North Carolina Highlands

Annabel and I have been close since college. When I left school to play pro football, she was there. While I collected Super Bowl rings and cars worth more than the house I grew up in — she was there. I always assumed we’d end up together. Everyone did. But by the time I retired from football, Bel was married. I thought I’d missed my shot at love. 

Emma Crawford became enemy number one the second she stepped foot on Blue Mountain Farm. She might think I’m just a dumb jock, but I know she’s a stuck-up wine snob who believes she’d be a better exec than me. She can take my position over my dead body. But with her ridiculous curves and fearless smarts, she’s becoming one giant distraction just when I need to prove my worth most. 

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Until I brought my fake girlfriend home. When I took a seat next to the gorgeous brunette at the blackjack table, I had no idea it would be the start of the hottest weekend of my life. By day, Stevie and I dominate the casinos of Sin City. By night, I dominate her in my penthouse suite. Then my brother Samuel ruins it by asking me to come home for his engagement party. Because he’s not just getting married. This isn’t a normal celebration for me. His future bride is my "one who got away". The girl I may or may not still be in love with.

Amelia Fox was my high school sweetheart, the girl who broke my heart and nearly ended my football career nine years ago. It was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other, much less make a comeback. But I did come back. And I’m not about to let go of everything I fought for just because my world is imploding again. When I find out I’m the father of a two-year-old boy, I’m ready to start my final season in the pros. It’s my last chance to nab the championship I promised my dad I’d win before he died.

The wedding planner’s rulebook: Keep the bride happy, keep the wedding party out of trouble, and never let anyone know you’ve been in love with the groom for years. I lived by these rules. Until Nate Kingsley. The Capulets and Montagues have nothing on the Beauregards and Kingsleys. Our families have feuded for centuries, and Nate was always forbidden - which made fooling around with him that much more delicious. But then I fell for him, and he fell off the face of the Earth, ghosting me without so much as a goodbye.