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CHAPTER 1

Alexa Harh heels clicking against the concrete of the three-car garage and then the travertine tiles of the hallway and kitchen She was late getting ho to be hard-pressed to get dinner on the table on time

She beelined for the bedroo at the buttons on her silk blouse Despite being under the gun, she took the ti away in the walk-in closet that was nearly as big as her childhood bedroom had been

Grant didn’t likehad to be in its place Always

Slipping into a pretty blue blouse, jeans, and her ballet flats, Alexa’s gaze cut to the alarhtstand She had twenty-five minutes Twenty-five minutes to

Damnit, Alexa You should’ve kept your eyes on the time better

It was true She’d just been elbows deep infor the model home in Grant’s newest develop her take the lead on the interior design of atheir usual outside contractor, and she wanted it to be good Oh, as she kidding? She wanted it to be perfect

More than that, she wanted to be good Good enough No, she wanted to be perfect For Grant

Grant really liked perfection

Alexa got it Her fiancé Grant’s perfectionist tendencies went a long way toward explaining how he’d built Grant Slater Enterprises, the biggest real estate developh he’d coer, he’d built most of his success with his own hard work and smart investments Now, Frederick was almost a company town, at least where real estate was concerned There were more developments in the area with the words Grant or Slater in their nahborhood was a prime example—Slater Estates

Running back out to the kitchen, a low pleading Meow caught Alexa’s attention

“Coht for the cat’s bowl She poured dry food into the dish, spilling a little in her haste The hairless sphynx brushed against her leg in a show of affection Alexa gave Lucy’s sweater-covered blue-gray body a quick pet as she scooped up stray morsels of food with her other hand