Heroes of Huckleberry Creek

One house. One towel. One grumpy hero about to lose his heart.The last thing I expected when I walked into my house after deployment was to find my high school crush standing in my hallway in nothing but a towel. Welcome back to Huckleberry Creek, Gabe. Turns out my matchmaking grandmother "forgot" to mention she rented my place out while I was overseas-to Felicity Harmon, sunshine incarnate and exactly the kind of woman I have no business wanting. I tell myself I can handle it. Stay grumpy, keep it friendly, fix her house, and get her back where she belongs. But then we're roommates. Then she's making me laugh. Cooking for me. Curling up beside me on the couch like it's the most natural thing in the world. And suddenly, everything I thought I could keep bottled up is bleeding out between shared dinners, stolen glances, and one very nosy grandma who's clearly rooting for a happily ever after. She deserves more than a grumpy contractor still trying to get his feet under him after deployment. But the closer we get, the more I start to believe maybe I've been wrong about what I can offer-and who I want to offer it to. She's always been the dream. The gamble I never had the guts to take.Until now.

She needed someone safe. I volunteered to be hers. Now I just have to survive pretending it's temporary. I've faced ambushes, firefights, and twelve months in the desert. None of it prepared me to walk into my hometown and see Austen MacAvoy again-my best friend's little sister, the girl I've been secretly in love with for over a decade. She doesn't know that part. To her, I'm still just Clint. Her brother's buddy. The guy who sends back snarky letters from deployment and always shows up with good manners and bad jokes. But when her cousin's wedding gets complicated-and her ex is suddenly a groomsman with a date-she needs someone on her arm. Someone who can fake a relationship long enough to save her pride.I can do that. I'd do just about anything for Austen. We agree it's pretend. Just a few dates. Just long enough to convince her nosy relatives and make the ex regret his life choices. But the more time we spend together-bowling, dancing, cooking dinner for two-the more impossible it is to pretend. She's everything I've ever wanted. And this fake wedding date? It might just be my real shot at forever.

She was always the one. I just took too damn long to realize it. But this time, I'm not walking away. Coming home should've been simple. Heal up, get back on the job, and try not to think about the woman I let go. But nothing about Pepper DeLuca has ever been simple. We were young when we fell in love. Built a life. Bought a house. Tore it all down with pride and silence. Now I'm back in Huckleberry Creek, recovering from a line-of-duty injury and trying to figure out what comes next-when a bachelor auction gone sideways puts me face to face with the woman I still dream about. She didn't mean to buy me. Her meddling friends did that. But one look at her, and I know I'll go along with any excuse that gets her close again. We say it's just one dinner. Closure. But nothing between us has ever stayed small. Not the love. Not the heartbreak. And definitely not this wildfire that's burning hotter than ever. I lost her once. I won't make the same mistake twice.