The Mysterious One

<h5><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>A spicy grumpy-sunshine age-gap close-proximity romance from <em>USA Today</em> best-selling author Marni Mann ...</strong></h5><h5></h5><h5><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>I'm the mysterious one. The angriest alphahole who never bends. And she's the woman who will bring me to my knees.</strong></h5><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>As the executive chef and face of my family's billion-dollar empire time is the one luxury I don't have. With endless responsibilities and nonstop demands I lost my passion and love for the art of cooking. What used to be my dream job is now my worst nightmare. I was ready to walk away and give up everything we'd built ...</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Until Alivia happened.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>She was supposed to be a temporary diversion so we could satisfy each other's desires and then never see each other again ...</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Yet I knew she was different right away. A woman who was my complete opposite the calm to my storm. The sunshine to my darkness. With a body that left me speechless.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>What I didn't see was how much we both craved a break.</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Me from a career that would eventually kill me her from an abusive home life.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>When two people in pain connect an explosion erupts. That was us. All fire and longing mixed with a genuine need to seek shelter in one another's arms.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>While I'm still savoring the taste of her on my lips I see her again unexpectedly and wonder ... is our connection enough to surpass the secrets between us or were we only meant to have those two nights together?</span></p><p></p>