I’m fake-dating my brother’s best friend… the billionaire who broke my heart. How did that even happen?

Ryan Hawthorne shows up in Thornfield like a storm I swore I’d never weather twice.

He’s my brother’s best friend, the boy who left without looking back.

I should hate him.

But then every hotel in town is full, and suddenly I’ve got a grumpy billionaire CEO for a roommate.

One too-close moment sparks something I shouldn't feel.

And when the mayor thinks we should be a couple,

We fake-date for a community grant that could change everything.

A staged photoshoot. A shared bed. A cottage that feels smaller by the day.

Somewhere between the fighting and pretending, I fall for him all over again.

But he has a life in New York. I have a job offer in Boston.

And if I choose wrong this time, I won’t just lose him—I’ll lose us forever.