Seven days before a Christmas Eve wedding, the bride’s wedding ring goes missing…

Selena Blakely, owner of a Bit of Cake Bakery, is the maid of honor for her best friend’s wedding. When she learns the bride’s wedding ring is missing, she’s intent on finding it in time for the nuptials. Firefighter Dylan Adler feels an enormous weight of guilt. One moment he was entrusted with the ring that had been in the groom’s family for generations, and the next moment the ring was gone.

When Selena and Dylan realize they both played a part in the ring’s disappearance, they reluctantly work together to get it back. However, the more time they spend together, the more they are drawn to each other. Still, he keeps a wall up around his scarred heart, while she doesn’t trust him to stick around once the ring is found. With time ticking away until the wedding, their search leads them on an epic journey full of twists and turns. At times, they find themselves looking within for the answers. Will those answers surprise them?

HEAT LEVEL: Clean & Wholesome

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE 

 

“I need a ride.”

No hello or how are you.

Not even an I’m sorry to bother you.

Just a simple statement of fact.

The smooth, deep voice reverberated through the speakers in Selena Blakely’s car. Even without caller ID, she would have recognized the sexy baritone voice. It belonged to the most handsome firefighter she’d ever known. Dylan Adler.

He could easily grace the cover of a calendar, and it was a sure thing they’d sell out in a heartbeat. Selena wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but she’d be the first in line.

However, good looks could be deceiving. Dylan had a reputation for being the “love ’em and leave ’em” type. He should have a warning tattooed on his forehead: CAUTION: HEARTBREAKER.

And so, she’d always kept him at arm’s length. But now with their friends’ upcoming wedding, they’d been thrust together on multiple occasions. With Dylan being the best man and her the maid of honor, it was impossible to avoid him. She’d promised herself that she wasn’t going to let her guard down around him—not even when he sent those dashing smiles her way, the ones that made her stomach dip.

She gave herself a mental shake in order to focus on the phone call. She was exhausted. It had been a busy day between running her own business, Bit of Cake Bakery, and then rushing home to get ready for this semi-formal dinner. Since her standard attire consisted of jeans and a T-shirt, it took a lot of effort to make herself presentable in a dress, from shaving her legs to plucking her brows and everything in between. It caused her to leave her apartment later than she’d planned.

They were both supposed to attend a fancy dinner that evening, hosted by the groom’s mother. The invitations were extended to the wedding party as well as some out-of-town guests who had arrived early.

“Aren’t you already at the restaurant?” she asked.

“Would I be calling you for a ride if I was already there?” Dylan’s voice rumbled with frustration. “My pickup won’t start. I think the alternator went out on it.”

She was taken aback by his grumpy demeanor. It was so out of character for him. “And I was the only person you could think of to call?”

“I called Logan first, but he’s already picked up Brooke. They’re almost at the restaurant. Brooke mentioned you don’t live far from me.” He sighed. “Never mind. I’ll just order a car.”

Ah… Now she understood. It had been Brooke’s idea. Interesting.

As it was, Selena only lived five minutes from Dylan. So, swinging by to pick him up wouldn’t take her too far out of her way. She even knew exactly where he lived because she’d been to his place a few days ago to pick up a clothing donation. She’d asked all her friends to donate any spare clothing to help out the victims of an apartment fire that had occurred close to Selena’s place.

Her gaze strayed to the clock on the dash. She was early for dinner so she had time to pick him up and still get to the restaurant on time. “It’s fine. I’m already in the car. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.” When he didn’t respond, she asked, “Dylan, did you hear me?”

“Um… Yeah.” There were noises in the background. It sounded as though he were moving things around. “I’ve got to go.”

The phone went dead. That was an abrupt end. What was up with him? He was usually polite and always trying to make the people around him smile. It sounded like something was troubling him. Could he be that upset about his truck?

Or was it the fact he was the best man for this upcoming wedding? Anyone who knew Dylan knew he didn’t do commitments. Maybe all of the celebrating had him feeling uncomfortable.