Logan Murphy should come with a warning. He’s as hot as a Carolina Reaper on black asphalt in the middle of July. With perfectly messy dark hair and smoldering blue eyes—and don’t even get me started on the way that black tee stretches across his toned chest… He’s my brother’s best friend. He’s also a football star on track to win the first wide-receiver MVP in league history. Good thing I only date golfers… or I did.

I may be back in my hometown and down on my luck, but I know better than to fall for Lyric again. Been there. Done that. Have the heartbreak to show for it. When my business and apartment burn down, there’s only one thing I can do—return to my hometown of Winter Falls with my tail tucked between my legs. I won’t be here long, though. As soon as the insurance company decides I didn’t start the fire—one little accidental fire to get out of a math test does not make me an arsonist!—and cuts me a check for the damage, I’m out of here.

“I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend.” When those words left the lips of Damien Shaw, my childhood nemesis, I should have told him to kick rocks right then and there. But sadly, his scheme to impress his boss left me with something to gain from it too—getting my meddling mother, who was obsessed with my love life, off my back just in time for my parents’ thirtieth wedding anniversary celebration in Hawaii.

The ruthless mafia king is no stranger to violence, but when he lays his eyes on my bruised and battered face, he's furious. I thought my makeup was thick enough to cover the beating I suffered until my inappropriately flirtatious boss noticed. As a cocktail waitress in his casino, I've always been on Mr. Salvato's radar, but now he's obsessed, demanding to know who hurt me and why, intent on making them suffer.

Whip King cannot be the man for me. Cocky, pierced firefighters are perfect for late-night rom-coms, but in real life they’re nothing but trouble. Especially when you find out they work for your dad—after you’ve already slept with them. Moving to my parents’ small town was supposed to be the fresh start I was looking for. When a disastrous Valentine’s Day leads to an unexpected encounter with a sexy stranger, and ends with the hottest night of my life, I didn’t think I would ever see Whip again.