The Prize Was You

Sometimes the biggest prize is the heart you never meant to win. Callie Monroe had never planned to leave Bandera, Texas. Her roots ran deep in the dusty trails of her family's ranch, where she grew up wrangling horses and chasing sunsets. But when her mother was critically injured in a farming accident, the hospital bills stacked higher than hay bales. Her father—desperate and proud—demanded a sacrifice Callie couldn't make: marry the well-off widower next door, a man twice her age with a cold smile and controlling ways. With the help of a childhood friend who'd made it to the city, she packed up her boots, dreams, and barely enough cash to get by…and moved to New York. There, she found work behind the bar at a dive in Brooklyn, pouring drinks, dodging creeps, and sending every spare dollar back home. She wasn't looking for love, but when she heard of a game show that paid winners handsomely, she couldn't resist. But she sure as hell didn't expect a game show to change everything. Grayson Wolfe was a tech genius with the instincts of a wolf. He turned a teenage startup into a billion-dollar enterprise long before he was legally old enough to drink the whiskey he now sold in bulk. But when his father passed away, the old man's will came with a cruel twist: Grayson had to marry—and stay married for one full year—before he could legally inherit full control of the Wolfe fortune and family conglomerate. He didn't need love. He needed a name on paper. A bride. A loophole. In a move that shocked his board and delighted reality TV producers, Grayson entered a high-stakes televised dating show, ironically seeking a convenient partner. The premise? Win the game, win a partner…and a hefty cash prize. He didn't care about the money. He just needed someone willing to sign the damn papers. Armed with charm, wealth, and arrogance, Grayson assumed every woman would be throwing herself at him. Until the redhead in the red dress rejected him. Callie Monroe wasn't dazzled. She wasn't impressed. She hated 'controlling,' and that's what the man was; she couldn't understand why everyone wanted him. Yes, she wanted the money, but not when her pride and dignity were on the line. Grayson had never been humiliated, and so publicly; Callie intrigued and annoyed him, and somehow, he knew that their paths were still going to cross, and he would make her pay for her insolence. What happens when Grayson turns out to be Callie's boss at her new office? Their connection soon spirals into a dangerous game of desire, denial, and a deal that might cost him everything…especially his heart. He had everything… until her.