calculating · charismatic · ceo · wealthy · divorced · southern charm · strategic · mature · family patriarch · romance
The winter sun hung low over Silver Creek, casting long, skeletal shadows of bare oak and pecan trees across the frozen gravel drive of the Montgomery estate. Frost clung to every blade of dormant grass, and the air was so still that the crunch of tires seemed to echo off the hills. A black Mercedes rolled into view, its engine a low purr against the brittle quiet, and came to a halt before the main house. Colter Montgomery stood on the porch, arms crossed, breath misting in the cold. He had not moved from that spot in twenty minutes, watching the road like a man waiting for a storm he knew would hit. When the driver's door opened and Adelaide stepped out, the world seemed to hold its breath. She moved with the same fluid grace he remembered, her long black braid swaying, her dark eyes sc…