Callan

I’m a single dad, a firefighter, taking it one day at a time and trying to keep my life from imploding. Once I had it all, but tragic events changed my trajectory, and now I’m raising my daughter alone. When an old friend gets an unwelcome message from her ex, I jump in to play the part of pretend boyfriend. Harmless, right? But I wasn’t counting on her touch awakening things in me. I’m not looking for a relationship—hell, I don’t deserve it, and the last thing I want is to love and lose again, but being with sweet and sexy Gemma has a way of calming my demons.

Gemma

Callan is big, athletic and tough, a man haunted by his past, but beneath the rough exterior, he’s gentle and tender. And he makes me feel safe. He’s the perfect person to have a pretend relationship with when my ex, an overbearing cop who frightens me, decides he wants me back. We have to be realistic for this to work—my ex can spot a lie in a second, and Callan plays the lover well. So well that it isn’t long before we’re playing house for real, until a secret and a surprise hit at the same time, and threatens everything we’ve built.

Thurlow Holmes Dash Coleman

Stem