Prologue

Syleena Webster paused in front of her dormitory door. She shifted the weight of her two advanced business books from one arm to another. She pushed the oak door open with her left hand and flinched when loud country music escaped her room. She kicked the door shut with the heel of her boot. Her hazel eyes wandered over the brightly decorated room that was covered by piles of jeans and other discarded clothes before landing on her roommate, Courtni Hyde. “I don’t how she can listen to that music all the time,” she mumbled under her breath. Shaking her head, she moved across the room to her desk over by the window.

“I hate this class,” Syleena complained, dropping her books on the desk. Sitting down in the cushioned seat, she pushed the switch at the top of the laptop and it purred to life.

With only two weeks left in the semester, she desperately needed a passing grade in this class, because if she failed her scholarship disappeared like a David Copperfield magic trick. The fast pace of the class was hard enough without her professor’s lustful looks.

Professor Alexander had repulsed her from the first day she walked into the packed classroom. The second she sat down in front of him, a thin line of drool slid from the corner of his mouth down the flesh hanging from his jaw. His dull, brown eyes never wandered from her breasts when he lectured, and he constantly found a way to “accidentally" brush his large, sweaty body against hers.

Shuddering, Syleena swallowed down the bile creeping its way up her throat. She wouldn’t let him break her spirit. Picking up a black ink pen, she flipped open to the page where he left off in class.

Totally engrossed in taking notes for tomorrow assignment, Syleena missed the first time Courtni yelled at her from across the room, but the second yell caught her attention. Tossing her pen down in her book, she twirled around in her chair and frowned at Courtni.

“What did you say?”

“Does this shirt look good with my tan?” Courtni asked.

“Will you stop worrying about your tan and answer my question?” Syleena sighed. If Courtni spent as much time studying as she did shopping, she wouldn’t be close to failing all her classes.

“Fine,” Courtni snapped, tossing the sweater on the floor. “I said you’re spending the summer with me in Texas at my brother’s ranch.”

“No, I’m not,” Syleena disagreed.

Spinning around, Courtni pushed the pause button on her cellphone, ending the country sounds of Carrie Underwood and glared at her. “Why don’t you want to go?”

“I just don’t want to,” Syleena said, slamming her marketing book shut. Courtni came from a totally different world than she did. She might not fit in with the rest of her family.

“It will be so much fun,” Courtni insisted.

“Maybe for you, but not for me.”

“Okay, spill it,” Courtni said, waving a finger in her direction

“Spill what?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

“The real reason you don’t want to spend the summer at my house,” Courtni sighed, walking across the room. “Tell me, or I’ll bug you until you do.”

“All right, I’ll tell you.” Syleena knew once Courtni got her mind set on something she wouldn’t let it go until she got answers. “I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to spend all summer with you. What if your brother wants to spend that time alone with you? I would just be in the way.”

Laughing, Courtni shook her head and went back across the room. “You don’t have to worry about Storm. He doesn’t care who I bring home as long as we don’t get in his way. You’re my best friend. You have to save me from my brother and his girlfriend of the moment.”

Syleena folded her leg on the chair and stared at Courtni. “How do you know that she isn’t the one your brother will marry?”

“My brother will never get married. Storm is a confirmed bachelor and usually gets rid of his girlfriends after six months, and April is hitting the six-month mark in a couple of weeks,” Courtni replied.

She watched Courtni yank a white wrap-around shirt out of her closet and toss it on the bed. “Stop trying to find a way out of spending the summer with me, because I won’t take no for an answer this time.”

“Yes, you will, because I’m not going home with you,” Syleena tossed back.

“Why are you putting up such a fight?”

“I don’t want to show up unannounced at your brother’s house and piss him off,” she snapped.

Spinning around, Courtni pinned her with a hard stare. “Storm is really cool. Besides, I’ve already asked him, and he doesn’t care if you come home with me,” she said. “Does that mean I’m going to hear a yes?”

Courtni was always talking about her older brother, and Syleena would have loved a chance to meet him. Courtni acted like Storm could do no wrong, and it would be fun for her to see if Storm really lived up to all the hype. “All right, I’ll spend the summer with you as long as your brother doesn’t care,” Syleena agreed reluctantly.

Moving around the pile of clothes in the middle of the floor, Courtni ran over and hugged her. “I know you’ll have a good time. The ranch is so much fun during the summer and Storm is hardly there. I’ll call the airlines tonight and book our seats.”

* * * *

Sin wrapped in a perfect bow.

Standing next to Courtni in the crowded airport, those six little words popped into Syleena’s head the second she laid eyes on Storm Hyde. She couldn’t believe how mouth-watering gorgeous Courtni’s brother was.

Midnight black hair covered his head, giving him a sexy yet lethal look. His slate gray eyes penetrated the short distance between them and held her prisoner. Standing over six feet tall, he towered over her smaller frame by several inches. A gray suit a few shades darker than his eyes hugged his athletic body. Muscles were apparent beneath the suit, giving him a semi-dangerous look. Storm Hyde looked like the kind of man every girl’s mother warned her about.

Her stomach somersaulted, and her heart fluttered against her rib cage like a trapped bird. She prayed Storm couldn’t sense her instant attraction to him while she continued to ogle his unbelievable body.

“Syleena, I would like for you to meet my big brother, Storm Hyde,” Courtni said, cutting into her thoughts. “Storm, I want you to meet my best friend in the world, Syleena Webster.”

Syleena barely heard the introductions because she couldn’t stop staring into Storm’s piercing gray eyes. She swallowed hard and held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Hyde.”

Storm only nodded in her direction and turned his attention back to Courtni. Dropping her hand, she glared at the side of his face. Well, she knew her place.