A slightly TAMER version of Rapturous—all the romance, all the heat, just a little less erotic.

Control is his mantra...until one woman breaks his control—and his heart.

It's Oscar night, and Academy Award-winning director Hayden Roth spontaneously kisses the woman he desires above all others, even though he knows she can never be his. Addison York craves her boss's best friend, Hayden, but he has never given her an ounce of encouragement--until tonight when he kissed her after winning the Oscar. Was that kiss the start of something or another in a long line of frustrations where Hayden is concerned? Something is keeping him from acting on the attraction that simmers between them, and Addie is determined to find out what it is. But when she stumbles upon the secret that Hayden, Flynn and her other close friends have kept from her, will she allow hurt feelings to get in the way of true love? When Hayden won't share his BDSM lifestyle with her, Addie decides to conduct her own research. Will she be intrigued or repulsed? And what will Hayden do when he finds out how she's been spending her evenings?