MORETTI SERIES #2: Burning Desire (Aspen Jaxson Moretti)

At twenty-four, Celestina Rodriguez seems to have the world at her feet. As a recent college graduate with a spirit that craves independence, Celeste views marriage as a gilded cage-a barrier to the freedom she worked so hard for. However, her parents, desperate to see her settled, begin orchestrating blind dates and an arranged marriage to a complete stranger.

Feeling betrayed and suffocated by her own family's expectations, Celeste seeks refuge in a night of reckless rebellion. One bar, too many drinks, and a blur of neon lights lead to a morning that changes everything. She wakes up in a panic, only to realize the man beside her is the one person she has secretly admired from afar, Aspen Jaxson Moretti.

Aspen is powerful, stoic, and the cousin of her best friend's husband. Bound by a sense of duty, he offers to take responsibility for their night together by proposing a deal: marry him, move into his home, and be his wife. Caught between a forced marriage to a stranger and a life with her long-time crush, Celeste proposes a third path-a marriage contract. They will remain married for exactly one year, after which they will divorce, and she will walk away free.

But the sparks of their burning desire prove harder to extinguish than she ever imagined.Before the year is up, Celeste discovers she is carrying Aspen's child. Her joy, however, is short-lived when she overhears a devastating confession from Aspen to a confidant: "I'm not ready to have kids."

Heartbroken and convinced that her baby is an unwanted burden, Celeste makes a desperate choice. To protect her unborn child from a father who doesn't want them, she vanishes without a trace. She is determined to raise her child in exile, away from the man who sees their miracle as a mistake.

But a Moretti never lets go of what belongs to him-and Aspen's hunt for his runaway wife is only just beginning.