Beautiful Thing

Fake-dating my best friend’s brother should be easy.
He’s grumpy. He’s guarded. He’s older.
And he’d never fall for a complicated single mother like me.
Or that’s what I need to tell myself…so I don’t fall in love with him.

Archer Brighton needs a girlfriend.
If the broody lumberjack shows up at his younger brother’s wedding without a date, his meddling family will drive him insane.

With his stormy eyes, his towering body and his gorgeous beard, there’s a line-up of women eager for the spot on his arm.
But Archer isn’t looking for love. He just wants to be left alone.

I shouldn’t have gone and stuck my nose in his business.
I shouldn’t have blurted out—right in the middle of family dinner—that Archer asked me to be his wedding date.

Yikes! What was I thinking?!
The man is my boss and my neighbor and my best friend’s brother, after all!

I’m more than willing to apologize to his family and clean up this mess I’ve made.
But Archer won’t let me backtrack.
He insists that a fake relationship is exactly what we both need.

So here’s our deal—
Three months of pretend-dating while my toddler and I stay at his house, rent-free.
Archer will protect me from my dirtbag ex.
And I’ll save him from the prying townsfolk who keep trying to set him up on dates.

It’s a win-win solution.

Except, I’m not so sure Archer’s pretending.
Not when he’s reading bedtime stories to my son.
Not when he’s cooking us breakfast, lunch and dinner.
And definitely not when he’s kissing me.
All. Night. Long.

He makes me feel beautiful. In a way I’ve never felt before.
Soon, I don’t want to sleep in that cold guestroom.
Not when I could be sleeping in his strong, tatted arms instead.

With every forbidden kiss, we dig our hole deeper.
Are we creating a monster? Or are we building something beautiful together?

Beautiful Thing is a steamy, laugh-out-loud, small town, single mom and grumpy lumberjack romance. It is set in small town Iowa and is the conclusion to the Brighton Family series.