Marley Rallston would rather be anywhere other than too-small-for-a-map-dot Millhaven, Virginia. But thanks to a heap of debt, what was supposed to be a quick trip to fulfill her mother’s dying wish has turned into an extended stay with the family she never knew she had and the father who never wanted her. To top it off, now she’s being forced to do community service with the town’s biggest bad boy, when all she wants to do is make enough cash to get out of Dodge? Life can’t get much worse.

The only thing Greyson Whittaker cares about is his family’s farm. He’ll do anything to keep Whittaker Hollow in the black, including live up to his rough, tough reputation by running the place by himself, no matter the cost. Mandatory community service with the daughter of their biggest rival is the last thing he wants or needs. But the more time Greyson and Marley spend together, the hotter their attraction burns, and the more the unlikely pair begins to realize that forbidden fruit just might taste the sweetest…

Book Type:

Contemporary Romance

Series Reading Order:

Excerpt: Crossing Hope

“So,” Marley said, her voice sounding terribly loud in her own ears even though she’d painted her tone with as much boredom as she could drum up. “What’d you do to land yourself in so much trouble, anyway?”

“What do you care?” Greyson asked back, matching her boredom and raising her some attitude.

God, he was such a jerk. But, sadly, he was the only jerk around, and Marley was likely to go off the deep end if she had to sit there, lost in thoughts of the family Greyson had just pigeonholed her into or what might happen to her and her finances now that she’d been arrested for the shoplifting she hadn’t really done. Not that she could tell the truth about it.

She stretched out on the bench, propping herself up on one elbow so she could still see him even though his back was still fully to her. “I’m bored. Plus, you already know what I did. It only seems fair.”

“You’re a Cross. What do you know of fair?” Greyson snorted. But the last thing Marley was in the mood for, now or ever, was to be lumped in with the family rivalry that seemed to be alive and thriving, stronger than ever. She wasn’t a Cross, and she never would be.

“Don’t act like you know me, because I guarantee you, you don’t. And I already told you. My last name is Rallston. I’m not a Cross.”

For one blazing-hot second, Marley’s stare zeroed in on Greyson’s back. He wasn’t wearing his T-shirt so much as the cotton had just surrendered to his work-hardened muscles, holding fast to the cords and hard curves just enough to dare her imagination into action. His sleeve had slipped farther over his bicep, revealing more of that mouth-watering tattoo, the dark design swirling over hard, smooth skin.

Marley didn’t want to find him attractive. He was cocky. No, obnoxious. He was arrogant and made stupid assumptions.

And, okay, fine. He was also really. Freaking. Sexy. Coal-black lashes. Full, firm mouth. Wide hands, callused and rough, yet strong. Strong enough to hold anything…

She realized, just a beat too late, that he’d turned to look at her, his chin resting against his shoulder so just his eyes showed over the top of his T-shirt. His smirk translated flawlessly though, crinkling the edges of those darker-than-coffee eyes with edgy danger rather than anything suggesting humor.

“Not a Cross, huh?”

Marley willed her voice not to shake. “No.”

Greyson’s smirk grew darker, his stare along with it. “Whatever you say, darlin’.”

The word sent an unexpected and very intense shot of heat down Marley’s spine, and it pooled even more hotly between her hips when it landed. Which was stupid, honestly. She’d heard the word bunches of times before; for God’s sake, that gossip, Amber Cassidy, had aimed it at her only a couple of hours ago in The Corner Market. But something about the way Greyson had said it, the way he’d leaned on the r and rolled over that l with ease, yet still made the whole thing slide off his tongue with just a hint of sexy suggestion, kept that warmth firmly in place in her body.

In that brief, impulsive moment, Marley wanted nothing more than to slide off his tongue. Which was dangerous for so many reasons.

Not the least of which was that it was the first thing she’d wanted at all since arriving in this Godforsaken town, other than to get the hell out.