All they need to do to win...is get married.
Sweet Victory, a steamy, marriage of convenience, sports romance, and the final book in the Fighting For Love series from New York Times bestselling author Gina L. Maxwell is now available with a brand new look and bonus content!
Running her grandmother's cupcake bakery is all Sophie Caldwell has ever wanted, but her uncle is threatening to sell it out from under her unless she meets the one term her grandmother set in order for her take ownership: get married.
Xander James, a British MMA fighter, is determined to secure his return to the UFC. However, his landlord puts his dreams in jeopardy with plans to sell the block Xander’s gym is on to a corporate real estate developer. When he learns his landlord's niece has a similar problem and a simple—albeit unorthodox—solution, he proposes a quickie marriage of convenience to get what they both want. But they didn’t count on her uncle disputing their marriage in court, and now they must treat it like the real deal for six months, or they’ll lose everything.
Cohabitating with an infuriatingly sexy and sarcastic stranger makes Sophie want to sometimes choke her husband in his sleep. But as the weeks pass, their daily bickering turns into battles of a much steamier nature, and soon they’re having fun together, both in and out of the bedroom.
With the end of the six months fast approaching, they’ll need to decide whether they were better off chasing their dreams on their own, or if staying together and surrendering to love is the missing ingredient to their happily ever afters.
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Xander leaned his head back against the wall just outside the door to Sophie’s office and gritted his teeth. He’d returned from his run, ready to speak to her about this sale issue with her uncle, only to realize the bastard was in there giving her the news for the first time. He must have waited to get everyone else situated before taking it to her so she wouldn’t be able to go around and talk the other business owners out of anything.
As he’d approached her office, Sophie’s voice—tight and distraught—seeped through the door and stopped him in his tracks.
“Uncle, please, don’t do this. This was always supposed to be mine, to carry on Grams’s dream. She groomed me for it, and I’ve worked my ass off. I know things have been rough lately, but I’ll figure out a way to fix it.”
Xan’s body had tensed more with every minute he listened. Then Caldwell insulted Sophie, making Xander’s blood boil and his fists curl tight. The only thing she could do to stop the sale was get married, and the snide bastard flat out told her he didn’t believe for a second it would ever happen, now or ever.
What a bunch of bullshit. Xan would bet Sophie had men panting after her on the regular, and if her relationships didn’t last, it was probably because they couldn’t hold a candle to her raging fire.
That wouldn’t be the case if they ever got together, at least not in the bedroom. He would match her flame for flame until they incinerated everything around them. He’d been on the verge of letting those torrid images get the best of him again when the cruel words of her uncle smacked him back to the present.”
“…the only way to acquire the trust is through a legitimate marriage. Considering your track record with men, I think we both know what the likelihood of that is.”
Fucking hell! To hear him speak so callously to a woman—his own niece—brought back painful memories of growing up hearing his father berate and belittle Xander’s mother. It’s why he often got involved in situations that were none of his business. He couldn’t stomach witnessing a woman being bullied.
Xan was going to make the tosser choke on his own words.
“He stalked out to the front door, reached up, and flicked the little bell to signal his “arrival.” Turning around, he faced a perplexed Kristin who opened her mouth, presumably to ask if he’d fallen off his rocker. He held a finger up to his lips and shot her a look he hoped would brook no argument. She simply raised a single brow with interest.
Xan spoke loud enough for his voice to travel down the hallway to Sophie and her uncle. “Hello, Kristin, you’re looking lovely as ever,” he said, walking toward the hall. “Just popping in to see my girl after my run. Tell Billy I said hello, yeah?” Then he proceeded to eat up the short distance to reach the office.
Acting as though he had every right to barge in without knocking or asking for permission, he swung the door in wide just as she was approaching, hopefully to throw the asshole out of her office. Sophie’s chocolate eyes widened in surprise, her red-stained lips opening on a gasp.
“There you are, sweetheart.”
“Xander, what—”
That’s all she got out before his large hands took hold of her face and he slanted his mouth over hers for a claiming kiss. He wasn’t the sort of man to greet his woman with a chaste peck, but rather one of possession and ownership. One that marked her as his alone, without question, without challenge.
Only he hadn’t known that about himself until the moment his lips touched Sophie’s.
Mine. So fucking mine.
Unable to stop himself, Xan swept his tongue inside and laid siege with abandon and Christ Almighty he’d forgotten her tongue was pierced with a metal ball that was now massaging him in ways that should be illegal.”
“But that’s not what had him burning with desire. It was her. She tasted like sugar and fire with a hint of coffee. Xander hated the bitter brew, keeping to his English roots with his fondness for tea, but he’d switch in a heartbeat if it meant getting his daily shot of caffeine from sucking on her delicious tongue.
Luckily, Sophie lost herself in the kiss for a few seconds before Xan felt her tense with lucidity. He hated putting an end to it, but he needed to keep control of the situation until she understood his plan to show up her uncle and either played along, or kicked him square in the bollocks. Whatever the outcome, he no longer cared. He couldn’t force her to accept his help, and that kiss—though too brief by half to even begin to slake his thirst for her—would be something he’d remember forever.
Pulling back, Xander’s gaze ensnared hers and he gave her a grin of unapologetic wickedness. “I know it’s only been a few hours, love, but I can’t stop thinking about you.”
He let his hands roam down her sides and settle at her hips as he tucked his face into her neck and whispered in her ear, “Play along, Soph,” then nipped her earlobe just hard enough to drag another gasp from her. It might have been incited from shock or pain, but her uncle would assume it came from desire. As Xander intended.
Moving his mouth back to hers, he held himself back from taking it again and growled as though frustrated. Which didn’t require as much acting on his part as it should. “If we weren’t at your place of business right now, I’d—”
The man cleared his throat with gusto. Took him long enough. Xan had started to wonder if her uncle was a sick incestual voyeur in addition to being a total prick.
Xander looked over his shoulder in mock surprise before turning fully around. But he kept his possessive contact with Sophie, slipping his left arm behind her to splay his hand over her ribs and pull her tightly into his side.
“Oh damn, I didn’t realize you had company.” He looked down at her and let guilt he didn’t feel play across his face. “I have a devil of a time seeing anything but you when you’re in my sights.”
She cleared her throat and gave him a hesitant smile that could pass for mere embarrassment. “Um, I’m sure you remember my uncle, Richard Caldwell.”
Xander nodded to the man by way of greeting, but then looked down at Sophie, an apologetic look on his face. “Damn, I guess I let the cat out of the bag now, didn’t I? Sorry about that, gorgeous.”
Sophie stared up at him, her eyes warning that he better know what he was doing and have a damn good reason for it. He wasn’t sure of either.
“That’s okay, what’s done is done. No point in keeping it secret anymore,” she said, being perfectly vague so he could take the lead.
“What’s going on here, James? What secret?” Caldwell asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
“Sophie and I are in love,” he said confidently, “and we’re engaged to be married.”
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