The most beautiful woman I had ever seen walked straight up to my table in a Charleston hotel café, dropped ten crisp hundred-dollar bills beside my untouched coffee, and said, “I’ll give you a thousand dollars if you pretend to be my boyfriend until tonight.” She had no idea she was offering pocket change to a man half the city was afraid to cross.

The rain was falling heavily over the Charleston harbor, giant drops splashing against the dark asphalt of Pier 14.

I stood at the edge of the wooden dock, staring out at the black ocean waves crashing against the pillars below. My collar was turned up against the cold wind, my hands buried deep in my coat pockets.

Behind me, Marcus’s footsteps crunched on the wet gravel.

"Mr. Cole," Marcus said quietly. "You should head inside. The storm is getting worse."

"Five more minutes, Marcus," I replied, my voice carrying over the sound of the wind. "I like the quiet."

The docks were clean now. Miles Harper and his father were facing twenty years in federal custody. The illegal shipment was secured. My businesses were running smoothly.

Yet, I had never felt more bankrupt.

Suddenly, the sharp sound of frantic footsteps broke through the rhythm of the rain. Rubber soles sloshing through puddles.

I turned around.

Running across the vast, rain-swept concrete of the pier, soaking wet, her hair plastered to her cheeks, was Nora.

My heart slammed against my ribs. "Nora?"

She stopped ten feet away from me, panting heavily, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath in the cold air. Rain trickled down her nose, but her eyes were burning with a fierce, unmistakable fire.

"You're an idiot, Evan Cole!" she shouted over the roar of the wind and rain.

I stood frozen, completely stunned. "Nora, what are you doing here? It's pouring. You're getting soaked."

"I don't care about the rain!" she yelled, taking three big steps toward me. "I came here to tell you that you are the most infuriating, stubborn, dangerous man I have ever met!"

"I know," I said softly, my voice dropping. "I know who I am, Nora. That’s why I stayed away from you. You deserve a normal life. A safe life. You don't belong in my world."

"Who said I wanted your world?!" she cried out, her voice breaking with emotion as she stepped right into my personal space, poking her finger hard against my chest. "I don't care about your docks! I don't care about your guns or your reputation or the fact that half the city is afraid of you! You bought my building, Evan! You put the deed in my name! Why did you do that?!"

I looked down into her wet, beautiful face, the mask of the ruthless boss completely crumbling away.

"Because you had a dream," I whispered, reaching out with a trembling hand to gently tuck a strand of wet hair behind her ear. "And I wanted to make sure no one could ever crush it. Even if you hated me for the rest of your life."

Nora stopped yelling. Tears mixed with the rain streaming down her face.

"I don't hate you," she murmured, her voice suddenly soft, vulnerable, and thick with love. "I was scared that night. I was scared because I realized that a man like you... a man who could command an army... was looking at me like I was the only thing that mattered in the world. And it terrified me because I realized I was falling in love with you."

The world seemed to stop moving. The sound of the ocean, the wind, the heavy rain—everything vanished, leaving only her words hanging between us.

"You..." I stammered, my voice barely a breath. "You're in love with me?"

"Yes, you idiot," she laughed through her tears.

I didn't wait another second.

I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her flush against my body, and lifted her off her feet. I brought my mouth down onto hers in a fierce, breathless, desperate kiss.

Her arms threw themselves around my neck, her fingers tangling in my wet hair, kissing me back with every ounce of passion and hunger she had been hiding for three weeks. The rain poured down around us, but I had never felt warmer in my life.

When we finally pulled back for air, our foreheads rested together, our wet breaths mingling in the cold night air.

"So," I murmured, a slow, wicked grin spreading across my face—the first real smile I had worn in weeks. "Does this mean my contract as your fake boyfriend is officially extended?"

Nora laughed, a bright, beautiful sound that filled the dark pier. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a single, soggy, crumpled piece of paper.

It was a ten-dollar bill.

"I don't have a thousand dollars anymore," she said, her eyes sparkling with joyful mischief. "I spent all my money on flour and butter. So I'm making a counter-offer. Ten dollars... if you promise to be my real boyfriend forever."

I took the wet ten-dollar bill from her hand, folded it carefully, and tucked it into my inner breast pocket, right next to my heart.

"Deal," I whispered, pulling her back in for another deep kiss. "But I have one condition."

Nora smiled against my lips. "What condition?"