Meredith Kane has built her career on control, precision, and never letting anyone see her sweat. But one collision at a charity gala with a stranger who makes her forget every rule she lives by changes everything.
Meredith Kane doesn't do messy. As one of Manhattan's most promising young attorneys, she's spent years crafting the perfect professional image-polished, brilliant, untouchable. She's on the verge of making partner at her prestigious firm, and nothing will stand in her way. Certainly not a spontaneous hookup with a devastatingly handsome stranger at a charity gala. It was one night of freedom, one moment where she let herself break her own rules. She never expected to see him again. She definitely didn't expect him to walk into her office as her biggest rival's younger brother.
Finn Hutchinson has always been the black sheep of his wealthy family. While his older brother Blake climbed the corporate ladder with ruthless ambition, Finn chose a different path-documentary photography that takes him to the world's most dangerous places. He's back in New York for one reason: to finalize funding for his next project. When he agrees to attend his brother's firm event as a favor, he expects a boring evening of networking. Instead, he finds Meredith-sharp-tongued, brilliant, and hiding a passionate heart beneath her armor.
As Meredith fights for the career-defining case that could make her future, she finds herself drawn deeper into a secret relationship with the one man who could unravel everything she's worked for. Finn sees past her carefully constructed walls to the woman underneath-vulnerable, passionate, and terrified of wanting something beyond professional success. But Blake is watching, always watching, and he's not above using his own brother as a pawn in his games.
When Meredith discovers that Finn's photography project involves exposing corporate corruption that ties directly to her biggest client, she faces an impossible choice: protect her career or stand by the man who's taught her that some rules are worth breaking.
SAMPLE READING:
The champagne was flowing too freely, the music was too loud, and Meredith Kane's smile felt like it might crack her face in half. She stood at the edge of the Plaza Hotel's grand ballroom, surveying the glittering crowd with practiced detachment. The annual Children's Hospital Charity Gala drew Manhattan's elite like moths to a very expensive flame-tech moguls in Tom Ford tuxedos, socialites dripping in borrowed diamonds, and attorneys like herself, working the room with the same calculated precision they brought to contract negotiations.
"You look like you're planning an escape route."
Vivian appeared at her elbow, somehow making pregnancy look elegant in a midnight blue gown that accommodated her five-month bump.
"I'm cataloging exits. There's a difference."
"No, there isn't." Vivian plucked a champagne flute from a passing waiter and handed it to Meredith. "You've been here twenty minutes and you've already memorized the security layout, identified three senior partners who might be useful contacts, and calculated exactly how long you need to stay before leaving won't damage your reputation."
Meredith took a sip of champagne, neither confirming nor denying.
"Blake Hutchinson is watching us from the north corner. Has been for the past five minutes."
Vivian didn't turn to look. "Of course he is. You're his competition for the CrossTech account. He's probably trying to decide whether to charm you or undermine you."
"Both, most likely."
Meredith felt the weight of Blake's attention like a physical thing. The senior partner had made it clear he expected junior associates to earn their place through a combination of billable hours, strategic networking, and knowing when to step aside for their betters. She had no intention of doing the latter.
