It’s been a long semester. My roommate moved out. My boyfriend cheated on me. And the courses I took drained me.

All I want to do is go home for the holidays.

But the forces of nature have a different plan.

I’m stuck, snowed in, with no heat or food for the unforeseeable future … on Christmas Eve no less. Could it get any worse?

It could.

In an attempt to venture out and find food before the storm worsens, I collide with the one person I’d gone to great lengths to avoid all semester – Assistant Professor Dempsey, the man I almost had a one-night stand with months ago.

Keeping my distance from him is impossible as he tempts me with a warm meal and his presence.

The temptation to finish what we started the night we met may be too hard to resist.

I thought I would never see Allison Brown again, but fate had other plans.

Our chance collision meant I could no longer ignore her presence. Knowing she had no food or heat, I had no choice but to invite her to dinner.

But inviting her means risking what I've done to bury my violent and chaotic past. This assistant professor position was a favor – a gift given and not meant to squander. Giving in to my desire could risk all of it. But the chance to have another taste of Allison – I can't promise I won't give in.

V. Angelika writes romantic suspense with lots of sizzle and plot twists you won't see coming.

V. Angelika is the best-selling author of The Crossing Stars duet series, Cross the Stars and Steal the Moon.