She faked an engagement to save our business. I kissed her to sell it. Now I just have to survive pretending not to be in love with her.

When I came home from deployment, I expected to pick up a shovel, not a fiancée. Tate Cavanaugh is my best friend. The woman I trust with my life. The one who helped build our landscaping business from the ground up. And apparently, while I was gone, she told the local paper we were engaged.

It was just supposed to help with PR. She didn't think the story would take off. She definitely didn't think the whole town would throw us an engagement party. And me? I didn't think I'd kiss her in front of everyone just to make it look real.

Only . . . that kiss didn't feel fake. Not to me.

Now we're living under the same roof, pretending to be planning a wedding, and I'm trying not to fall harder than I already have. She's everything I never let myself want—funny, stubborn, generous, and so far out of my league I should have deployed again just to get my head on straight.

But Tate's not the only one hiding something. And if this fake engagement blows up in our faces, I could lose a whole lot more than my business. I could lose her.

Contains mature themes.