Stryker Family

The only thing worse than being roommates with my rival? Falling for him. Returning to my small hometown after I crashed and burned in the city is bad enough. Having my lifelong rival, Wes Stryker, rub it in my face doesn't make it easier. Even worse, I'm hired to help him pull his family's distillery out of a rough patch. Oh, and I'm forced to be his roommate. That means dealing with his annoying flirting and one-upping all day, every day. He's unbearably cocky, and his dimpled smile charms everyone with a pulse-except for me. At least until he starts to make me ugly laugh, and I see glimpses of his big heart under the side he shows everyone else. Resisting him when he wanders around the house in nothing but sweatpants, undressing me with his eyes? Not possible. But I've sworn off charmers like him, and the last man I let into my heart destroyed my confidence and my career. I won't make that mistake again.

Fake dating the town's golden boy when we're total opposites is risky. But falling for him is even worse. My new neighbor, Waylon Stryker, is Jepsen's most eligible bachelor-gorgeous, built, and kindhearted. I stick out like an LA-shaped thumb in this small town after inheriting a dilapidated house and a tiny dog. But when I need my ex to back off and he needs his family to stop pressuring him to settle down, Waylon comes up with the perfect solution-a fake relationship. It would have been perfectly transactional if I hadn't drunkenly told him about my spicy bucket list. I prayed he'd forget about it. Instead, he vows to help me check off each task. Turns out the kind veterinarian who lets kittens fall asleep in his shirt pocket has a dirty mouth and sinfully skilled hands. But this has to stay fake, no matter how much we connect outside the bedroom, too. Jepsen-and Waylon-were only ever meant to be temporary. Can someone tell my heart that?