One Night before Christmas

One night with a scarred stranger for a million pounds. What would you do?

This Christmas, I’m a modern-day Bob Cratchit, struggling to keep food on the table and a roof over the head of my disabled daughter, Immi. With bills piling up, holiday gifts and a festive dinner are an impossible dream.

Then a last-minute kitchen job at Midnight in Mayfair, an exclusive London nightclub, changes everything. When I help an injured dancer, I catch the eye of the club's owner, Te Ariki tall, Māori, rich, scarred, and extremely intimidating. He suggests I fill in for her. I’m ready to refuse—until I realize how much it pays.

After watching my performance, Te Ariki offers me another five thousand pounds for a private dance. Desperation wins, and I can’t resist. Then he asks me to return the next evening. Night after night, I find myself dancing just for him, gradually glimpsing the man beneath the scars.

Then he makes an unthinkable one million pounds for a single night together, with two conditions—he’ll blindfold me, and I must agree to be restrained. I’m terrified, but the money could change everything for Immi and me.

I don’t expect to fall for him. But after that night, Te Ariki expects me to walk away. What happens when Beauty can’t leave her Beast?