Stephen Silver is a marketing and advertising giant in the Greensboro area. Cree Caruthers knows she shouldn't want any part of the man—her boss—but she does. As an executive manager for his company, Cree is aware of the handsome arrogance, the suave demeanor and the cool resolve that made him a force in the media world. Cree loves him and after six years of working alongside him, he finally comes to her with an assignment she has always dreamed of: marriage. Stephen has watched Cree since he hired her for his company, C.A.K.E. As her boss, he directs her career as they work together to achieve success, but it’s her heart he really wants. Faced with the approaching death of his father, Stephen needs support and love in his life more than ever—and he knows the perfect woman to fit the bill: Cree. If he could just get Cree to agree, then he would be very happy indeed. It should be a piece of cake.

Evelyn James loves her job as a marketing consultant. She enjoys it so much that when she's sent to London on New Year's Eve to meet with client, Liam, she doesn't bat an eye.

Carte Seay has admired Tonica Faye since the summer she interned at his uncle’s law office. He’d sent her tulips every day, anonymously, because she reminded him of tulip’s versatile beauty and ready resourcefulness. He set a plan in motion to get the woman of his dreams into his life—not just his bed. Now, his chance had come again to capture Tonica’s attention, and set her into his life for good. Tonica was just want he wanted, no, what he needed, to feel again. Private Investigator, Tonica Faye, knew more about high profile lawyer, Carte Seay than anyone. She’d been investigating him in at the behest of a client—one who claims Carte Seay sired her two children. For the life of her, Tonica can’t figure out why the man just didn’t sort it out with a paternity test, but then, maybe men as powerful at Carte Seay didn’t bother. But when she meets the legendary lawyer, up close and personal, what she discovers about herself and him forces her heart to bloom, to awaken in ways no man has ever managed to do before. Carte Seay’s tulips were made for Tonica.

Brice Middleton is running from a haunted past, one that lingers in his head—a dark, sobering reminder of how trust can be twisted and wielded like a weapon, slicing through love and critically wounding the heart. Beneath his golden tan, sun-drenched blonde hair, and hazel eyes are scars that zigzag across his chest, some physical, some emotional—all painful. Devoting himself to his work at C.A.K.E., Brice distances himself from everyone. Aerial Gibson loves being an actress even if it means living hand-to-mouth in the Triad. A graduate of North Carolina’s best performing arts program, she spends most of her evenings serving up caffeinated and sugary goodness at Tate Street Café. She has a steady income, an approaching audition, and an awesome—and somewhat overly protective—family. However, Brice highlights the one thing absent in Aerial’s happy-go-lucky world—a lover. If Aerial can infiltrate the walls around Brice’s heart and capture it for herself, it would be the icing on the cake.