What she needs most might be what she least expects…

Living without air conditioning in a Philadelphia heat wave has Claire on the brink of a total meltdown. When she escapes her overheated apartment to spend a day at the park, the last thing she expects—or wants—is for a gorgeous guy to chat her up. But his sweet smile and nerdy charm are impossible for even Claire to resist.

Patience and persistence go hand in hand…

For Ben, Claire is the One, but there’s a small snag—she’s terrified of a man’s touch. But now that he’s found her, he’ll never let her go, even if he never gets to hold her.
Another snag? Her obvious attraction to his best friend.

Sometimes it takes fire to wash you clean…

Ben respects Claire’s firm boundaries, but Andy crashes right through them. He’s arrogant, crude, a total jackass…and criminally sexy.
Even if she can fix what’s broken inside her, how will she choose between the delicious slow burn she feels with Ben and the explosive inferno Andy ignites in her?
Can they find their happy ending without three hearts going up in flames?

Exclusive Excerpt

Shoving off the wall, I clear the final step and have a fucking heart attack when I see a tall, broad silhouette blocking one of the windows.

“Andy?”

At the sound of his name, he looks over his shoulder, wearing a heart-stopping smile meant just for me.

Simply put, the man steals my breath, leaving my lungs empty and aching. In the dim light of the room, he’s dark and handsome from head to toe, with his glossy black hair, black dress shirt, and charcoal gray pants. Until this moment, I thought only my grandmom and black-and-white movie stars used the word debonair, but Andy DelVecchio is very much here and now and debonair as fuck.

His beauty both lures me in and screams danger, kind of like the first time we met. Only I didn’t know him then, and he didn’t know me. I’m starting to think we were better off that way.

“Peach.” His deep voice caresses my nickname, making my heart stutter. My hand flies to my chest, clutching my literal pearls. “I saw you down there. You really are an angel tonight,” he says, gesturing at, well, all of me.

My knee-jerk response is to reject and deny his words, but instead of keeping that response to myself, my impulsive mouth sets it free. “I’m no angel. Trust me.”

Why I blurt that out is beyond me. It’s not my usual M.O. to open myself up to further discussion about my flaws. They exist. They’re obvious. No need to poke at them.

Stepping farther into the room, I perch on the edge of Ben’s bed, crossing my ankles and folding my hands in my lap. Andy sits beside me, so close our thighs almost touch. I freeze, keeping a watchful eye on the two inches of space between us to make sure they don’t get any radical ideas, like shrinking or disappearing altogether.

“Nobody’s perfect, babe. Some people just come closer to it than others. Benny’s practically a saint, and you…” His rich, brown eyes meet mine, and I can’t look away. I’m trapped by his gaze, with no real desire to break free. “Like I said, you’re an angel. You’ve just got a few broken feathers. That’s all.”

Try a few hundred.

“Ben might be close to perfect, but I’m…” I trail off, shaking my head to finish the thought. Best to keep sidestepping that conversational landmine. “You should hear the way he talks about you, though. It’s embarrassing, really. He’s all, ‘Andy’s super talented.’ ‘Andy’s so much cooler than I’ll ever be.’ ‘Andy’s the absolute shit.’”

Okay, so I’m paraphrasing a bit, but the sentiment is pretty accurate.

Andy’s booming laugh fills the room with pure, concentrated awesomeness. It’s impossible to hear that sound and put up a decent fight against fangirl-level giddiness. I dare anyone to try. It can’t be done.

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About Everly Lucas

After years of rooting for couples and falling for heroes created by other authors, Everly decided to create her own. She now has a crowd of characters hanging out in her head, with no intention of kicking them out.

She lives in Philadelphia with her precious laptop, a cat named Bunny, and a kitten who falls down a lot. Her favorite things include Dr. Pepper, sparkly stuff, blissful silence, and singing while doing the dishes.

Everly can be found on Twitter, like, all the time.

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