Their sizzling chemistry
could burn them both!
What clashes in the boardroom
combusts in the bedroom!
Working at her late ex-husband’s company, socialite Astrid Sterling finds new purpose. If only star architect Clay Morgan would give her a chance instead of the cold shoulder. But a truce that explodes into blinding passion leaves Astrid breathless—and torn. The single dad already has trust issues—and Astrid has a secret that could shatter everything they’ve built...
“I just want to understand.”
“Understand what? Me?” He nearly started laughing. As far as he was concerned, he was an easy case. If he was left alone to live his life, he’d be just fine.
“Yes, you.” Astrid gripped his elbow and her warmth traveled through his body at warp speed. “I want to be able to work with you. I want to learn from you, and collaborate, and try to soak up at least a little of your brilliance.”
He stood, paralyzed. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say to that. She was so earnest, so unrelenting in her pursuit of a compromise. As far as he was concerned, that only made her more dangerous.
“Why do you hate me, Clay? I’m struggling to understand what I did.”
“I don’t hate you.” It’s that I can’t stop thinking about you.
* * *
High Society Secrets by Karen Booth is part of
The Sterling Wives series.
Dear Reader,
Thanks for picking up book two in The Sterling Wives trilogy, High Society Secrets!
If you’re jumping into the series, it started when a wealthy, enigmatic man died unexpectedly, leaving controlling interest of his company to his current wife, along with his two ex-wives. The three women are thrust into a partnership, but none of them are sure they can trust the others.
High Society Secrets revolves around Astrid, the second wife, who is unlike any heroine I’ve ever written. She’s a former model and accustomed to men fawning over her, but inside, she’s a tough but sensitive woman who is deeply passionate. She’s paired with Clay, the brother of the third wife in the series. (If you’re sensing some drama, you’d be right!) Clay is intense and fiercely protective. I loved writing about the dynamic between these two fiery characters.
I hope you enjoy High Society Secrets, and stay tuned for the final book in the trilogy. In the meantime, drop me a line any time at [email protected]. I love hearing from readers!
Karen
Karen Booth
High Society Secrets
Karen Booth is a Midwestern girl transplanted in the South, raised on ’80s music and repeated readings of Forever by Judy Blume. When she takes a break from the art of romance, she’s listening to music with her college-aged kids or sweet-talking her husband into making her a cocktail. Learn more about Karen at karenbooth.net.
Books by Karen Booth
Harlequin Desire
The Eden Empire
A Christmas Temptation
A Cinderella Seduction
A Bet with Benefits
A Christmas Rendezvous
Dynasties: Seven Sins
Forbidden Lust
The Sterling Wives
Once Forbidden, Twice Tempted
High Society Secrets
Visit her Author Profile page at Harlequin.com, or karenbooth.net, for more titles.
You can also find Karen Booth on Facebook, along with other Harlequin Desire authors, at Facebook.com/harlequindesireauthors!
This book is for all women who make a point
of supporting and lifting up other women.
You make the world a better place.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Excerpt from The Devil’s Bargain by Kira Sinclair
Excerpt from Scandalous Secrets by Synithia Williams
One
Clay Morgan was too much—a skyscraper of a man with stormy blue-gray eyes and a mop of nearly black hair that begged for Astrid Sterling’s touch. She watched him from across the room at the bustling cocktail party as he stood apart from the crowd, observing. Taking it all in. An architect, he possessed a brilliant mind, a brain that could create something out of nothing. It was a marvel to see in action, a luxury Astrid had every workday. But Clay also had a stern heart, possibly chiseled out of ice. Or at least that was all Astrid could surmise, judging by the disposition he saved for her.
She’d done nothing to deserve it. Not a thing. And it was slowly driving her mad.
Grant Singleton was hosting this evening, at his showpiece of a home in La Jolla, California. Grant was CEO of the company Astrid worked for, Sterling Enterprises, a real estate development firm started by Astrid’s now-deceased ex-husband. Astrid also owned seventeen percent of the company, so she wasn’t your average employee. Although Clay, who worked with her on the Seaport Promenade team, treated her as though she was.
She plucked a glass of champagne from a tray when one of the party’s servers offered. “Thank you,” she said to the young man.
“Beautiful night,” he answered, by way of small talk.
Astrid looked over her shoulder. Outside the wall of windows rimming Grant’s modern home, tall palms bent in the swift ocean breeze. The fronds chaotically ruffled in the wind, set against an inky, moonlit sky. The scene was like Clay—shadowy and mysterious—but calling to her all the same. She wished she could be out there with him right now, so they could be alone, away from the office, and she could try to shake free some of what was pent up in his head. She was desperate for answers. Why was he so cold and closed off? Why did he treat her with such utter disdain?
“Absolutely gorgeous.” The server’s voice got her attention.
Astrid turned back, catching him as he stole an eyeful of her. She smiled and ignored the way it made her feel like an object. She was more than used to it by now, and had learned not to acknowledge it or question it or even care. It happened dozens of times a day. Funnily enough, when she’d been a gangly and awkward teen, she would have done anything for that sort of male attention. When she finally grew into her frame and her sharp edges began to round out, her whole world changed—a modeling career, a one-way ticket out of her home country of
