The Name of the Game (34 page)

She hated it, but didn't know how to stop it from being true.

The one saving grace was that nobody knew. Not her friends. Not her family. No one. She refused to even write his name in her diary, for fear someone would discover the truth. She hid it well. She never reacted. Always played it cool. And no one had ever guessed. In the long list of humiliations she'd suffered at the hands of Evan Donovan, this wouldn't be one of them.

This secret would follow her to the grave.

A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR

Jennifer Dawson grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and graduated from DePaul University with a degree in psychology. She met her husband at the public library while they were studying. To this day she still maintains she was NOT checking him out. Now, over twenty years later, they're married and living in a suburb right outside of Chicago with two awesome kids and a crazy dog.

 

Despite going through a light-FM, poem-writing phase in high school, Jennifer never grew up wanting to be a writer (she had more practical aspirations of being an international superspy). Then one day, suffering from boredom and disgruntled with a book she'd been reading, she decided to put pen to paper. The rest, as they say, is history.

 

These days Jennifer can be found sitting behind her computer, writing her next novel, chasing after her kids, keeping an ever-watchful eye on her ever-growing to-do list, and NOT checking out her husband.

When Maddie Donovan runs out on her high school
sweetheart moments before walking down the aisle,
she ends up at a bar in the small town of Revival,
Illinois, with only the wedding dress on her back,
fifty dollars to her name, and her “good girl”
reputation in tatters. Not ready to return to Chicago
and face the music, she accepts hot bartender
Mitch Riley's offer to stay at his place.
But sharing such close quarters is driving
Maddie insane with desire.

 

Mitch thinks he's seen it all—until Maddie strides
into his bar in full wedding attire and downs three
shots of whiskey. Though the gorgeous knockout
seems tough as nails, he also senses her vulnerability.
With a troubled past of his own, Mitch has no
interest in ties of any kind—yet he can't help
falling for Maddie. Now he's got to find a way to
convince her to give love a second chance.

Corporate mogul Shane Donovan sees the
ultra-cool, collected Cecilia Riley as an ice queen—
even if he can't deny that, on the surface, she's a
work of perfection his body can't ignore.
Forced to spend two weeks in the same house for
his sister's upcoming wedding, Shane senses
that deep down Cecilia mirrors his need.
And he's determined to draw her into
a sexy game that will melt away her reserve . . .

 

Career-driven Cecilia Riley has just enough free time
in her schedule to head out of town for her brother's
wedding. But her agenda is thrown for a loop by the
presence of Shane. Though his over-confident
attitude leaves a lot to be desired, his insanely hot
body has kept Cecilia up nights. Unsure what game
Shane is playing, Cecilia takes the bait,
bent on resisting him at all costs.

 

ZEBRA BOOKS are published by

 

Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018

 

Copyright © 2015 by Jennifer Dawson

 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

 

To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.

 

If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

 

 

Zebra and the Z logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

ISBN-13: 978-1-4201-3429-2
ISBN-10: 1-4201-3429-9

ISBN: 978-1-4201-3429-2