KADENThe offices of Mooka, James, and Kent were situated in a high rise a couple of blocks away from Marx Inc. The firm had been handling my dad’s legal affairs for decades now, so it wasn’t the first time I was there.It didn’t make their offices any less impressive, though. They had expansive views, and the floors were covered in thick, plush carpeting my feet sank into on my way to Mr. Kent’s office. The walls were paneled in dark wood, and the air smelled like expensive coffee and pricey perfume, cologne, and soap.There were hundreds of people who worked in their offices, yet the soundproofing of each glass box effectively rendered the floors they occupied almost totally silent. All I could hear were low murmurs from somewhere and the floor receptionist directing someone to the office they were looking for.Mr. Kent’s office wasn’t the biggest in the building, but I was pretty sure it held more books than a library. His walls were lined with shelves upon shelves of brown leather

EMBER“Wow.” Kaden paused in the door at my loft, his eyebrows lifting as his eyes swept across the living space.“Wow?” I brushed past him, tossing my keys into the basket on a small table in the entrance hall. “What’s so wow about it? It’s nowhere near the size of yours.”“True, but it must have at least twice as much stuff in it.” I felt him entering behind me. “Did it come without closets?”Turning to shoot him a look over my shoulder, I tried to see the place through his eyes when I walked into my living room. Gracie and I fell in love with the loft the first time we saw it in pictures online, and our love for it only grew once we moved in.By Kaden’s standards, it was a small place, but it was more than big enough for me. The ceilings were high, there was plenty of natural light, even if it didn’t have a view, and the exposed brick and beams, combined with some brightly colored walls, gave it an industrial, chic feel.Looking around though, I realized what he meant when he asked

KADENOur room was a vision of white and different hues of blue, but surprisingly, the blue and white theme was where the typical oceanside décor ended. It didn’t have any nautical paraphernalia on the walls. Dad booked us in at an exclusive resort right on top of one of the more secluded beaches in Tampa. The resort had its own private stretch of beach, which our room overlooked from one of the suites on the top floor.A massive four-post bed with white gauzy drapes sat in the center of the suite, with an en suite bathroom off to one side and a living room and bar on the other. A wide balcony with a hot tub in the corner stretched along the entire front of the suite, providing a magnificent view of green palm trees blending into the blues of the sky and ocean. “So this is Florida, huh?” Ember stood on the balcony of our hotel room, a soft breeze lifting her hair and rustling the white sundress she was wearing. She looked beautiful set against the backdrop of the sparkling blue ocea

EMBERKaden’s cheeks were a little flushed from the sun, and his pupils dilated as he hovered above me. My breath caught in my throat at his words. I still couldn’t believe someone like Kaden could be looking at me the way he was, the way he had been for months now.As if I was everything he’d ever wanted out of life and more. As if I was his favorite part of the day, which he’d just confirmed to me I was.It wasn’t because I was self-conscious that I couldn’t believe he was looking at me that way. It was just because I’d never been looked at like that. I didn’t even think it was possible to see such love, want, and absolute acceptance of another person in someone’s eyes.The fact that it was Kaden looking at me like that just made it a thousand times better, a hundred times more intense, and ten times as unlikely. He was that guy every woman who found herself in his general vicinity wanted, and he had chosen me. Just like I chose him every day and was doing again right now.Sitting o

KADEN “Is it beach time yet?” I asked Ember after breakfast. She was back in the white robe that had driven me out of my damn mind not twelve hours ago, and I was wearing the matching one from the hook behind the bathroom door.To room service, we probably looked like a not-so-old married couple, and to my surprise, I loved it. The level of domesticity Ember and I had reached would’ve been laughable to me a year ago, but now it was nothing short of natural.We asked the waiter who brought our food to the suite to bring up some newspapers and sat swapping out the financial and business sections once we were done reading them. All the while, we munched on fluffy pancakes and crispy bacon.It was hot as hell outside, but we turned off the air conditioning, threw open the balcony doors, and just enjoyed the heat. Even the humidity that smacked me in the face when we first got here was welcome now, a reminder to enjoy everything about Florida while it lasted.Ember’s smile drew me out of