Review
"This well penned slow burn romance is bound to torture in the best possible way. My eyes found the words and I couldn't bring myself to part with them until I had devoured every last one!" - Reds Romance Reviews
"I AM IN LOVE. ABSOLUTELY. POSITIVELY. IN LOVE. WITH JORDAN. I'm telling you to run and go read this book because it's that freaking good." - LuxLovin
"LOOOOOVED. THIS. BOOK. LOVED the characters. The dynamic. The banter. The steammmm. And Jordannnn, dear Lord Jordannnnn." - Brittany, Everlore Reads
"The author cleverly revealed Maria's inner struggles and I was slowly pulled into rooting for every bit of progress Maria made in freeing herself. This was an unexpected treat of a romance that was full of well thought out emotional growth!" - CS
"OH! MY! GOD! I wanted to slap Maria so many times and high five her a lot too. Jordan is just hot. I don't want to say so much without too much away, but I will say this: I need to read Raquel and Sean's story soon! I need more A.L. Woods' books in my life!" - Debra, Stuttering Beauty Reviews
"Honestly, this book went above and beyond my expectations. The characters, especially the lead FC, surprised me for all the best reasons." - Saleha, BBooksology
"The author delivers a slow burn romance that pushed all my buttons and tortured me in the best way." - Anne Milne, Goodreads
"Holy smokes, what a book! The character development from Maria and Jordan was incredible to see, especially Maria's." - Becca, Every Blog Has Its Days
"Veritas is another phenomenal book by A.L. Woods! If you have read other books from her, you will find a few old friends in Veritas. You can certainly read this book alone though and not be lost." - Carla H., Goodreads
"If you like instant chemistry, hot sex scenes and characters who are finding their way to love, this is the book for you." - Kathleen S., Goodreads
"This was a story I just had a really hard time putting down!" - Linda, Goodreads
"The two go through a push and pull with lots of drama. Veritas is one of the more realistic novels I have read in recent months. The chemistry was off the chain between the two." - Angie, Feelin A Little Bookish
From the Author
Maria stared at the elevator's floor marker, no doubt buying herself time, as her jaw flexed. I knew that look. The in-between of what our pride demanded, contrasting with the submission of our bodies. Tapping the inside of her heels with my foot, she jolted, and her toned legs parted to accommodate the breadth of my body as I stepped closer. She swallowed hard to clear the clog from her throat, her dark eyes regarding me.
She held back on something. I couldn't place it, but its presence was practically a corporeal thing that existed in the predacious energy circulating in the confined space. She rolled her shoulders, her head falling back as defeat clouded her features. I wanted to extract her confession. I wanted to know what man eviscerated her trust, who gifted her the chip on her shoulder. The crown of her superiority complex was tilted on its axis, each timed breath she took now a negotiation for control.
That's all Maria was ever fighting for, I realized—control.
I liked control, too. Preferred ascendency over anything else. You didn't get to where I was in life without it, but she's right. We lived in a society where it was inherently easier for me because I was a man and people respected that kind of thing from men—and she's a woman trapped in the social constructs she didn't belong in because gender norms were BS.
"No one hurt me." The declaration suspended between us; her features closed on her. And just like that, I recognized I'd lost her for the day. I wasn't mad about it, I expected that.
Dropping my head against her shoulder, my mouth found her ear once more, my bottom lip brushing against the diamond stud in her earlobe. "You're full of it."
I edged away from her, watching the dilation of her pupils, the shift in her breathing. Maria futzed with her dress, pulling it back into place, her lips pursing at the brush of fabric against her now bare skin. I studied her like she was a piece of art from the Louvre. She had the guise and mystery of the Mona Lisa, but the intensity of the La Belle Ferronniere—the unknown woman. She was an enigma, so hauntingly beautiful, her identity desperate to be discovered. I staved off the need to ravish her mouth, to smear that carnivorous shade of red painted on her too-full pout.
The elevator shuddered to life again, breaking the beguiling intensity of the moment as our journey to the parking garage began anew. I smiled, laughing through my nose, and stepping back. Cosmic intervention.
Maria moved with the alacrity of a projectile missile when the elevator doors rolled open, her heels eating at the paved cement, echoing in the parking garage. She was a good twenty feet away from me when her footfalls came to a sudden halt, her shoulders squaring.
"Jordan?" she called, pivoting on her heels. She chewed on her bottom lip, observing me. "What are you doing Saturday?"
I stuffed my hand in my pocket, running the pads of my fingers along the lace fabric I'd stolen from her. "What any good lawyer does on a Saturday." Worked. "Why?"
She nodded. "Never mind." Maria twirled her keys on her long fingers, pivoting in the opposite direction, her long legs striding with purpose toward a white BMW 328i.
"Tavares," I said, the acoustics of the garage projecting my voice, waylaying her. She regarded me from over her shoulder. "Why?"
Maria expelled a loud breath, her spine growing ramrod straight. "I wanted to know if you'd join me for a wedding in the Cape."
Well, that was pleasantly unexpected. Tilting my head in her direction, I smirked. "Are you asking me out, counselor?"
Her eyebrows hit her hairline. "N-no!" she sputtered. "I'm inviting you to a wedding as a..." She searched her vast lexicon for a term. "A favor." A favor? She blanched, stumbling for an alternative word. "As a colleague." Maria nodded her head, settling on that expression instead. "The food is being catered by some Michelin-five-star chef, and the venue is costing the bride's parents two-fifty. Yes, or no?"
She wanted to deny it was a date, that's fine. She could call it whatever she liked, because this was a start and she'd done it on her own terms—control, remember? I made a show of scratching the faint dusting of scruff on my chin, rocking my mouth from side to side with thought. "That's a bit of a drive."
I'd only been through the Cape once, at the highest point in a do-or-die attempt at salvaging my marriage with Catharine. That, of course, was before I realized there was a possibility Lana might... anyway.
"I've got a room booked already." Her nose scrunched up as though she'd tasted something unsavory. "If you want to accompany me, I'll get your accommodation sorted out."
I continued my performance—someone needed to award me an Oscar—crossing my arms over my chest as though considering it, but it was pure fanfare. We both knew I'd agree. "I'll attend as your date."
"It's not a date."
Drawing her undergarment out of my pocket, I spun it around on my finger before turning away from her. I heard the indignant sound leave her all the same. "I'll pick you up at nine AM on Saturday."
"Can you put those away?" she whisper-yelled. "And I'm leaving Friday morning. I'll forward you the venue details."
"Then I'll pick you up on Friday morning," I replied, stuffing the laced piece back into my pocket. I wasn't missing out on an opportunity to be trapped with her again.
"Fine." Maria nodded. "I'll text you my address."
"Night, Tavares."
I was getting my breakfast, come hell or high water.
And this time, it wouldn't be after one night only.
