Who's the sexy blonde stranger sleeping in Simon Holcroft's bed? The workaholic returns from a business trip to find someone stretched out on his sheets. Between the laundry basket at her side and the smell of orange cleaner, he deduces that the young woman is his maid--and resists the urge to kiss her awake.

But when his brother's fiancé--his own ex--bursts in and strips down to her panties, Simon has to get her dressed and back where she belongs. So he introduces the maid as his fiancée. But his little white lie gets bigger, because now he has to bring his supposed bride-to-be to meet the whole family. One offer-she-can't-refuse later, Simon has bought himself a temporary fiancée.

In debt up to her eyeballs and all alone for the holidays, how could struggling grad student Caroline Sampson not accept her gorgeous client's fantasy proposal? But acting like she's in love comes more easily than she ever expected.

60,000 words