Cold - Town Desire: A Forced Proximity, Age Gap Romance: 1

Tell me why running from my ruined career somehow turned into me crashing in the spare room of my best friend's dad... and catching feelings for the grumpy, age¿gap contractor who walks around half¿dressed like he's personally trying to test my self¿control.I come to Pine Hills to rebuild my life, not to melt every time Luke Hayes looks at me with that quiet, controlled intensity that makes my pulse trip over itself. He's older. Off¿limits. My best friend's dad. The last man I should want, and the last man who should want me.But one chaotic night in his kitchen-frosting everywhere, his hands catching mine, his breath brushing my cheek-shifts something between us. Suddenly we're brushing past each other in narrow hallways, sharing late¿night confessions, and pretending the air between us isn't thick enough to choke on.Luke softens around me in ways I never expected. He listens. He notices. He smiles that rare, quiet smile that feels like a secret meant only for me. And somewhere between gingerbread houses, stolen glances, and the way he says my name like it's something precious... I fall for him. Hard.Then everything unravels. I learn he's about to lose the home he's breaking himself to save. And Sylvia-my best friend, his daughter-finds out the truth in the worst possible way.Now I'm standing in the wreckage of the only family I've ever felt part of, torn between the man I love and the girl who trusted me. Loving Luke might cost me everything-my friendships, my future, and the fragile place I finally felt like I belonged.And I have to decide whether fighting for him is worth losing everyone else.