False Start. Real Passion

Tori Michaels knows how to handle a PR disaster. As a successful public relations specialist, she's built her career cleaning up the messes celebrities leave behind. But her newest client, star quarterback Jaxon Reid, might be her biggest challenge yet.

Jaxon is talented, arrogant, irresistible—and notorious for making headlines for all the wrong reasons. With his reputation threatening his career, Tori devises the perfect strategy to convince the public he's changed: charity appearances, carefully managed press, and a steady girlfriend who can tame his bad-boy image.

There's just one problem. Jaxon thinks Tori should play the girlfriend.

What begins as a strictly professional arrangement quickly becomes anything but. Staged dates lead to lingering touches, heated kisses, jealous moments, and an attraction neither of them can keep pretending isn't there. The more time Tori spends with Jaxon, the harder it becomes to remember where their carefully constructed romance ends and something real begins.

Falling for her client could jeopardize everything Tori has worked for, but resisting Jaxon may prove impossible. Because somewhere between repairing his reputation and convincing the world they're in love, Tori and Jaxon stop pretending.

Now Tori must decide whether protecting her career is worth walking away from the one relationship she never planned for—and the man who may finally be ready to prove that some risks are worth taking.