Rule Breaker

You could say Jesse Winters and I got off on the wrong foot. The first time I laid eyes on him, I let him know exactly where he could shove that smug grin on his face.

I've met plenty of guys like Jesse-handsome, charming, infuriating. He skates through life on good looks and charisma, leaving a trail of broken hearts along the way. It's clear that most girls find him impossible to ignore, but then, most girls haven't been raised with a powerful political family legacy resting squarely on their shoulders. My parents taught me to be poised, polished, and perfect. And to stay far away from men like Jesse Winters.

Unfortunately, he's one of the owners of the company I now work for and seeing as I uprooted my entire life and moved to Deep Cove for this job, I tell myself to just do my best to avoid him.

That is, until an out-of-town gala I'm pressured to attend forces us together. An airplane ride away from the office and the town we both call home, we're stuck sharing one hotel room. And one bed. Suddenly, Jesse is my fake date for the weekend-only nothing about it feels like we're pretending.

Especially not the possessive way he looks at me.

Or how much I like it.

It doesn't take long to realize that underneath that bad boy charm is a heart I didn't expect and a softness I didn't see coming, and it threatens to break through every carefully constructed piece of who I'm supposed to be.

As Jesse and I grow closer, my parents begin to see him as a threat to the legacy they expect me to uphold. So, they do what they've always done when something gets in the way of their plans: lie, manipulate, and play dirty to get what they want. And what they want now is to keep us apart.

I was raised to follow the rules. Jesse has spent his entire life breaking them. But the more we collide, the harder it becomes to deny what's between us or how much it could cost me if I choose him.