Steamy Negotiations: A Fake Engagement Rom-Com (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798245631264)

Derek "Del" Schneider is a machine in a bespoke suit. He's the ruthless CEO of Schneider Holdings, the "Ice King" of Chicago, and a man who treats human emotion like a software bug. He needs to secure a massive merger to save his father's legacy, but his board thinks he's too cold, too robotic, and too unstable to lead.

To get the vote, he needs a fiancée. Someone messy. Someone chaotic. Someone who makes him look... human.

Enter me: Elsie Craig. Barista, artist, and currently drowning in culinary school debt.

When I accidentally turned his Italian wool suit into a chocolate-covered disaster zone, I thought I was fired. Instead, he made me an offer I couldn't refuse: Fifty thousand dollars to play the loving future Mrs. Schneider for six weeks.

It should be easy money. But there's a problem.

Del Schneider isn't a robot. He's a man who buys me an espresso machine to say sorry, who defends me from high-society sharks, and whose touch makes me forget that I'm supposed to be pretending.

Oh, and there's one other tiny variable I forgot to mention.

My last name isn't actually Craig. It's Kinsman. As in, the daughter of his biggest corporate rival. The family he swore to destroy.

I'm not just a liability. I'm a ticking time bomb sleeping in his bed. And when the truth comes out, a broken contract will be the least of our problems.

The Caffeine Clause meets Romeo and Juliet in this high-stakes, slow-burn billionaire romance.

Trope Checklist:

• Grumpy x Sunshine (He's a spreadsheet; she's a sketchbook)
• Fake Engagement (The classic "contract" romance)
• Billionaire Boss (He buys her building just to keep her safe)
• Secret Identity / Hidden Heiress (She's sleeping with the enemy)
• Forced Proximity (Snowed in at a cabin!)
• "Touch Her And Die" (Protective hero energy)
• Workplace Romance (Strictly business... until it isn't)