Winner of the 2021 Passionate Plume Award for BDSM Romance
Finalist in the 2021 Stiletto Contest for Contemporary Romance
He taught her to trust, she taught him to love.
Lucy Barton learned the hard way: rules exist for a reason. Seventeen years have passed since the devastating day she changed from a fun-loving twenty-three-year-old to the strictly controlled forty-year-old who uses speed dating as a way to scratch her itches without the inconvenience of commitment—not that anyone's lining up to commit to a woman with only half a face.
When a chance meeting with her new boss, the enigmatic Toby Bennett, promises a wealth of carnal pleasure, she's faced with two choices: use him to scratch her itch for a night, then cut and run as usual, or stick around for a while and learn the true meaning of control.
Tobias Bennett has always known he was different. His towering height and quiet nature aside, it's his need for control in and out of the bedroom that sets him apart from most men. While acting as wingman for his twin brother, he comes face-to-face with his new office manager, Lucy Barton.
The wealth of scars trailing down the right side of her face and body intrigues him, but it's her guarded disposition that has him itching to teach her a lesson she'll never forget. One night in Lucy's arms has Toby craving so much more, but she's a no-strings-attached kind of woman. That's her golden rule. But Toby knows better than anyone, some rules are meant to be broken.
