THE EMPTY CHAIR AT HER SISTER’S WEDDING WAS SUPPOSED TO PROVE HER FIANCÉ HAD LEFT HER—BUT WHEN A QUIET STRANGER SAT BESIDE HER, KORA NEVER IMAGINED HE OWNED THE HOTEL, OR THAT HIS FAMILY WAS ALREADY PLANNING THE MARRIAGE THAT COULD DESTROY THEM BOTH

mattered by naming exactly what he had seen.

“It’s a busy afternoon,” Kora said.

The voice that came out of her was clipped and professional, the voice she used when publishers called asking for estimates.

“Would you dance the next one with me?” he asked.

Kora almost laughed.

Not because it was funny.

Because some part of her had stopped expecting tenderness continue reading …