Hearts on the Line

Fake dating the man I've loved since I was sixteen to escape my stalker ex? Sounds exactly like something that would happen to me.

Jennifer Blakely had done the work. She'd made peace with her best friend Adam leaving, first for college and then the NFL. She'd learned to live with the years apart and the feelings she'd had to hide — tucked away so carefully she'd almost believed they were gone. When he returns to their Pennsylvania hometown, eight years of careful convincing unravels in a single look.

The timing couldn't be worse. The Mayor's son, her ex, has been leaving voicemails she's too scared to delete, showing up in places he shouldn't, and looking at her like she's something he owns. But in a town his father controls with an iron fist, no one ever steps in to stop him.

No one… except Adam.

Jennifer would find it a lot easier to say no if she didn't still have feelings for him.

Adam spent eight years avoiding her to try and bury the feelings he had for her. Coming home was supposed to clear his head, to help him decide the next phase of his career and yeah — to see Jennifer. Instead, he finds her constantly looking over her shoulder and pretending she's fine when he knows she is anything but. After seeing her ex, protecting his person became his sole purpose. Keeping her close was the only thing that made sense.

He wasn't prepared for how fast being by her side became something he didn't want to give up.

Her ex is watching. And he is running out of patience.

The danger is real. So are the feelings. And they are running out of reasons to keep saying it's all pretend.