corner booth, a t

ver the deafening music. "I was

aid, and threw the shot back in one gulp. The tequila burned a fiery pat

ows shooting up. "Bad day? Bad week

who's one of the CEO's golf buddies. I went over his head to compliance. I think I'm about to be fir

chievous glint in her eye. "Well, I have some news that will either ma

guess. She knew from

Saw him at the new Cipriani downtown. He looks even

stematically broken her heart, choosing his family's legacy over her. The air in her lung

odes is dead to me," she said, her voice hard and brittle. "And y

- Mark ordering her to falsify a report, the suffocating weight of her father's debts she'd been dodging calls about, the grinding

mily's legacy, and now I'm on the verge of losing my career because some rich client wants to use me as a scapegoat. I'm done being the one who gets

t. The booth felt claustrophobic. "I need to dance,"

moved with a wild, desperate energy, trying to sweat out the memories, the anger, the suff

behind her, his hands reaching for her

ody recoiling. "Get lost," she snap

on the sticky floor, and her body t

impact, for the har

ever

lush against a hard, unyielding chest. A clean, sharp scent of cedar and somethi

r heart hammering

w his face. Donovan Beasley. His expression

aded into a dull roar. There was only the heat of his hand on the small of her

d, holding her in place. He leaned down, his

rough vibration that shot straight through he

shiver traced its way down her spine. With a surge of ad

le of the swirling crowd. He held her gaze for one long, searing moment-a look so

er skin tingled where he had touched her. The spot on her ear

g her arm. "Oh my god, who was that

a jerky, unconvincing motion. "No. He... h

ot for another second. She grabbed her purse from the booth and p

r flushed cheeks. She leaned against the brick wall of the building,

And Donovan Beasley was

-