Second Hope

I’ll admit, I made more than my fair share of stupid decisions, but all it took was an accidental felony and a teensy kitchen fire to turn my life upside down. When my parents cut me off, selling my swanky Los Angeles apartment and shipping me off to some ranch in the middle of nowhere to teach me a lesson, I thought it was the worst thing that could happen to me. Then I got to Safe Haven Ranch and met my new boss.

Connor Bennett is a walking red flag I could see coming from miles away, but I'm a sucker for his rakish smile, his irresistible charm, and that world class behind always wrapped in a tight pair of Wranglers. I told myself I’d learned my lesson when I woke up and discovered he ghosted me, leaving a note behind on the pillow where his head should have been. Unfortunately, that wasn’t true. High emotions and too much booze during a mutual friend’s wedding lands me back in his bed, but this time I make sure I’m not the one left high and dry once the sun comes up.

When I moved away from Hope Valley at eighteen years old, I told myself it was for good. There were too many unpleasant memories, too much history, and too many reminders of the boy who had broken my heart. Years passed and I built a life and a family with a man I loved. Then, in the blink of an eye, that life was ripped away from me, and the secrets he’d kept from me refused to follow him into his grave. Now I’m back in my hometown, a shell of my former self, trying to pick up the pieces of my shattered life.

I’ve never been the kind of man to give much thought to the future. When I pictured what forever looked like, I didn’t see a picket fence, a wife, or a bunch of little rugrats running around. I had the dog, and that was good enough for me. Or it had been, until a woman with dark, silky hair and sad eyes stumbled into my life and shook everything up.