Eugenia Rouse
Several years ago, I had it all.
Married to a wealthy banker in New York, my social worker career on the rise, this girl from the South side of Chicago had left behind her hard knock life. But the fairytale could not silence my demons, or heal me from my family's past tragedy.

Now I'm a single mother in a bare-knuckled court battle with my ex-husband, and on the brink of losing the most important person to me—my son. I can't foul up again. So I'm not taking any risks. Not on crazy social scenes, not on foreign excursions with strangers, and not on romance. Especially not with the brazen, rowdy likes of Keenan McLain.

Keenan McLain
Hell, I'm a roughneck from Baltimore who loves his smash-first-ask-questions-later lifestyle. As the CEO of the East Coast's new black-owned luxury adventure company, I can have practically any woman here in the Hamptons I want. But damn, I'm growing obsessed with only one. Our Christmas hookup a few months ago was supposed to be a one-and-done. But Eugenia was too explosive, a quiet storm with depth she hides from the world and I want more of.

But that night really was just a puff-puff-pass for her. She's older than me. People say she's got issues, but I'm the one having withdrawals over her. Am I really ready to give up my life and go all in to be her man? How do I convince her to move on from her past despair, and take a risk with her heart one more time? Especially for an unproven young 'hood like me.

This is Book 4 of Explore Men of the Hamptons series, and can be read as a standalone. It has a prequel novella offered for free on Lula White's web site—Christmas Down Under— but it is not necessary to understand this storyline. This is a complete narrative and an HEA, but characters and series storylines are continued from previous books.

Trigger Warnings: neurodiversity, grief, death, pregnancy loss, mental health, alcoholism, discussions of suicide & homicide, explicit language