
(courtesy of Jessica Lemmon’s Website)
Standing before the mayor, was it any wonder the man had earned the hearts of the majority of Dallasâs female voters? Chase Ferguson was tall, his dark hair pushed this way and that as if it couldnât be tamed, but the angle of his clean-shaven jaw and the lines on his dark suit showed control where it counted.
âMs. Brand.â Hazel eyes lowered to a respectable survey of her person before Chase offered a hand. She shook it and he released her to signal to a nearby waiter. âStefanie is around here somewhere,â he said of his younger sister. He leaned in. âAnd thanks to you, on her best behavior.â
The mayor straightened as a waiter approached with a tray of champagne.
âDrink?â Chaseâs Texas accent had all but vanished beneath a perfected veneer, but Pen could hear the slightest drawl when he lowered his voice. âYouâll get to meet my brother tonight.â
She was embarrassed she didnât know a thing about another Ferguson sibling. Sheâd only been in Texas for a year, and between juggling her new business, moving into her apartment and handling crises for the Dallas elite, she hadnât climbed the Ferguson family tree any higher than Chase and Stefanie.
âPerfect timing,â Chase said, his eyes going over her shoulder to welcome a new arrival.
âHey, hey, big brother.â
Now that. That was a drawl.
The back of her neck prickled. She recognized the voice instantly. It sent warmth pooling in her belly and lower. It stood her nipples on end. The Texas accent over her shoulder was a tad thicker than Chaseâs, but not as lazy as itâd been two weeks ago. Not like it was when sheâd invited him home and heâd leaned close, his lips brushing the shell of her ear.
Lead the way, gorgeous.
Squaring her shoulders, Pen prayed Zach had the shortest memory ever, and turned to make his acquaintance.
Correction: Re-acquaintance.
She was floored by broad shoulders outlined by a sharp black tux, longish dark blond hair smoothed away from his handsome face and the greenest eyes sheâd ever seen. Zach had been gorgeous the first time sheâd laid eyes on him, but his current look suited the air of control and power swirling around him.
A primal, hidden part of her wanted to lean into his solid form and rest in his capable, strong arms again. As tempting as reaching out to him was, she wouldnât. Sheâd had her night with him. She was in the process of assembling a solid bedrock for her fragile, rebuilt business and she refused to let her world fall apart because of a sexy man with a dimple.
A dimple that was notably missing since he was gaping at her with shock. His poker face needed work.
âIâll be damned,â Zach muttered. âI didnât expect to see you here.â
âThat makes two of us,â Pen said, and then she polished off half her champagne in one long drink.
As the snow falls, her touch sets him aflameâŠ
âI donât want you to leave.â
Texas billionaire Chase Ferguson has one regret: leaving Miriam Andrix to protect her from his public life. When a snowstorm strands her in his mountain mansion, their passion reignites, and itâs too hot to resist! But realityâand scandalâarrives with the thaw. Chase turned his back on happiness once. Will he fight for what he truly wants this time?

(courtesy of Jessica Lemmon’s Website)
At the entrance of Whole Foods, the automated doors swished aside and the fragrant scent of mulled cider wafted out. She lifted her head and closed her eyes to inhale her most favorite scentâautumnâwhen a competing smell mingled with the cider.
Sandalwood. Pine. A touch of leather⊠And eerily familiar. As was the voice that crashed into her like a runaway shopping cart.
âMimi?â
She snapped her head up and her gaze collided with a man taller than her by several inches, his devastatingly handsome face broken up by the frown on his forehead and additional lines at the corners of his gray-green eyes. His jaw sported a barely-there five oâclock shadow, and his hair was in the same disarray she remembered from ten years agoâthe one crooked part of Chase Ferguson that couldnât be tamed.
âChase. Hi.â She blinked again at the man in front of her, having the half-crazed thought that sheâd summoned him with her mind. A week ago sheâd received a photo of herself in an envelope sheâd had to sign for. Along with the photo was a letter from the mayor of Dallasâs officeâChaseâs officeâthat was signed by a womanâs hand. Miriam had read the two neatly typed paragraphs and tossed the letter into the trash. There was no action step for her, merely a âmaking you awareâ note that she might be mentioned in Mayor Chase Fergusonâs upcoming campaign and âmay be called upon in the futureâ for her cooperation.
But throwing the letter into the wastebasket hadnât removed the memories of Chase from her head. For a solid week, sheâd reflected on the summer theyâd spent together, fumed anew at the senseless way heâd cast her aside and played out a few scenarios wherein sheâd enjoy humiliating his motherâwhom Miriam blamed in part for Chase breaking things off.
âI didnât expect to run into you while I was here,â the man from her past was saying. It was the same deep, silken voice she remembered, but his Texas drawl was diminished, no doubt due to rigorous training from a speech coach.
âThatâs my line,â she said with a flat smile, stepping aside to allow a woman pushing a stroller to go in ahead of her.
Chase palmed Miriamâs arm and physically moved her to the side of the automated door, and if she was still twenty-three and over-the-moon crazy about him, she might have said that his hand was warm and brought back memories of the summer they spent with each other, most of those days wearing as little clothing as was legal. Sometimes less.
âYes, I suppose that would be your line.â His smile hitched at one corner and dropped like itâd never been there. He adjusted the paper grocery bag in the crook of his arm.
âWhat are you doing in Montana?â She had to ask. Because seriouslyâwhat?…

And the only one who can help me is you.â
Trading one scandal for another, Stefanie Ferguson must marry to save her brotherâs political career. Luckily, her brotherâs best friend wants to help. But until this moment, Emmett Keaton has been off-limits. Now their convenient vows on Christmas Day unleash a passion too long denied. Will this marriage for scandal become a marriage for real?
Jessica is a contemporary romance author, artist, dreamer, wife, and den mother to a rescue dog. To keep up with the latest news and book releases visit www.jessicalemmon.com.




















