Showing results by author "Piper Rayne" in All Categories

To most people, he’s the Chicago Falcons starting right winger and hot single dad, but to me, he’s my first boyfriend, my first kiss, my first love. Eight years ago, that all changed when our lives took us in two different directions. Our break-up almost broke me, so I kept my distance until our hometown called me back to where our story began. I promised myself a quick visit to help my family out, and then I’d leave town before he even knew I was back, which should have been easy. He’s way too busy being a professional hockey player and raising his son to ever find out.

I made a deal with my brother a long time ago to never date his teammates. Technically, Rowan Landry, the hot as hell center for the Chicago Falcons, is no longer my brother’s teammate. Or his best friend. Their college days are long behind them, and they barely talk now. Also, I’m not dating him—we’re just sleeping together. There’s a difference.

I’ve known him since we were six, long before he became the professional soccer star he is now. We’ve weaved in and out of one another’s lives as rivals, teammates, friends, and lovers. Until three years ago, when my life took a hit, and I ran back to my small Alaskan town, Lake Starlight, away from anything or anyone that could hurt me.

I should not still be hung up on my high school girlfriend. I’m a billionaire, with a penthouse in New York City, a private plane, and was recently crowned one of Manhattan’s most eligible bachelors. She’s engaged to my rival. A real prick of a guy whose family is about as famous as mine. So, pictures of the happy couple are plastered everywhere, and it’s driving me insane.

I’m the town widow. Not the only one, but the youngest by far. My husband died one year after our wedding, casting me as the charity case in my small Alaskan town.

It’s the classic story—girl returns to her hometown only to end up moving in with her high school crush, who she hates. Returning to Willowbrook was my only option after Chicago chewed me up and spit me out. Technically, it wasn’t Chicago’s fault. It was his fault—the man I thought I knew who turned out to be a liar. My older sister, always the one to swoop in and fix things, secured me a job as a yoga instructor on her fiancé’s family ranch. As my self-assigned protector, she’s keeping one eye on me and one eye on Emmett Noughton, her fiancé’s brother.

I thought I was over him. That his good looks and British accent couldn’t affect me anymore. But the minute our eyes lock across the elevator, all those feelings come roaring back to life. Then I find out we’re competing for the same job. Next comes the realization that we have to spend a week together on a ski vacation because of some six-degree-of-separation nonsense. The real kicker is when I find out the two of us have to share a villa. A very small, very cozy villa.

It's the classic storyboy goes off into the world to fulfill his dreams and leaves the girl behind. Not every boy returns home, and I wish Ben Noughton wouldn't have come back to our small ranching town at all after he retired from playing professional football. I figure it's a quick layover for him. He always wanted out of this town and off his family's ranch. I just have to bide my time until he turns his back on all of us again.

Xavier and Clara kissing in a tree.... When your best friend growing up is a girl, that’s the song your classmates taunt you with over and over again. But it was never like that…until now. It’s always been Clara and me. She’s the only one who truly knows me. After I was drafted into the NFL and ended up the starting quarterback for the San Francisco Kingsmen, I begged her to come with me. But she had her own life and responsibilities back in our small Alaskan town, so I didn’t fault her for staying.

I never thought of myself as dad material. Until my one-night stand showed up in my small Alaskan town five months pregnant. But I don’t shy away from responsibility. First, because I’m a Greene, and not to boast, but we’re kind of a big deal in Sunrise Bay. Second, I’m the sheriff.

Who’s the mystery woman who's just walked into my brewery? I’m not the only one from my Alaskan small town asking themselves that question. But I’m positive that I’m the only one in Sunrise Bay undressing the pretty blonde in my head. Everything about her, from her make-up to her high heels, says she’s a fish out of water. Whispers and speculations run rampant until the secret of who she is gets uncovered. Then the rumor mill goes into overdrive when she announces she’s staying to open a bookstore in the building next to mine.

He’s the father of my child and my best friend. When Hudson and I met, somehow things just clicked between us. We had the same sense of humor and the same carefree attitude about our lives and goals. Neither of us wanted to lay down roots, we wanted to explore the world. Then one night, too much alcohol and uncontrolled hormones led to the line blurring, and we fell into bed together only to discover a month later that we were more careless than we thought.

Cameron Baker and I have a few things in common. The first being that we were both born and raised in our small Alaskan town. Second, is that we hide our feelings and keep our hearts closed off from anyone who could break them. But hiding my feelings is harder to do with Cam than most. When I was five years old, grieving the loss of my mother, he showed me how big his heart is, and I’ve never forgotten. He comes from the richest family in town. Cam’s bad boy gorgeous, flirts like he has a doctorate in charm, and he’s my brother’s best friend.

If you’re a guy like me, and you find yourself having banged your sexy new boss - the school principal - in the back of your Jeep one drunken night, here’s a few takeaways based on my experience. Lesson One: Always get her full name. Lesson Two: Consider asking what she does for a living. Lesson Three: Find out why she’s moved to town. Get details. Details are crucial....

The guys in the Single Dads Club would tell you it was time years ago, but until recently, the risk of hurting my little girl outweighed the benefit of getting a piece of ass. Now that I have a tween daughter on my hands? It's becoming more apparent with every poster hung on the wall, every fight over make-up and every uncomfortable conversation about puberty, that at least one of us needs a female touch in our lives.

He’s an Army Ranger. She’s a baker. He’s organized and ridged. She’s messy and carefree. He doesn’t do relationships. She’s following her heart. His family chat blows up his phone. She just buried her last living relative. The holiday season doesn’t seem so jolly, as they venture from one mode of transportation to the next.

In truth, it probably didn’t help that I showed up dressed like an elf but that’s a story for another time. Our start was rocky at best which is why it’s so frustrating that I can’t stop thinking about his sexy British accent. Or the way his chest and arms fill out his suit. Or his perfect hair with that single streak of grey at the front.

Turn-ons...Party girls. Platinum blondes. Zero expectations. I used to think that if you could combine all three into one female, you'd have the perfect woman. Then why the hell does Ava Pearson an outdoorsy girl, a brunette, and a woman who screams stability and responsibility seem to be the only woman on my mind lately? I've got enough obligations without adding any complications to the mix my son, my bar...well, that's about it. But that's enough for a guy like me.

Lucky. The one adjective used to describe my entire hockey career. I prefer to call it hard work - at least I did until my game went to complete crap. I haven’t scored in eight games, and the team owner is talking about trading me. I’ve never believed in superstitions. Never needed one. I suppose I was “lucky” in that way. But now the best way to refer to me is desperate. I’d wear the same socks for an entire year just to be the high-scoring center I used to be. Imagine my surprise when after spending New Year’s Eve with a woman, I score a hat trick in the next game.

Caterina Santora has her own list of red flags…She’s too young. She’s my client’s daughter. She’s my five-year old’s camp counselor. The fact that she doesn’t remember me from six years before grates on me until I don’t have it in me to leave her alone any longer. I have to have her. But our lives are opposites in every way. In no way compatible.