âI never had any intention of bullying you, Miss Sullivan.â
Tori tried not to watch the soft curve of his lips as he spoke to her, but he was so close she had little choice. She remembered how sheâd once fantasized about kissing those lips. Of course, that was before he turned on her and threw her out of his company onto her rear end. The surge of anger doused the old memories as her gaze met his.
âWhat then?â she asked, her voice laced with sarcasm. âWere you going to take your friendâs suggestion and seduce me? Certainly youâre so masterful in the bedroom that one good romp would change my mind, right?â
Wade moved a fraction of an inch closer to her. For a moment, Tori tensed, thinking he might be leaning in to kiss her. She wanted him to, and she didnât. She pressed a gentle hand to his chest. She could feel his heart racing just as quickly as her own. He was not immune to his own game.
They were both playing with fire.
Dear Reader,
Iâm so excited to share this book with you. Undeniable Demands kicks off my very first seriesâSECRETS OF EDEN. When I first started writing for Mills & Boon>® Desireâ¢, I immersed myself in the world of wealthy, powerful alpha males. My first two heroes had family money to help them start their business empires, so this time I wanted to write some self-made heroes. I wanted a group of men who had defied the odds, overcome tragedy and made themselves into the sexy alpha heroes that Desire readers know and love.
But everyone has some baggage from their past, and the heroes of SECRETS OF EDEN are no exception. The foster brothers share a dark secret that threatens not only their family and their livelihood but their chance to find love. At the same time, their secret is what brings Wade and Victoria together. And boy, do the sparks fly! The spunky environmental architect isnât about to make anything easy for Wade, and it was fun to write about their tempestuous relationship.
I canât wait for you to fall in love with the whole Eden family, as I have. If you enjoy Wade and Toriâs story, tell me by visiting my website at www.andrealaurence.com, like my fan page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter. I love to hear from my readers!
Enjoy!
Andrea
ANDREA LAURENCE has been a lover of reading and writing stories since she learned her ABCs. She always dreamed of seeing her work in print and is thrilled to finally be able to share her books with the world. A dedicated West Coast girl transplanted to the Deep South, sheâs working on her own âhappily ever afterâ with her boyfriend and their collection of animals that shed like nobodyâs business. You can contact Andrea at her website, www.andrealaurence.com.
To Vicki Lewis Thompson, Rhonda Nelson
and Kira Sinclair
Youâre the best plotting partners a girl could have.
You helped me take the smallest kernel of an idea and develop it into a great multibook series. I look forward to many more years of creativity, laughter and good food with my ladies.
Wade hated the snow. Always had. Youâd think a man born and raised in New England would feel differently or leave, but heâd done neither. Every November when the first few flakes started falling, a part of his soul would shrivel up until spring. That was why heâd booked himself a trip to Jamaica for the week before Christmas. Heâd planned to return to the Edensâ, as always, for the holiday, but the frantic call heâd received from his foster sister, Julianne, had changed everything.
He had been loath to tell his assistant to cancel the trip, but perhaps if all went well, he could use the reservation after Christmas. He could ring in the New Year on a beach, drinking something frothy, with thoughts of his troubles buried deep.
Interesting choice of words.
The BMW SUV wound its way down the two-lane road that led to the Garden of Eden Christmas Tree Farm. Wade preferred to drive his roadster, but rural Connecticut in winter was just not the place for it, so heâd left it in Manhattan. The SUV had snow tires, chains in the back and enough clearance not to scrape on chunks of ice in poorly cleared areas.
Spying the large red apple-shaped sign that marked the entrance to his foster parentsâ Christmas tree farm, Wade breathed a sigh of relief. He hadnât realized until that moment that heâd been holding his breath. Even under the less-than-ideal circumstances, returning home always made him feel better.
The farm was the only home heâd ever really had. None of the other foster homes had felt like one. He had no warm memories of living with his great-aunt before that, nor of his early years with his mother. But the Garden of Eden was just that: paradise. Especially for an abandoned young boy who could just as easily have become a career criminal as a millionaire in real estate.
The Edens changed everything. For him and every other child who had come to live there. He owed that couple his life. They were his parents, without question. Wade didnât know who his father was and had only seen his mother once since she dropped him at her auntâs doorstep as a toddler. When he thought of home and family, he thought of the farm and the family the Edens had pulled together.