What happens when two people who’ve given up on forever find it in each other…?

Single men are as scarce in Forever Falls as a vegetarian at a barbecue. That is, until Ethan Hammersmith moves in. After his fiancée gave him an ultimatum, he left Australia and never looked back. He isn't in America to find a new girlfriend, though. He's searching for the father he never knew. But now it's like he has a flashing sign above his head that says "available." Thankfully, the manager of the local diner is willing to give him cover―if only she weren't so distractingly adorable.

Monroe Roberts, town misanthrope and divorcée, knocked "forever" permanently off her wish list ever since the love of her life skipped town with the cliché yoga instructor. And good riddance. She's got this struggling diner to keep her busy, trying anything to boost sales…until a hot Australian strolls in and changes everything. Monroe's restaurant is packed full of women who aren’t there to order food, unless Ethan is on the menu. This could sink her business faster than ever. So―light bulb―what if they pretend to be together?

It sounds like the perfect plan. Until they realize there is some very real chemistry in this fake relationship. But is it enough to heal two hearts that have been so deeply wounded?

Excerpt

Excerpted from Forever Starts Now, by Stefanie London. Entangled Publishing, 2021. Reprinted with permission.

Her gazed flicked over his shoulder and she caught her sisters ducking back into the dining room, caught spying. “I don’t want things to get messy.”

Messy was the thing she avoided most in the world. It’s why she didn’t date after her ex left. It’s why she didn’t want the Sunshine Diner to change hands. It’s why she didn’t want to deal with this whole screw-up of a divorce.

And having a fake relationship with a man you’re impossibly attracted to isn’t messy? Get real.

Ethan put his hands on her hips and pushed her against the kitchen counter, his hips flat against her belly as he wedged her in place. Then he inclined his head back toward the dining room. “They’re spying on us, aren’t they?”

“Absolutely.”

“We should sell it.”

His fingers toyed with the hem of her sweater, the stark black one she’d chosen because she knew it made the best of her red hair. Because she wanted to look good...to feel good. Her heart thudded in her chest and there was a tightness gathering in her belly, an instant ache between her legs, and a shakiness in her breath that she hadn’t felt in a long damn time.

“It’s not necessary,” she protested, but her hands came up to his chest as if her body was the one at the control panel of her brain. His chest was hard and sculpted beneath her palms and she had to stop herself from rubbing against him.

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw a flash of move- ment. Loren.

“Okay, they’re still watching us.”

“Siblings,” he said with a chuckle. “Always so nosy.”

One hand came up to cup the angle of her jaw, and his thumb brushed the edge of her lip. He was waiting, holding himself in that delicious space of anticipation, looking for a green light. That was the arrangement; she was the one who had to demand the kiss. Not him. She hadn’t known at the time that she was setting herself up for a trap. Taking away plausible deniability. Taking away the option to blame the kiss on him. Because they didn’t need to kiss right now—her family had bought the act already, hook, line, and sinker.

But she wanted to kiss Ethan...and that was a problem.

“This is purely for maintaining our cover,” she said, knowing that every word of it was a lie. A self-serving, self- protecting lie.

“Of course.” His lips brushed the space next to the corner of her mouth, so close and yet the distance felt like pure, unadulterated torture. “Why else would we do it?”

“No reason at all.”

“Are you going to hate it?” he asked, his lips so close to hers now that she felt the whisper of air between them as he spoke

“Every second of it,” she whispered. “You’re repulsive.”

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

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About the Author

Growing up in Australia, Stefanie London came from a family of women who loved to read. Her favorite activity was going shopping with her Nan during school holidays, where she would sit on the floor of the bookstore with her little sister and painstakingly select the books to spend her allowance on. Stefanie lives with her very own hero and enough books to sink a ship. She frequently indulges in her passions for good coffee, French perfume, high heels and zombie movies. At night she writes sexy, contemporary romance stories and tries not to spend too much time shopping online and watching baby animal videos on YouTube. www.stefanie-london.com