Next Time We'll Fall

I'm the fool who accidentally entered a stripping contest, thinking I was signing up for karaoke.

Even worse? My best friend's older brother was there to witness every minute of my humiliation.

I run a romance bookstore, but I never expected to be the heroine of my own drama-filled love story. After Rafe saved me while simultaneously telling me off, I panicked and pretended the shameful disaster was research for a book I was writing.

Yes, that was a huge exaggeration.

But I'm paying for it now. Because he's decided I need help!

He's volunteered for the nonexistent role of my bossy bodyguard, and he keeps showing up everywhere I go, including my dates.

The truth is, I've had a crush on him since the day I turned eighteen, when he gave me my first kiss. Back then, when I thought the kiss meant something, a grumpy Rafe made it clear I was off-limits. I was too young, and he had no interest in dating his little sister's best friend.

When a local TV network casts me in a fall dating show, Rafe insists on becoming my very unwanted dating coach to help me find someone "age appropriate." However, his advice is terrible, and every date ends in disaster. The show could actually boost the book I'm now writing, and I'm fed up with Rafe's hot and cold behavior.

So, to get him to back off, I pretend I've made it my mission to make him mine. I think my fake, very public interest in him will scare him off. Only he doesn't seem as opposed to the cameras or the idea as I thought he would be.

Now Mr. Noncommittal Rafe Bishop is refusing to let me go. And I can't tell if it's because he's trying to protect me or because he finally wants me.