Hero, Unexpected

I rebuilt my grandmother’s bakery from the ground up. Poured everything I had into making it thrive again—flour, sweat, and a whole lot of tears.


Then she died. And her will blindsided me.


If I’m not married by the time probate closes, I lose the bakery to my mother—the last person who should ever be trusted with it.


Enter Bodie Gibson.

Childhood friend turned enemy. The boy who used to bring me tea and peanut butter sandwiches…

The cop who put my little brother behind bars.


He offers me a way out: a fake marriage that keeps the bakery in my hands and our past buried where it belongs.


It’s just paperwork. A few public appearances. Nothing real.

Except he still looks at me like he sees the girl I used to be.

And when he kisses me it doesn’t feel fake at all.


In a town built on second chances, sometimes the only way forward is to rewrite the ending.